Thursday, September 17, 2020

Oliver Morgan - Who Shot Em! (re-post)

1. La La Man
2. Nitty Gritty
3. Steal Away
4. Who Shot The La La
5. You Make My Liver Quiver
6. New Second Line
7. On Thin Ice
8. Knock On Wood
9. The Things I used To Do
10. High Heal Sneakers

KansasJoe post: https://www38.zippyshare.com/v/SVHkN3Kx/file.html

11 comments:

clash said...

Big thanks for this one. When and where is this recording from? This is super cool!

pmac said...

Wow - this is extremely hard to find! Poor guy was a janitor at the elementary school I attended. Many thanks, Xyros!

Bob Mac said...

Thanks Xyros & KJ.

Xyros said...

This one was also a very nice surprise to me also as I'd never heard of Oliver Morgan or the La La Man. The only info I have on the cd is what's on the cover and there is nothing about it on internet. Maybe it's a private pressing released in a very limited quantity.
Maybe Pmac knows a bit more about the cd or any other releases?

pmac said...

Yep - Oliver"lala" Morgan. Well known in No for his single, "Who Shot the Lala." Was a song about the mysterious death of Prince Lala Nelson, another NO rnb singer. Eddie Bo was his usual piano player. He performed semi-regularly in NO up until Katrina, and then moved away (he had a house in the lower 9th Ward area, that was completely destroyed). Died about 12 years ago.
The only album I thought he had ever released was called I'm Home, on a label that Toussaint had for no longer than a cup of coffee, Nyno Records. The bulk of his output was 45s recorded at Cosimo Matassa's studio in NO, during the NO rnb heydays of the early to mid-60s.
Great singer, but he never caught fire outside of that one single.

Xyros said...

Many thanks Pmac for the extra info on Oliver Morgan.
Searching again I came across https://www.allmusic.com/album/do-the-nitty-gritty-mw0001884952 . It's the same cd as above but with a different cover or more info here http://indangerousrhythm.blogspot.com/2007/08/oliver-morgan-rip.html

pmac said...

Nice find, Xyros. Oliver really is heralded in NO. A few years ago, they built about 30 statues to memorialize great NO musicians, and placed them in public spaces across the city. Morgan got one, which, given the wealth of musical talent from this city is saying a lot. He was a mainstay in many of the music clubs in town, and Who Shot the Lala always gets people up and dancing.
To get a good taste of him, would recommend that people search for his older 45s, which, for the most part can be found in two collections of NO music, the Cosimo Matassa Story, and Heavy Sugar. I highly recommend the Matassa Story multi disc set.

imnokid said...

Thanx SO Much for this. Anything NOLA related is always welcome in my house.

Anonymous said...

Hi!

Thanx for this one. N.O. music is always appreciated. A "new" artist here = "new" hears here too. His discogs site lists his alias as "Nookie Boy"... wonder why? It also has some YT vids of 5 singles here:

https://www.discogs.com/artist/390569-Oliver-Morgan

Cheers!
Ciao! For now.
rntcj

Gerard Herzhaft said...

Thanks for this very rare record. Oliver Morgan also recorded a CD during the 1990's called "I'm home": Oliver Morgan (lead vcl,tamb-1), Tracy Griffin (tp) Craig Klein (tb) Brian "Breeze" Cayolle (ts) Cindy Mayes (bar) Allen Tousaint (p,org,synt) Scott Goudeau (g) Sean Tauzier (g/synt) Charles Moore (b) Bernard "Bunchy" Johnson (d) New Orleans, September/October 1997
It's all about you/ I gotcha/ Honey, I'm home/ We all like our own kind/ That's what my heart needs/ Be good to you / Ya ya/ I love rhythm and blues/ I'm busy/ In the pocket
This one is also quite hard to find

pmac said...

Gerard, the Louisiana Music Factory has that CD by Oliver.