Billie
and De De Pierce were an enduring love story in jazz. Billie
(Wilhelmina) Goodson came to New Orleans from the Pensacola area in the
early 30's, following sister Sadie Goodson who was already established
in the Crescent City. (All seven Goodson girls were trained in piano and
voice and three, Sadie Billie and Ida, survived into modern times to be
recorded.) Billie soon found work with George Lewis and Buddy Petit and
others. While playing a gig at the Blue Jay Club in 1935 she met, fell
in love with and married trumpeter De De Pierce and together they led a
house band at Luthjen's for the next two decades until De De's health
problems forced a temporary retirement. 
Failure to get proper treatment led to De De loosing his sight but by 1959 into the 60's they made a comeback just in time to catch the Preservation Hall era. They made recordings for Folklyric, Jazzology, Riverside, and American Music as well as touring and recording with Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Health issues forced a second retirement by the 70's and De De died in 1973, followed 10 months later by Billie.
These recordings were made mostly at an Art Gallery turned nighttime recording studio here in the French Quarter by a pair of drinking companions and historic jazz enthusiasts, Larry Borenstein and Bill Russell. What makes these particular sessions special is that on tracks 6-12 they were asked to do their bawdiest material from the old Luthjen's days. An interesting time portal to the days that give rise to jazz and R&B.
