http://LouisianaJukeboxCafe.com/

Louisiana Jukebox Cafe, P. O. Box 14448, Baton Rouge, LA (2026)

06/04/2026

Happy “Heavenly” Birthday to Frank Painia, who was proclaimed as “The Mayor of LaSalle Street” after creating what became the “Swankiest Night Spot” in New Orleans……’The Dew Drop Cafe’…..later renamed just ‘The Dew Drop.’
Painia was born in the Iberville Parish city of Plaquemine on June 4,1911, but in 1935 at the age of 24, he moved into the New Orleans neighborhood of ‘Central City’ and set up a barbershop on 2836 LaSalle Street.
In 1939, he expanded his barbershop within the building on the block and created a bar and small hotel to fill a void that was much needed, a place for black musicians and entertainers to show off their wares in front of black audiences, in what was still a ‘segregated’ New Orleans.
The Dew Drop Cafe opened its doors to many local up-and-coming musicians who got their feet wet there, such as Earl King, Tommy Ridgley, Huey “Piano” Smith, Deacon John Moore, Danny White, Allen Toussaint, Ernie K-Doe, Art Neville, Dave Bartholomew, Johnny Adams and the eventual ‘Soul Queen of New Orleans,’ Irma Thomas.
The club also brought in an array of national acts, such as Ike and Tina Turner, Eddie Bo, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Al “TNT” Braggs, Estrelita and Little Richard.
Also in the early 1950’s, when Ray Charles lived for awhile in New Orleans, he would hang out at the Dew Drop Cafe and Painia would book gigs for Charles all around the area.
By the 1960’s, the 65-room ‘Dew Drop Inn Hotel’ was billed as the “Largest Hotel In The Garden District.”
Little Richard later recorded a song called “Dew Drop Inn.” It was released by ‘Reprise Records’ in 1970…..the same year it closed.
Two years later, following a lengthy illness Painia died on July 17, 1972 at Touro Infirmary in New Orleans at the age of 61.

06/04/2026

Happy “Heavenly” Birthday to Jazz and rhythm & blues bassist and bandleader Lloyd Lambert.
Lloyd Joseph Lambert was born in the LaFourche Parish town Thibodaux on June 4, 1928.
By age nine, he was playing piano with Teddy Johnson’s band, along with his father, who played guitar.
Lambert switched to the trumpet shortly afterwards and was on the road with ‘Hosea Hill’s Serenaders’ and opened the ‘Sugar Bowl’ bar at age 14 in 1942.
In 1953, Lambert switched instruments a third time, this time to the bass, and ‘Serenaders’ became the ‘Lloyd Lambert Orchestra.’ They toured briefly with a young Ray Charles, who at the time made New Orleans his residence.
Hill, from the earlier “Serenaders,’ started managing a young guitarist named ‘Guitar Slim’ in 1953 and soon after, Lambert joined him as his back-up band.
Lambert ended up playing on all of Guitar Slim’s Specialty Record releases, which talent scout and later Mississippi-based Ace Records producer Johnny Vincent arranged.
In 1955, Lambert recorded the self-written “King Cotton” on a 78 rpm shellac for ‘Specialty Records.’ The flip side, “Heavy Sugar,” was also penned by Lambert.
Also in 1955, his band backed up Albert Hall on a 45 rpm release by Specialty and then in 1956, recorded as ‘Lloyd Lambert and His Band’ back on a Specialty 78 with a self-written “Hop ’N’ Jump.”
On the flip side, he featured saxophonist Joe Tillman with “Whistlin’ Joe,” which was written by Tillman.� Known as "Luscious" Lambert's Band, they backed ‘Guitar Slim’ both in the studio and on the road in the 1950s.
In 1958, Lambert backed up Slim on two 78 rpm releases, which appeared on the ‘Atco Records’ label.� He also worked with the likes of Ray Charles and Little Richard, among many others.
After Guitar Slim’s death, Lambert began worked as a bandleader for Carol Fran and Nappy Brown.
Lambert also worked in the studio with many other musicians, including the legendary guitarist Snooks Eaglin.
Lambert was also the brother of piano great Phamous Lambert.
In his later years, one could listen to him at various Bourbon Street clubs and occasionally sat in at the famous ‘Preservation Hall” in the French Quarter.
He also toured with New Orleans jazz vocalist Lillian Boutté,
His son, Lloyd Lambert, Jr. is the bassist for Sweden-born Theresa Andersson, who now makes her home in New Orleans.
Lambert died of cancer on October 31, 1995 at the age of 67. He was buried back in his birth town of Thibodaux at Moses Cemetery.

06/04/2026

Band manager, record producer, festival promoter, and club owner Jim Brown died tragically 53 years ago today (June 4, 1973) in a two-car automobile accident in north Louisiana.
Brown, who was just 30 years old, had just visited his recently widowed mother in Bebe, Arkansas, and was traveling back home to Baton Rouge on Highway 65 when he somehow lost control of his car and perished.
Brown was alone in the car at the time of the accident, which also injured three other people in the other automobile. The site of the wreck was just two miles north of Newelton in Tenses Parish.
Sadly, Brown had just lost his father four months prior.
Brown was best known for being the manager at that time of the Louisiana-based rock-blues group “Potliquor.” He also operated ‘Great South Artists’ productions of Baton Rouge,” while producing multiple albums for Potliquor, with the recording taking place at the Deep South Studios (formerly Montel) in Baton Rouge.
The Baton Rouge-based group opened for various national bands across the country, along with playing legendary venues like ‘The Filmore West” in San Francisco.
Brown had previously promoted other local bands such as ‘John Fred and The Pl***oy Band,’ the ‘War Babies,’ ‘SwampFox,’ and Cold Grits (Gritz).’
Brown, who was President of his fraternity (Acacia) at LSU in 1968, had also owned and operated a popular ba and and music venue just off campus on Standford Ave. across from the lake, called “The Speakeasy.”
He also had produced a local theater production, entitled “The Earl of Ruston,” where he worked with music writer Leon Medica, then of “Goatleg” and later “Louisiana LeRoux.” The play ended up performing ‘off Broadway” in New York City.”
Brown’s only controversial venture came on Memorial Day Weekend in 1970, when he was one of the co-promoters for “The Festival of Man and Earth,” which fought many legal battles before finally happening in a lackluster manner at “Thunderbird Beach” in Livingston Parish.
Brown, who was born January 10, 1943, did make his first major imprint in the music scene on Labor Day Weekend of 1969, where he coordinated the New Orleans Pop Festival, which actually took place at a race-car track in the Ascension Parish community of Prairieville.
He quickly showed off his promotion skills, as he strategically placed his band, Potliquor in a Saturday night prime slot in the two-day festival, which included the likes of bands like The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Santana, and the Chicago Transit Authority (later just known as Chicago), to name a few.
The event, which drew between 25,000 and 30,000 fans, also drew the attention of executives of Janus Records, who signed Potliquor to a record deal.

06/03/2026

......Still the answers to the questions are as muddy as the river that runs through Greenwood, Mississipp all these years later on the anniversary of that hot dusty 'Third of June ‘day….
….up on ‘Choctaw Ridge.’
Bobbie Gentry, who was born in our neighboring state of Mississippi in Chickasaw County, whose 'monster hit' in 1967 "Ode To Billie Joe" put her on the musical map, also recorded "Louisiana Man" in 1968, which was written by Louisiana's own Doug Kershaw.

06/03/2026

Happy “Heavenly” Birthday to blues vocalist and guitarist Lizzie Douglas Lawlers…..better known as “Memphis Minnie.”
She was born, however, on the west bank of New Orleans, in the Orleans Parish town of Algiers, on June 3, 1896.
When she was seven, the family moved to Walls, Mississippi, just south of Memphis.
When she was eight, she got a guitar for Christmas, and then began playing the banjo by age 10.
At age 13 in 1910, she ran away from home and started playing on the corners on Beale Street in Memphis.
After running out of money and returning home to the family farm, she got a job with ‘Ringling Brothers Circus’ at age 16 and sharpened her guitar playing while touring the South with a 3-ring circus group between 1916 and 1920.
After her mother died, Little Lizzie returned to Beale Street to start her musical career.
She was married three times, to three different blues musicians, first to Mississippi-born Joe McCoy (a.k.a. ‘Kansas Joe,’ then to Arkansas-born recording artists Casey Bill Weldon, and then finally to Arkansas-born Ernest Lawlers, better known as ‘Little Son Joe.’ Lawlers accompanied Memphis Minnie on almost all the records she released during the 20-year stretch between 1939 and 1959. He passed away two years later in 1961.
Out of her first nine recordings between 1929 and 1933, seven were under the billing of ‘Kansas Joe and Memphis Minnie.’ The first two 78 rpm shellacs were on the Columbia label, beginning with “I Want That” & “Bumble Bee” and then “When The Levee Breaks” & “That Will Be Alright.”
“When The Levee Breaks’ was made famous by the English band Led Zeppelin, appearing on their fourth untitled album in 1971.
Memphis Minnie's first two ‘solo billings’ came in 1930 on the Vocalion label with “I’m Talking About You/Bumble Bee,” and the “I’m Going Tom Make My Biscuits/Tango Blues.”
She had some 50 records under her belt by 1939, when her new husband ‘Little Son Joe’ (Lawlers) came into her life and her music.
In 1939, they recorded their first record together on the Vocalion label with Memphis Minnie on one side with “Poor And Wandering Woman Blues,” while Little Son Joe sang “Key To The World” on the flip side.
They would go on to record more than 20 more records until 1959. In all, she recorded some 200 songs.
Along with the Led Zeppelin cover of “When The Levee Breaks,” which they did alter some of the lyrics and melody, Jefferson Airplane covered “My Chauffeur Blues and Me” on their debut album, in which Signe Anderson was the band’s lead vocalist before Grace Slick took over.
Beginning in 1964, more than 50 compilation albums of her works have been produced.
Known as ‘Mamie Smith’ early on, her first band was ‘Mamie Smith and Her Jumping Boys.’
Her group was later known as ‘Memphis Minnie and Her Combo’ and then ‘Memphis Minnie and Her Jugband.’
At times, she also went by ‘Gospel Minnie,’ ‘Lizzie Douglas,’ Minnie Smith,’ Minnie Lawlers,’ Minnie McCoy’ and ‘Texas Tessie.’
Memphis Minnie passed away on August 6, 1973, in Memphis at the age of 76.

06/02/2026

We take “Tuesday’s Time Machine” back 63 years ago today, when Lafayette native Olin Angelle Boudreaux ‘rolled the dice’ on what would be long musical career by releasing his first record….under the moniker…”Roland Dice.”
It was produced by Eloy Dore, who at the time owned the ‘Oriental Club’ in New Iberia. (Formerly the ‘Victory Club.’
The two songs, both written by Boudreaux, “Everybody Loves Somebody” and “Tell Me Why, Oh Why,”
appeared on the ‘Oriental Records’ label, most probably being recorded in Robert Thibodeaux’s St. Martinville recording studio, which opened in July of 1961. The songs were published by ‘Hatchet Music Productions,’ the name of the Thibodeaux’s studio.
Boudreaux however, hooked up with southwest Texas record producer Huey Meaux for the release of “Velma” on the Philadelphia-based ‘Jamie’ label.
Shortly after that record’s release, Boudreaux dropped the ‘Roland Dice,’ packed his bags and headed to Los Angeles.
He also took on a new name, “Bobby Angelle.”
Out West, he first joined the group ‘Al & The Originals,” with Angelle handling lead vocals, while the group consisted of Al Navarro (group leader and bass player), Arthur Adams (guitar and vocals), Rick Allen (organ) and Ron Bingo (drums).
They released “Girl You're So Fine” and “Please Take Me Back” on the ‘Ten Star’ label in 1965� Later, the group became, "Originals" of Sight & Sounds, with members, Arthur Reeves (aka Arthur K. Adams on guitar and vocals), Al Navarro (bass), Ron "The Brown Beatle" Barrett (drums) and Bobby Angelle on piano and vocals.� In 1966, they released “Have Mercy” and “Long Boots” on Ron Barrett’s ‘J.J. I. Records’ label.� “Bobby Angelle” became a solo artist later in 1966, with a string of releases on ‘Ten Star’s’ parent company label ‘Money Records.’ They included: “I Love The Way You Love / I'm Begging” in 1966, followed by "Living A Lie / I Wanna Go Back Home” and “Too Much For You / Someone Is Gonna Hurt You” in 1967.
Bobby Angelle’ most popular song on the ‘Money’ label was “I Wanna To Go Back Home,” while another outstanding ballad with strong vocals was “Someone’s Gonna Hurt You.”
In 1968, also on ‘Money Records’ were na Jimmy Reed cover of “It's Just Gotta Be That Way / You Got Me Dizzy.”
Some unissued recording during that time on ‘Money’ was later released posthumously.� He switched to ‘Imperial Records’ in 1969 with “I Used To Be Happy / No Other Love Could Be.” � A Los Angeles resident for the last 31 years of his life, Olin “Angelle” Boudreaux passed away on June 27, 1994 in ‘The City of Angels.’

06/02/2026

Happy “Heavenly” Birthday to legendary Cajun fiddler Tony Thibodeaux.
Born Antoine “Tony” Thibodeaux just outside of Rayne on June 2, 1938, he got his first big break in the music business when he joined Aldus Roger and ‘The Lafayette Pl***oys’ at the age of 17 in 1955.
The Lafayette Pl***oys first appeared on J.D. “Jay” Miller’s Crowley-based ‘Feature’ label (78 rpm), with “Love Sick Waltz” and “Mardi Gras Dance.”
In 1958, they appeared on their initial 45 rpm release on ‘Swallow Records,’ with the songs, “Las Valse A Alida” and “Cajun Special.”
The Lafayette Pl***oys also appeared on Floyd Soileau’s “Jin Records” label.
He stayed with the Lafayette Pl***oys for 13 years until 1968, when he took a short breather from the music business.
Thibodeaux however, returned soon enough and this time with his own band, ‘Tony Thibodeaux and The Cajun Fever.’
His ‘Cajun Fever’ band included the likes os his brother Leon Thibodeaux, along with Reggie Matte, David ‘Pokey’ Guidry, and Joe Simon.
Thibodeaux was a member of ‘Robert Bertrand and The Louisiana Ramblers.
In 1998, he played fiddle and co-produced, along with Rufus Thibodeaux a 15-track CD album on the ‘LaLouisiane Records’ label, entitled ‘ Rufus and Tony Thibodeaux: “Fiddlin’ with Friends.”
Along with being a well-known fiddler, Thibodeaux had been an insurance salesman with Evangeline, Security, and Melancon Life Insurance, as well as a police officer for some 10 years stretching from the late 1970’s into the 80’s at the Abbeville Police Department. He also served in the U.S. Army National Guard.
In 2003, the ‘Cajun Music Association Hall of Fame’ recipient was named “Fiddler of the Year” by the ‘Cajun French Music Association.”

Thibodeaux passed away on September 30, 2010, at his residence in Lake Charles at the age of 72.

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