Bobby Charles, Louisiana Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 71

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bobby Charles, a Louisiana singer and songwriter who wrote hits like Fats Domino’s “Walking to New Orleans,” Bill Haley and the Comets’ “See You Later, Alligator” and Clarence Frogman Henry’s “But I Do,” died Thursday at his home in Abbeville, La. He was 71.

Mr. Charles, whose real name was Robert Charles Guidry, had diabetes and was in remission from kidney cancer, his publicist, Karen Johnson, said in confirming his death.

A reluctant performer who was better known to his fellow musicians than the general public, Mr. Charles had largely kept a low profile since taking part in the Band’s farewell concert, documented in the movie and album “The Last Waltz,” in 1976.

He rarely performed, and released albums only occasionally. He had recently completed working on “Timeless,” a collection of mostly new songs dedicated to Fats Domino, which he produced with his longtime friend and associate Dr. John. That album is scheduled to be released next month.

Despite a back injury suffered in a fall, Mr. Charles had remained focused on finishing the album. “He kept saying, ‘I’ve got to get this out,’ ” his manager, Jim Bateman, told The Times-Picayune of New Orleans.

The son of a gas company truck driver, Mr. Charles grew up in Abbeville and began performing at school dances when he was 14.

“Nobody in my family wanted me to get into the music business, but I always loved it,” he told The Times-Picayune in 2007. “The first time I heard Hank Williams and Fats Domino, it just knocked me down. When I was a kid, I used to pray to be a songwriter like them. My prayers were answered, I guess.”

Mr. Charles is survived by four sons.

The John Buzon Trio - Cha Cha Cha On The Rocks

Ask the man on the street to name the most important product we import from our Latin American neighbors and he would not answer, as one might expect, coffee, bananas, sugar or rum... he would say the cha cha. For cha cha, once a delicacy savored only by Cafe Society, is now rapidly becoming the main course at college proms, high school hops and, in fact, just feed grandpa one chile pepper to change "hotcha" to cha cha.

Seldom has a new dance craze caught on so spontaneously with all age groups. In the beginning, however, the fever was limited to those who could endure a seemingly endless succession of monotonous tunes sung in a foreign language. But it soon became apparent that many of our best known standards not only took on new character when adapted to the cha cha rhythm, but they sounded better than ever before. Then it happened! Ole!

In this album the exciting John Buzon Trio offers for your dancing pleasure the full gamut of cha cha rhythms set to the "oldies"—standards that everyone knows. There's the bolero-cha cha treatment of Ghost of a Chance and Stars Fell On Alabama... the bright staccato-cha cha of When It's Sleepy Time Down South and It Must Be True... and you'll say "si-si" to the calypso-cha cha rhythm of the title song. And the whole album is generously sprinkled with the John Buzon Trio's fresh musical ideas.

It's a swinging' album all the way; so get yourself a dancing partner, tune up your hi-fi, pull back the rugs, and enjoy a most refreshing CHA CHA ON THE ROCKS.

THE JOHN BUZON TRIO
If you are one of the fortunate owners of the Liberty album INFERNO (Monaural LRP-3108, Stereo LST-7108) by the John Buzon Trio you'll need no introduction to this fabulous musical group.

You will have already thrilled to the astounding rounds seldom produced by the Hammond organ. When John Buzon plays, the instrument is at once a vibraphone, a brass section, marimba, string bass or you name it.

You will be thinking that it couldn't possibly be just Loren Holding playing the alto saxophone, clarinet baritone saxophone and maracas... sometimes all in the same song... without losing a note in the process. And your toes will be tapping from the solid beat generated by drummer Jack Russell. You will already know the raucous John Buzon Trio of Caravan and Mambo Rock and the intimate Buzon Trio of Smoke Rings—and your dancing shoes will have registered plenty of mileage.

You will easily understand why the John Buzon Trio is one of the fastest rising groups on the recording horizon.

Liberty Records LRP-3124

Don't Worry 'Bout Me
When It's Sleepy Time Down South
When My Sugar Walks Down The Street
Blue and Broken Hearted
A Ghost of a Chance
Cha Cha on the Rocks

I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
Does Your Heart Beat For Me?
Down by the Station
Stars Fell on Alabama
It Must Be True
Squatty Roo

Teddy Pendergrass, Singer, Dies at 59

NEW YORK (AP) -- R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass, who was one of the most electric and successful figures in music until a car crash 28 years ago left him in a wheelchair, has died of colon cancer. He was 59.

Pendergrass died Wednesday in suburban Philadelphia, where he had been hospitalized for months.

The singer's son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had ''a difficult recovery.''

Before the crash, Pendergrass established a new era of R&B with an explosive, raw voice that symbolized masculinity, passion and the joys and sorrow of romance in songs such as ''Close the Door,'' ''It Don't Hurt Now,'' ''Love T.K.O.'' and other hits that have since become classics.

He was an international superstar and sex symbol. His career was at its apex -- and still climbing.

Friend and longtime collaborator Kenny Gamble, of the renowned production duo Gamble & Huff, teamed with Pendergrass on his biggest hits and recalled how the singer was even working on a movie.

''He had about 10 platinum albums in a row, so he was a very, very successful recording artist and as a performing artist,'' Gamble said Thursday. ''He had a tremendous career ahead of him, and the accident sort of got in the way of many of those plans.''

Pendergrass, who was born in Philadelphia in 1950, suffered a spinal cord injury in a 1982 car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down -- still able to sing but without his signature power. The image of the strong, virile lover was replaced with one that drew sympathy.

But instead of becoming bitter or depressed, Pendergrass created a new identity -- that as a role model, Gamble said.

''He never showed me that he was angry at all about his accident,'' Gamble said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. ''In fact, he was very courageous.''

Pendergrass left a remarkable imprint on the music world as he ushered in a new era in R&B with his fiery, sensual and forceful brand of soul and his ladies' man image, burnished by his strikingly handsome looks.

Gamble said Pendergrass was one of a kind as an artist and boasted a powerful voice and ''a great magnetism.''

''He was a great baritone singer, and he had a real smooth sound, but he had a real rough sound, too, when he wanted to exert power in his voice,'' Gamble said.

But it wasn't Pendergrass' voice that got him his break in the music business -- it was his drum playing abilities. He met Harold Melvin, who was looking for replacement members for his group, the Blue Notes, and signed on to be the drummer. Later, he became the lead singer of the group, which became known as Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.

The band started working with Gamble and Leon Huff and had signature hits in the early 1970s with ''Wake Up Everybody'' and ''If You Don't Know Me by Now.''

But Pendergrass had creative differences with Melvin and soon left for a solo career, according to his Web site. It was then he would become a sex symbol for the R&B genre, working women into a frenzy with hits such as ''Only You'' and concerts dedicated for ladies only.

''The females,'' Gamble said, ''loved Teddy Pendergrass. The females were very attracted to him and his music.''

Unlike the songs of many of today's male R&B crooners, Pendergrass' music bordered on eroticism without explicit lyrics or coarse language -- just through the raw emotion in his voice. ''Turn Off the Lights'' was a tune that perhaps best represented the many moods of Pendergrass -- tender and coaxing yet strong as the song reaches its climax.

Fans were devastated when, at age 31, Pendergrass was critically injured after his Rolls-Royce hit a tree. He spent six months in a hospital and returned to recording the next year with the album ''Love Language.''

He continued to sing and recorded several albums, receiving Grammy nominations.

''To all his fans who loved his music, thank you,'' his son said. ''He will live on through his music.''

It was 19 years before Pendergrass resumed performing at his own concerts. He made his return on Memorial Day weekend in 2001, with two sold-out shows in Atlantic City, N.J.

Gamble noted Pendergrass' charitable work for people with spinal cord injuries, his performances despite pain and his focus on the positive in the face of great challenges.

''He used to say something in his act in the wheelchair, 'Don't let the wheelchair fool you,' because he still proclaimed he was a lover,'' Gamble said.

But his career was never the same. Gamble said it was difficult for Pendergrass to project vocally like he once did: ''The breathing aspect of it, he wasn't really able to deal with it.''

And while he had albums, he was no longer seen as the sex symbol but more of a sympathetic, tragic figure, even though he still had a strong following among his core female fans.

After the accident, he dedicated much of his life to helping others with spinal cord injuries and founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance to do just that. Gamble said he wanted to help others.

''In his quiet moments, he probably did a lot of reflection. But I never saw him pity himself. He stayed busy,'' Gamble said. ''(But) I feel that he's in a better place now. ... He doesn't have to go through that pain or whatever he was going through anymore.''

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Associated Press writers Patrick Walters and Bob Lentz contributed to this report from Philadelphia.