I played this style of music in 1857. This is one of the people I worked with. A very nice fellow, but he suffered the same fate as many others in the recording.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcriNmPyY-QThe fate that Joe suffered is being a real human. He was a good personally. It was said that Joe made $50,000 with this tune. He went to Las Vegas and lost it in one weekend. He really was a “good time Joe.”
Years later on a trip to New Orleans, I ran into Joe at a shopping center. Joe was checking your bag of groceries while you walk out of one store into another in the same building. We were really glad and surprised to see each other and talked for a while. Joe was Joe. Just as upbeat as if he had a million dollars in his pocket. I'll never forget Joe Barry.
I didn’t play on this particular recording but did another with Joe and played in his band for Nightclubs all around Louisiana.
A Texas promoter named Huey Meaxu (pronounced Moe) did the promotion for quite a few other artists. Joey Long from Texas, and another fine artist at the time, Barbara Lynn to mention a couple of them. I was real privileged to record at a studio called "Comos Studio" with Barbara, Joe and Joey.
This studio is where just about all of "Fats Domino's" recordings were made, with other New Orleans best artist like, Herbert Hardesty, Lee Allen (tenor sax), Red Tyler (bari sax), Huey Piano Smith, Ernie Kado (Mother in Law), Clarence Frogman Henry(I Don't know Why I love You But I Do), Irma Thomas, Thomas Ridgely, Art and Aaron Neville. A few like Ernie Kado, and Art Neville were guest stars with a few of the bands I worked with for a while.
I was really balling around that era recording for Huey and especially working with Joe. He passed in 2004 and was still a real human “Cajun” and he was proud of it.
I hope everyone can enjoy this post and that it does not upset anyone.
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