“That’s James [Black] on drums.  James was one of the most talented drummers I ever worked with and James was way out there.  Not many folks could play that many rhythms at one time.  And then he was spaced out and he would go further with his drums.  James never did stay on this planet….You’ve never heard drums like that and you’ll never hear drums like that again”

-Eddie Bo

Eddie Bo had such a prolific career that I’m not even going to pretend to try and summarize it here.  You can find all the info you need on him here.  

Though this song, and indeed the man himself, should be no mystery to any beat junkie (sampled on Brainfreeze, etc) or soul connoisseur I thought it worth posting in light of his recent death, at age 79, on March 18th of this year.  Please join me in a moment of sound for the great Eddie Bo.

A word on Inez Cheatham -  Apparently it has been speculated that Inez was an alias for another singer (perhaps Mary Jane Hooper), Eddie clears this up:

“Inez Cheatham was her real name.  She was a background singer for Allen Toussaint before I picked her up.  He wasn’t going to record her by herself, he had her strictly as a background singer.”

If you don’t already own or know about them, I urge you to pick up Soul Jazz’s “New Orleans Funk” (1 & 2) and “Saturday Night Fish Fry”.  Essential listening.

Artist: Eddie Bo & Inez Cheatham
Song: Lover & A Friend
Producer: Eddie Bo
Label: Seven B

*All quotes form Mr. Bo here are from the liner notes for “In the Pocket with Eddie Bo”

Everybody loves a lover!