Snooks Eaglin

Fird Eaglin, Jr. (January 21, 1936 or 1937 – February 18, 2009), known as Snooks Eaglin, was an American guitarist and singer based in New Orleans. In his early years he was referred to as Blind Snooks Eaglin or "Lil" Snook, and some sources use the name Ford Eaglin.
His vocal style was reminiscent of that of Ray Charles; in the 1950s, when he was in his late teens, he sometimes billed himself as "Little Ray Charles". He played a wide range of styles of music within the same concert, album, or even song: blues, rock and roll, jazz, country, and Latin. In his early years, he also played acoustic blues.
His ability to play a wide range of songs and make them his own earned him the nickname "the human jukebox." Eaglin claimed in interviews that his musical repertoire included some 2,500 songs.
At live shows, he did not usually prepare set lists and was unpredictable, even to his bandmates. He played songs that came to him on stage, and he also took requests from the audience.

Childhood

Eaglin lost his sight not long after his first birthday, having been stricken with glaucoma, and spent several years in the hospital with other ailments. Around the age of five he received a guitar from his father and taught himself to play by listening to and playing along with the radio. A mischievous youngster, he was given the nickname "Snooks" after a radio character named Baby Snooks.

Early years

In 1947, at the age of 11, Eaglin won a talent contest organized by the radio station WNOE by playing "Twelfth Street Rag." Three years later, he dropped out of the school for the blind to become a professional musician. In 1952, he joined the Flamingoes, a local seven-piece band started by Allen Toussaint. The Flamingoes did not have a bass player, and according to Eaglin, he played both the guitar and the bass parts at the same time on his guitar. He stayed with the Flamingoes for several years, until their dissolution in the mid-1950s.

As a solo artist, his recording and touring were inconsistent, and for a man with a career of about 50 years, his discography is rather slim. His first recording was in 1953, playing guitar at a recording session for James "Sugar Boy" Crawford.

The first recordings under his own name were made after Harry Oster, a folklorist from Louisiana State University, found him playing in the streets of New Orleans. Oster recorded Eaglin in seven sessions between 1958 and 1960, which were later released by various labels, including Folkways, Folk-Lyric, and Prestige/Bluesville. These recordings were in the folk blues style, with Eaglin playing an acoustic guitar without a band.

1960s and 1970s

From 1960 to 1963, Eaglin recorded for Imperial. He played electric guitar in sessions for Imperial, with backup from a band including James Booker on piano and Smokey Johnson on drums. He recorded 26 tracks for Imperial (available on The Complete Imperial Recordings), many of them being songs written by Dave Bartholomew. Unlike the Harry Oster recordings, these works on Imperial are New Orleans R&B in the style for which he is widely known today. After Imperial, in 1964, he recorded alone at his home with a guitar for the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, released as I Blueskvarter 1964: Vol. 3. For the remainder of the 1960s, he apparently made no recordings.

His next recorded work was for the Swedish label Sonet in 1971. Another album, Down Yonder, released in 1978, featured Ellis Marsalis on piano. Apart from his own work, he joined recording sessions with Professor Longhair in 1971 and 72 (Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge). He also played guitar on the Wild Magnolias' first album, recorded in 1973.

Black Top and later years

He joined Nauman and Hammond Scott of Black Top Records in the 1980s and obtained a recording contract with the label. Eaglin's Black Top years were the most consistent years of his recording career. Between 1987 and 1999, he recorded four studio albums and a live album and appeared as a guest on a number of recordings by other Black Top artists, including Henry Butler, Earl King, and Tommy Ridgley.

After Black Top Records closed, Eaglin released The Way It Is on Money Pit Records, produced by the Scott brothers of Black Top. In 1997, Eaglin's version of "St. James Infirmary" was featured in a UK television advertisement for Budweiser lager.

Death

Eaglin died of a heart attack at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans on February 18, 2009. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008 and had been hospitalized for treatment. He was scheduled to make a comeback appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in the spring of 2009. In honor of his contributions to New Orleans music, he was depicted in an artist's rendering on the cover of the "Jazz Fest Bible" edition of Offbeat magazine, for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2009.

For many years, Eaglin lived in St. Rose, a suburb of New Orleans, with his wife, Dorothea. Though he did not play many live shows, he regularly performed at Rock n' Bowl in New Orleans and at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Original albums

• 1958, New Orleans Street Singer, recordings made by Harry Oster, of Louisiana State University, March 1958
• 1959, New Orleans Street Singer (Smithsonian Folkways 2476)
• 1960, Message from New Orleans (Heritage 1002)
• 1971, The Legacy of the Blues Vol. 2 (Sonet)
• 1978, Down Yonder—Snooks Eaglin Today! (Sonet 752)
• 1987, Baby, You Can Get Your Gun! (Black Top)
• 1989, Out of Nowhere (Black Top 1049)
• 1992, Teasin' You (Black Top 1072)
• 1995, Soul's Edge (Black Top 1112)
• 1996, Soul Train from Nawlins: Live at the Park Tower Blues Festival '95 (P-Vine)
• 1997, Live in Japan (Black Top 1137), U.S. release of Soul Train from Nawlins
• 2002, The Way It Is (Money Pit)

Compilation albums

• 1959, New Orleans Washboard Blues (Folk-Lyric 107)
• 1964, Portraits in Blues Vol. 1 (Storyville 146)
• 1964, Blues from New Orleans Vol. 2 (Storyville 140)
• 1971, The Legacy of the Blues Vol. 2 (Sonet 625)
• 1983, New Orleans 1960–1961 (Sundown 709-04)
• 1996, Heavy Juice, The Blues Collection Vol. 75 (Orbis BLU 075)
• 2003, The Best of ... (Grammercy 182)
• 2004, The Blues of Snooks Eaglin & Boogie Bill Webb (Storyville 8054)

Harry Oster recordings

• 1961, That's All Right (Prestige/Bluesville 569)
• 1991, Country Boy Down in New Orleans (Arhoolie 348)
• 1994, New Orleans Street Singer (Storyville 8023)

Imperial recordings

• 1995, The Complete Imperial Recordings (Capitol 545)

Single

• 1960 Yours Truly-Nobody knows (Imperial 5671)
• 1962 Going to the River-I'm slippin' in (Imperial 5802)
• 1962 Nothing Sweet As You-Don't Slam The Door (Imperial 5823)
• 1963 Country Boy-Alberta (Storyville 45056)