Eddie Bo & Inez Cheatham
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a sucker for Eddie Bo, anything he plays/sings on, anything he produces… anything at all. But, of all the tracks I have, this has to be amongst my top 50; perhaps top 10 if I’m in the right mood.
Whilst it may not grab you with its opening bars in the way Hook And Sling does (which is a masterpiece of drum work from James Black that, in my humble opinion, is unbeaten and unbeatable); it always stops me in my tracks every time I hear it (albeit momentarily – it’s never long before my feet start tapping).
Listen as Bobby Williams’ pounds the drums, the lead guitar comes in and then Bo & Cheatham come in with a joint shout of “Shoop!” I just know you know what I mean!
Eddie Bo worked with many people in his long and varied career and otfen recorded under pseudonyms (or Noms De Guerre according to your viewpoint). He has a varied discography as a solo artist; but also recorded some stonking tunes with female accompaniment (Mary Jane Hooper, Explosions and Inez). This particular collaberation dates from January 1968 (when I was a mere four years old). There has been, for some time, some discussion on the interweb that Mary Jane Hooper and Inez Cheatham were one and the same person. Lately, this appears to have been debunked and it is now widely accepted that the two were different people (both very talented vocalists).
This is one of two copies I own, the one you hear (and see here) is the nationally licensed Capitol release (2150 promo) valued at £75 which, sadly, failed to be a national hit; the other is the Seven B issue (7107) valued at £150, which was such a hit in New Orleans it prompted the national release. The flip is a nice deep soul ballad (If I Had To Do It Over). As far as my research suggests neither copy has ever been bootlegged or re-issued, so you should be safe in your digging.
Eddie Bo – Edwin Joseph Bocage (September 20, 1930 – March 18, 2009).