James Booker full live @ Maple Leaf Bar 1983
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- Опубликовано: 4 янв 2015
- - Astonishing concert from James Booker -
- Tracklist below -
JAMES BOOKER what ?
James Carroll Booker III - December 17, 1939 - November 8, 1983 - was a New Orleans rhythm and blues musician born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Booker's unique style combined rhythm and blues with jazz standards.
Musician Dr. John described Booker as "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced."
Flamboyant in personality, he was known as "the Black Liberace".
This is the full concert uploaded by another user - lynchindis - in 4 parts. This great guy has a channel fully dedicated to James Booker, go take a tour, great sound there. And thanks mate for sharing this amazing gig.
--WHEN DID IT TAKE PLACE ?
They say October the 28th 1983, 11 days before he died.
--WAS IT THE LAST GIG ?
No, according to americanbluesscene : The last show he performed there was on October 31, 1983, with only five patrons in attendance. For the next show on November 7th , he didn’t show up at all.
By the way, that article is heavily detailed and precise - good to read if you wanna know more about James Booker.
--CAN I GET THE VIDEO IN A BETTER QUALITY ?
Apparently, there's a torrent and a DVD with this content in a better quality : Video: NTSC 720x480 , Audio 48kHz 16 bit .. hard to know i cannot get them.. And i didn't test it.
--BUT
Some searchs later, i found a library that is holding archives of this : Howard-Tilton Memorial Library in Tulane University.
They have special collections, you can find it in " Cox 10 Productions VHS collection, 1982-2002 | Hogan Jazz Archive " ,
Series 2: Music City
Videotape : 18/19/20 are on James Booker.
--However, this videotape would last only 52 min.
" At the end of October 1983, filmmaker Jim Gabour captured Booker's final concert performance for a series on the New Orleans music scene. The series, entitled Music City, was broadcast on Cox Cable and included footage from the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans and a six-and-a-half-minute improvisation called "Seagram's Jam."
On a forum i noticed this "Please note that "Seagram's Jam" was not included in the Cox Cable broadcast and therefore is not included in this torrent."
So, you may see the full performance in their Jim Gabour Collection video Recordings at that same Library.
If someday, somehow, this help someone to find the archive in that library, please let me know ! i will be very delighted and it will make my day whatever my situation is.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 intro
01:24 Papa Was a Rascal
05:05 New Orleans Piano Blues
09:04 Tico Tico
12:33 One For The Highway
15:37 One Helluva Nerve
19:28 Warsaw Concerto
21:58 Blues Minuet
23:53 variation of Cindy Walkers "You Don't Know Me", recorded first by Eddie Arnold and later by Ray Charles
24:46 Lawdy Miss Clawdy
28:02 Classified
30:25 announcer / station ID
30:53 Little Coquette / Yes Sir That’s My Baby (medley)
35:48 Loberta (on other recordings he used the ‘Loberta’ riff as an intro to ‘How Do You Feel’)
39:07 Ribbon In The Sky
41:54 Put Out The Light
44:52 Madame x
45:36 Bald Head
47:16 announcer / "Music City" show promo with The Neville Brothers
48:24 Gonzo's Blue Dream
52:33 If you're Lonely
56:00 credits
57:43 end
Any help with the tracklist will be greatly appreciated.
(many thanks to all contributors)
My sources :
AmericanBlueScene :
james-booker-the-clown-prince-of-new-orleans-piano/
Wikipedia :
James_Booker
Howard-Tilton Memorial Library in Tulane University :
libguides.tulane.edu 
Видеоклипы
Thank You, for taking me back to The Maple Leaf. Concrete floor, smokey room and a patio with banana trees.
If James is there where we go after this earthly life, well then I am ready to GO, GO, GO and listen to his music for eternity
I can't count the times that I saw James Booker play- sometimes magnificently and joyfully, with an abandon that held us all spell-bound- but also horribly, piteously, with all of his demons alight for all to see. I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for my fanatical pursuit, to witness his creative bravery shine true. God bless you, James. You are truly missed.
We are up, sometimes we are down, & we know it's so good to be true, when...we can.
To whomever researched, resurrected and posted this landmark vid I commend you and thank you. As do the small planet of smart, aspiring New Orleans-styled pianists who spend years trying to play as well as Mr. James Booker. His records are priceless, and visuals of his performances are crazy-rare.
This footage is priceless to NOLA players, and endlessly enjoyable to real music lovers. Most folks don't know 1) how revered James Booker is among Louisiana music aficionados, and 2) how RARE good visuals of his performance are. This recording, with all the close-ups of his hands, is a very valuable document. AND IT"S CRAZY FUN-GOOD. Tip o'the hat to the original RUclips post-er.
I wish I could manage that right hand. Waaay outta my league though. I'll just stay with my Chopin.
Spending not years to learn to play a bit like Booker but decades!
I do agree
I think I might would chop off both my hands in exchange for one of his fingers.🤔
He do sing too. It's not just amazig piano. it's far more. Soul.
AS SOMEONE WHO WAS ON DRUGS MOST OF MY LIFE,I NOW HAVE A FULL SEVEN YEARS CLEAN(THANK YOU GOD,JESUS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT),I KNOW HOW DRUGS CAN AFFECT YOUR LIFE.SO EVEN THO JAMES COULDN'T KICK HIS HABIT,I STILL SALUTE YOU AND MAY GOD KEEP YOUR PIANO PLAYIN SOUL WITH HIM.STAY OFF THEM DRUGS KIDS AND YOUNG PEOPLE.
Mr. James C. Booker will live 4ever ... i had the chance to see him twice in East-Berlin (yep, behind the IRON curtain ... 1976-1222 & 1977-1028 ... recorded & filmed for my iron curtain productions ... smile?) and he was just magic & überhaupt ... R.I.P. // gone but not forgotten !!!
now that is insane to consider. you say.....filmed? please tell us these exist.
yes please :) tell us those films are still somewhere ? will be glad to help, i go to berlin quite often !
My brother gave me the 45 rpm recording of "Gonzo" by James Booker as a Christmas gift in 1962 and it remains in my music collection in 2021!
Why 10 thumbs down ? This is genius piano at its purest. I’m learning dr John and realise it will probably take a lifetime just to master one song, but to play like booker is like climbing Everest on the piano. And I realise the closer to perfection I become the further away it becomes.
Surely the thumbs down are from children not realizing what they are doing or perhaps mentally disabled people.
I would imagine for me it would be like climbing Mt Everest on piano with another piano on my back.
His playing sounds like he has at least four hands! No, make that six hands! Unbelievable! 🎹🎹🎹🎹👑
He was too beautiful for this world. Only 5 people at his last show is heartbreaking. What I would give to be at that last show!
Man that is the best sounding upright piano I've ever heard! talk about orchestral... and James Booker always swung HARD too, no matter what he was playing. Great great post.
Every time I listen to James Booker play it drops my jaw I can hear a little bit of James Booker in pretty much everybody from New Orleans and what's funny is they might not even know where they got it from!
Oh, they KNOW.
Thank you so much, I devoted 3 years of my life moving to NOLA, finding a left hand like Fess had and some semblance of a soul. Brought it home to perform in Austin. Listened to everything Booker recorded but until I saw this video, deep down inside, I didn't believe he only had two hands. It took me awhile not to burn all of my keyboards and cancel all my gigs. Although I'll muddle on, I will never touch him nor will John Cleary or anyone else, but Booker is inspirational and the Hendrix of piano from my perspective.
+Professor Longhorn , LOVE your style! I hope to hear more from you. Now, one question about Booker's piano... To me, the strings seem to have a ring to them similar to what's often heard on a harpsichord. I was wondering if he has the strings a tiny bit tighter or looser to produce that sound - which to me is fuller than other piano music I've heard. I just don't have an ear educated enough to know what's going on... I agree with you - James Booker's playing sounds like he using more than two hands. It was great to read your observations on this video... Thanks to you for the comments and thanks to Ali Ben Saad for sharing it with all of us...
Professor Longhorn can't quite get witcha there Senator Langhorne... i saw more'n a dizen o' these and had a litlle bit of social time wid James. a giant with Demons, what is astonishing in him was sadly squandered by what was broken. i belive Cleary has touched it, and gotten further with his gifts, which are what neither he nor anyone has to match Booker's.
I agree its all left hand when playing great boogie by the way on Hendrix check out Dick Dale he influenced Hendrix, who played left handed (Dale played the guitar right strung left handed !! ) Just a thought...Boogie stoll rules though !
There's a lot more to music than raw technical skill - or even raw technical skill combined with ... "poetry".
I'd simply say, "don't discount the audience". What is worthwhile to people (human beings) is what lives in our heads. This is not to suggest that everything is of equal merit (e.g., charity vs. fraud) or that we should be nihilists or anything like that. But, rather, that meaning, to human beings, COMES from human beings. There is no other reasonable metric that I'm aware of for human beings in a universe that is so much vaster, richer, different, etc. from human beings.*
It's a gift to be able to inspire, entertain, have your work be enjoyed by an audience, etc. Each performer has a unique audience, an audience that may intersect with / overlap the audiences of many other performers, yet, will also have its own distinctiveness.
Speaking from the perspective of a member of various audiences, I greatly appreciate all performers I listen to, sometimes I seek out "the cerebral" and "the flash", and at other times, I just want to hear something catchy and not too challenging to MY ear... so, it's important, IMO, and quite a gift that not everyone at the highest levels of performance is always veering into the realm of Schoenberg, Monk, Coltrane, etc.
Just some thoughts and a thank you to all who make music that makes the world more livable to everyone! (of every type and description to suit any mood and time)
* This applies, IMO, within spiritual and religious frameworks as well - for example, in frameworks in which God is all powerful / everything, then, God must speak through and be woven across all of our activities. Of course, this easily gets tricky, which is why there are entire schools related to theology, philosophy, etc. But, I'll leave it at that for this comment - suggesting the perspective / "mode" I'm writing from / in without diving any further into details.
@@Direwolfei agree on you ,Jon Cleary has gone further and probably Dr.John had too.
Converted Dr John from guitar to piano...hard to believe, but TRUE!
The doctor 'injuried" one of his fingers.
Found my new favorite live album
Thanks for the upload
Saw Booker maybe 10 times at the Leaf thru the Seventies ...a mad genius
That right hand is vicious! And then I focused in on the left and said “my lord, he’s got two right hands”!
I worked at the Toulouse Street Theater in New Orleans in the summer of 1979 and was lucky to watch James play . He was just amazing ... Thank you great man & great artist :-)
Maxwell's Toulouse St.Cabaret?
I was driving a carriage nights in the quarter in the summer of 1979. At nineteen I was super fan of JCB3's unique music and I often parked my rig right outside of the open air lobby of the Toulouse Street Theater. His regular weeknight gig uptown at the Maple Leaf Bar was like going to church.
@@dustymason460 You lucky dawg! 🎹🎹🎹🎹🕷
This was his gift to the world. So happy to be a part of it.
Sit back, close your eyes, listen to the show. Astonishing talent.
American Art Adventure close my eyes? They should have filmed his fingers the whole time so that future generations of musicians can learn how it is done.
Really underrated singer too.
In the 70's, the Maple Leaf had a laundromat attached. You could do your laundry, have a drink, and listen to James Booker. Multitasking is highly overrated except in that case.
u
I was listening to him there in 1981 and 1982. We used to play chess in the window when he was playing on the stage. usually with a pitcher of beer.
I didn't realize until 3/4 of the way through this awesome performance that Booker isn't wearing his eyepatch!
Excellent musician. An all time favorite.
Wow!
Amazing! I can hear Jelly Roll Morton's "Spanish tinge" in there, and some "Fess" too. Not to mention James Booker's genius.
I knew James as an artist and friend. Miss him muchly. This is a great tribute to his genius. Thank you for sharing this video with the world!
Check out the Bayou Maharajah on Netflix. Lots of great Booker stories or come to New Orleans jazzfest find someone playing the piano that's over 50 and they'll have some Booker stories for ya.
Yes! Please Do tell us a story!
PLEASE
@nudawn101 * You are indeed blessed to have known this magical minstrel personally! I'm truly sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how you must have felt when you learned of his passing. 🎹🕷🎹🕷🎹👑
Al piano pocos le igualaron. Divino, sus dedos surcaban el teclado al modo de destellos provenientes de no sé que energía sideral. Más que humano, se deslizaba sobre la melodía en evoluciones vivaces como solo algunas aves logran voltear. Su toque evoca el juego de vencejos que hacen de su vuelo un goce irresistible en el que se entregan como si en ello les fuera la misma vida. Él también, se entregó al son hasta caer exhausto y como ángel caído se nos fue, solo y maltrecho. Gracias Alí por ofrecernos esta joya.
Glad that Booker now gets more recognition. I saw him a couple of times at the Maple Leaf. Awesome. Other piano greats like Dr. John & Allen Toussaint called him the best. "Bayou Maharajah" is a great documentary about him. He should be in the R&R Hall of Fame.
First time I heard of James Booker was around 25 years ago when I asked dear boogie men Axel Zwingenberger and Vince Weber who they learned from. Axel and Vince both told me of Sunnyland Slim, Otis Spann, and "well, he was that very unique one, Piano Prince" James Booker. Booker is being revered by a growing number of blues piano enthusiasts.
Accompong Records « piano prince »
Vince Weber is my Boogie Woogie Champ! He learned from the right ones. Unfortunately his health is not the best anymore...
I was present for Sunnyland Slims 80th birthday at a joint across the street from B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted St. I forget the name.
He had a regular mid-week gig there, and I used to go there every week. After a while we became friendly.
On his birthday he was alone.
In the audience were six Swedish girls who were knocked out by Sunnyland. I bought them all copies of his L.p. that he was selling off the stage. He kindly autographed them all.
It turned out to be a Happy Birthday for all involved. Thanks, Sunnyland. You put smiles on all our faces, and gave us all a great story to be shared down the years.
Wow! How come I never saw this vid before. It is amazing. Captures Booker like no where else!
This is incredible vid of Booker. And you can see his hands! Great piano lesson!
I never could play Booker style, but this may help.
I was incredibly lucky when I first came to N.O. In ‘81 I opened for him at the Mapleleaf. I didn’t even know who he was. But I sat in week before, and John Parsons the owner asked me to come in on Sunday and open for “Booker”. Sure I said.
I had a good solo set, then he came on....and wow . He blew my mind!
Thank you for sharing this part of your story 🎶 you're among the few who have actually met him
Ali Ben Saad hey thank you for posting this great video! Yes I was fortunate. But New Orleans has always opened up to me. It’s a piano town. I practiced today for about 3 hours incorporating some of his style that I could see from his left hand on video. He still inspires!
Pure joy! None better. Best piano ever.
Don't you just love the way he just come up with one hell of a solo and keep smiling at the audience with a face that says "I know, right ?"
Amazing. It's like he is saying "are you hearing what I'm hearing?""Damn good stuff huh?"
Booker had a way of nonchalantly knocking out incredible riffs while making an "eye" at some guy in the audience. Also check out the Jerry Garcia Band playing with Booker. Booker rarely played with another band; they would have to rise up and play with him.
Wonderful Booker. Thank you for this 9:05
should be millions of views the best piano player ever what a left hand !!!!!
literally one of the most beautiful musicians that ever graced us!!
Addiction Sucks..It took my Brother & My Uncle..nearly took me (I knew that rushin bitch too)...."nobody knows when your down & out" Thanks Booker much love!! Music Never Dies!!!!
My best friend just entered rehab for H. I've been on his case for some time, glad he wised up.
I just discovered this mind blowing genius today. I heard a funky sample on a CD from a book and it made me stop to look him up. Makes me think of Hendrix of piano. Book is, New Orleans Piano Styles. Prolly can't get to bed any time soon, I see there's a documentary on him I can stream.... Thanks for uploading it.
Fav pianist at my fav bar in my fav city.
Just discovered him. Delightful. Thanks for posting.
This video changed my life
Wow, so glad to see this video. A piano magician and all around talent! Love you, James!
The man had the guts to be himself, warts and all, and that's something that can't be said for most of us! I think that was at the root of his genius, ie he had no filter, he was "just" James. God rest his tortured soul.🎹🎹🎹🎹👑🕷⚜🕷🕸
Both Booker and Oscar Peterson were referred to as "Maharajah's" , Booker of the Bayou and Peterson of the keys by Duke Ellington. Both deserved to share the same space among the Ivory Immortals.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU & THANK YOU AGAIN! Priceless.
I have only come to James Booker's music through the 'Bayou Maharajah" documentary, although I saw his name listed among musician credits on classic albums for decades. Needless to say, I am blown away. Thank you for posting this wonderful document, a night at the Maple Leaf, where he apparently felt so very at home.
insane talent
Magnificent. Joe Boyd, producer told me a story. In a late seventies there was a recording somewhere in L.A., and we made a deal with Dr. John to play piano. He brought up a guy and said: "Hi, this guy will play piano, and I ll play Hammond." We said :"John, that's was not a deal." The guy started to play and after three minutes we understand John. He said: "This is James Booker." Thank you very much for this video.
I started listening to Booker after reading Dr. John's autobiography.
No level of funk has every touched this level of funk.
2 days ago I was for a concert in Maple Leaf bar for the first time and one day later a very talented pianist told me that James Booker had a big influence to his playing. I never heard of him before. And now I find this video about him in exactly this bar...thanks!
The only way to “learn “ to play like this is to feel the blues. JB lived the blues ... few know the entire story... time in Angola prison, drug addiction, gay black man in racist south. God bless his soul...he payed his dues many times over
They say you have to have lived the blues to play'em, so no wonder Booker was so great! He had certainly experienced more than his share of heartaches and misery. The addictions, incarcerations, and taboo lifestyle was more than enough to kill any man, but his love for music likely kept him going longer than most of us could have. We're very blessed to have these films, recordings etc to insure that his musical legacy will never die. May God rest his tortured soul. 🎹🎹🎹🎹🎹⚜
I love Booker. I hate that people like this are disappearing
@neverendinglove2527 * It seems to be the nature of the beast. Look back over just the past decade at how many of our musical heroes we've lost to drugs and from just living "The life." The brightest stars always burn out the quickest, and are sadly never fully appreciated until after they're gone. RIP James Booker, you are truly missed! 🎹🕷🎹🕷🎹🕷🎹🕷🎹🕸
wow never imagined finding this!
A lot of Fats Domino's studio piano were recorded by Booker while Fats was on tour. Check out some of the Imperial recordings and those that came later.
He also would play for Huey "Piano" Smith sometimes when the Clowns were touring clubs in the South.
Name a thing better than James Booker. I don't know know of a thing, and if there's anything better I want to know what it is.
James Booker +scotch+smoke 😎
I watch/listen to this at least three times a week.
Thank you so very much!
Celebrating Bookers Birthday today!
12/17
Thank you for putting this up. If you get the chance, go to Tulane University (Jazz Archives are now in Jones Hall on Freret Street) you will weep at how much amazing music they have. Wonderful collection.
The best and one of the hardest classes I took at Tulane was the history of Jazz 1 and 2 with Professor Joyce. Those classes literally changed my life. Fantastic stuff and trained my ear and gave me a deep lifelong appreciation for Jazz, Blues, etc.
thank you for uploading this live concert. SUPER!!!! მხეცია!!!
and super comment below!!+++++
Simply fabulous. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the concert and all the info. Much Appreciated.
Great stuff!!....Booker is a God at the piano.
sometimes man has hope !and dis be it in its finest form !!!
He play organ using feet also GENIUS..... What a left hand !!!!!!
I read that he could never find a bassist that could keep up with that left hand. Or any other musician that he could play with without having to hold back.
A friend of mine taped this on VHS off her TV when is first came out in the 80's. She gave me a copy, and I just recently transferred it over to DVD. It's one of my most played videos.
Mail me a copy!😁
@@tylerbrandon460 Meet at the flagpole at New Orleans Jazzfest 2023 - first Friday.
just discovering this. Thanks for posting this man
What a riddle. His contemporaries or influenced like Toussaint, Dr John, Mac speak about him as a mirage they can’t understand. He brought Chopin to the Third Coast. He kept the funk but hid it with flourish.i love Harry Connicks description of learning from Booker. He is reverential amongst NewOrleans pianists. Who in the fuck plays the 88 keys like that ends up Angola? Grateful Dead=one night.we do work. That guy lived in another dimension.
@Ali Ben Saad Thank you so much for posting this. Here’s a few additions for the track list:
19.28-21.58 Warsaw Concerto
21.58-23.53 Blues Minuet
30.53-35.48 Little Coquette / Yes Sir That’s My Baby (medley)
35.48-39.07 Loberta
(on other recordings he used the ‘Loberta’ riff as an intro to ‘How Do You Feel’)
Thank you for your update :) cheers
Ribbon in the sky 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🎹🎹🎹🎶🎵🎶🎶🎹🎹👍🏽👍🏽
Genius
Little black Chopin! Thank you so much for this concert being posted;what an unbelievable talent!
many thanks
Thank you. Wish I could have seen Booker in person. I was 31 in 1983. A great musician !
The way that he ended ribbon in the sky is unbelievable 41:30
I love you James.
Great live !
great playlist on your channel ! i love some artists of yours
Absolutamente INCREIBLE !!!! MUCHAS GRACIAS !!!!!
Thanks! It's great!
the illest
love that dude
this is peak piano blues
I live in New Orleans and know the curator of the Hogan Jazz Archive - I'm sure I can find the tape. Thank you for doing the research! And for this great video. Have you heard of the documentary about Booker that just came out a few years ago, called Bayou Maharajah?
Actually the Hogan Archive has the whole series on file. You can find a show with a lot of great New Orleans musicians in that series.
I just started watching it tonight - fantastic! an absolute master or as Dr. John put it "radiatin the 88"
Did this ever happen?
very well recorded. thanks for posting.
THANKS for this.
An u appreciated genius
Great quality, I have this on a DVD that I copied from a VHS. It's shaky, but I love this set. check out the close ups of his hands. RIP JCBIII!
Genius!
Artur Rubenstein listened to Jimmy one time and was blown away. "Nuff said.
Thank you for sharing the video and the very precise description! It is a unique document recorded at a very special moment.
May be it can help : at 00:52:33 it sounds like Booker's original vamp, the seagram's jam is not in this video.
I think the instrumental at 39:00 minutes is "ribbon in the sky" by Stevie wonder. Great video of one my favorites. Thanks for posting!
+brogroove thank you :) uploaded the tracklist
When I was in a deep depression I used to put on the Bayou Maharajah album to get myself to bath.
Uchida, Rubenstein, and then there is Little Jimmy Booker, the best of all. The Mozart of the Bayous. Over and out.
+Richard Faust totally agree, about uchida, check out these concerts
- Mozart: Concerto for piano and Orchestra (d-minor) K.466
- Mitsuko Uchida - W.A. Mozart Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat Major K. 271 "Jeunehomme"
+Ali Ben Saad Danke schoen.
This was made about a couple of weeks before he died and he was supposed to have been in pretty bad shape, but you couldn't tell from this performance.
11 days exactly :)
*****
Amazing that he took such a turn for the worse so soon after this performance.
Music is powerful.I bet as soon as he walked away from the piano he felt like S***.
:( 💕💕💕
@@Nico_Tena They said it was an overdose. He had been trying to stay clean and holding a steady job at City Hall...
Typical James Booker. Mindblowing.
The tune played with 'Yes Sir That's my Baby' is 'Little Coquette' (00.30.53)
+silvernoise1 thank you :)
Wow, just wow
He was amazing. I can't believe I missed him on my trips to New Orleans.
Thanks so much for sharing this video!
Is there away to watch the documentary that was made of him?
The Bayou Maharajah is on Netflex
Booker left his eyepatch off his left eye.
this compression is PHAT.
Good old tape, eh
estes génios nunca morrem.
october 27, 2017, the day I discovered this awesome musician.
This is fucking incredible