By David R. Parvo
Snooks Eaglin
Rock 'n Bowl, New Orleans, LA
09/01/00
Snooks Eaglin mining the late R&B great Smiley Lewis’ catalogue of hit tunes at Mid-City Rock ’n Bowl. Ho-hum…Just another stormy Friday night in New Orleans when all of the planets are perfectly aligned.
Snooks Eaglin isn't touring at this time.
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Rock ’n Bowl is quite simply one of the best live music venues in the world. It is the only spot I know of where the air is perpetually filled with the sounds of crashing drums, rolling bowling balls and falling pins and the smell of fried alligator sausage. Add the incomparable Snooks to the mix and there is so much funk in the joint you can stick your finger into it.
With his Ray Charles-inspired vocal delivery and dazzling finger picking nothing short of indescribable, Snooks Eaglin is a consistently spectacular performer. He plays gospel, blues, country and jazz with more intensity than anyone in the music industry today. Known as the “Human Jukebox,” he has an infinite storehouse of songs that he can pull out and play anytime he pleases, usually leaving his band confounded. But tonight, tonight he stayed focussed and paid homage to one of the original innovators behind the distinctive New Orleans R&B sound, Smiley Lewis.
Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint and Elvis, among many others (including Gale Storms’ whitewashed covers, which are worth noting for their ludicrousness), have recorded Lewis’ songs. Lewis used R&B to provide a musical foundation and a sociological slant, bass lines and horn arrangements, as well as a vision of music as the revenge of the underdog in America. He spliced together hurt, nihilism and celebration in order to grant his audience a glimpse into the reality he faced as a black man in the segregated south. And, playing only like Snooks Eaglin can, Snooks serenaded the adoring crowd with all of Lewis’ hits, including, in rapid-fire succession, “Ain’t Gonna Do It,” “The Bells Are Ringing,” “Rootin’ and Tootin’,” “Please Listen to Me,” and “Lillie Mae,” which is my all time favorite. After a short bathroom break, he launched into a set that was as blistering as it was melodic, including renditions of “Shame, Shame, Shame” and “Real Gone Lover.” Smiley Lewis died at the age of 53 in 1966, but Snooks made sure he was alive and kicking Friday night.
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