Bobby Marchan - Get Down With It (expanded)

0n the extended conversation around Little Richard and his New Orleans posse; the guy I've left out is Bobby Marchan. Bobby was one of the three lead singers for Huey P. Smith's Clowns as well as a star at the Bourbon Street & Dew Drop drag revues. The first cover here is the base that this collection is made from but I have flushed it out to 32 tracks with some excellent stuff that was left out and a later single rip.

Until I put this thing together I confess I was at best lukewarm on Bobby, but this collection (actually there is a good bit more) has made me a believer; this dude could flat out sing! 

"Bobby Marchan (born Oscar James Gibson) (April 30, 1930 in Youngstown Ohio – December 5, 1999) was a well-respected American rhythm and blues bandleader, MC, singer-performer, recording artist, and female impersonator, who initially began performing in New Orleans nightclubs, specifically the Dew Drop Inn and the Club Tijuana in the mid 1950s.

Marchan also toured with the band of Huey "Piano" Smith, sometimes performing as lead singer / bandleader and substituting vocally for Huey Smith (who reputedly often would stay in New Orleans to write and record while his namesake band "Huey Smith and the Clowns" played clubs and toured on the road). The touring band included James Booker on piano. (Huey did not like leaving New Orleans and his local connections, he also had a penchant for double booking dates so there were often two versions of the band playing at the same time)

One of Marchan's vocal performances with Huey Smith and the Clowns can be heard on the New Orleans R&B recording, "Don't You Just Know It", which was released in 1958. Marchan also had a solo #1 hit on the national R&B charts in 1960 with the tune "There is Something on your Mind," a cover of a song performed by Big Jay McNeely.

Marchan recorded for a handful of small soul labels such as Fire Records, Volt, Dial, Cameo, and Gamble as well as Ace Records, which had released the Clowns' records. Marchan regularly performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

In the 1990s his company Manicure Productions was involved in hip hop music booking and promotion including Take Fo' Records bounce music artist DJ Jubilee. He was involved with the formation of Cash Money Records.

Marchan died from liver cancer on December 5, 1999"   

The more I listen, the more I am moved to say that rarely in singing history has anyone had better control of his falsetto than Bobby!