Back In the Day, 1997

Larry Bright

Shake That Thing!

(Del-Fi Records)

Music historians recall that Larry, who befriended Elvis for many years, yearned for (but never attained) Chitlin' Circuit stardom. But at least the white boy who on record was sometimes mistaken for black did sit in with Bo Diddley for a New Orleans jam session.

His early '60s Swamp-Blues waxings swelled with six-string licks splashed up on the bayou's dirt banks; generously sweeping organ; 'ah-ooing' go-go girls choruses; and all the handclaps, finger-pops, and hip shakes required to transmogrify mundane circumstances into anything-goes soirees.

Posturing atop that virtual streamer-strewn Bourbon Street float were irrepressible vocals straight out of the raw zone.  

"Although Bright held a reputation as a hot performer and a musician's musician, he remains an unknown due to disastrous business deals, legal problems, and alcohol-fueled madness. He trusted everyone, drank a lot, and signed everything," reads an online account by Klaus Kettner with Tony Wilkinson.

Recommended: "Bacon Fat," "Shake That Thing," "Got My Mojo Working," "Surfin' Queen," "One Ugly Child," "MoJo Workout," "Bloodhound," "Do the Thing"

Videos: "Shake That Thing"    "MoJo Workout"   "One Ugly Child"

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