Another favorite son Oliver Morgan succumbs to death
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Oliver Morgan truly enjoyed the mileage he got out of his 1964 hit tune, "Who Shot the La La?" The New Orleans R&B and soul man, who died Tuesday, July 31, 2007, always found amusement in the inevitable question about the culprit behind La La's demise. While the subject of the song, Lawrence "Prince La La" Nelson, wasn't actually shot, the answer to the query never varied-"It must have been a 44." "I got over at the Apollo because everybody wanted to know who shot the La La," Morgan remembered with a chuckle in a 2005 interview that included legendary record producer Cosimo Matassa. It was in Matassa's studio at 521 Gov. Nicholls St. that Morgan recorded what would become his signature tune with his lyrics perfectly matched with the music created by pianist/vocalist and long time friend, Eddie Bo. It propelled him from playing joints in his Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood where he was born on May 6, 1933 to world-renowned venues like the Apollo and Howard Theater as well as performances oversees. "Man, I liked that," the ever-smiling Morgan proclaimed. "It was big time. I was all duded up. All over Europe, everybody knew the song." Morgan first entered the same Gov. Nicholls studio in 1961 to cut his debut 45 r.p.m. for the AFO (All for One) label with "I Got a Feeling for You Baby" and "I'll Make a Bet." He recalled being somewhat intimidated. "It was so big -it was scary," said the vocalist who recorded under his childhood nickname Nookie Boy and was backed by the talent-packed AFO studio band with luminaries such as label executive/pianist Harold Battiste, trumpeter Melvin Lastie, saxophonists Red Tyler and Nat Perrilliat, bassist Chuck Badie, and drummer John Boudreaux. According to Battiste, it was Morgan's friend and fellow Ninth Warder, vocalist/percussionist Jessie Hill who helped open the doors for Morgan's recording debut. Hill, who, like Morgan casually adopted his hit tune, "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" as his middle name, was instrumental in bringing Morgan as well as Barbara George and Prince La La to AFO.n
Battiste. Hill lived right next door to Morgan with Eddie Bo just around the corner in the musically fertile "Lower Nine" of the mid-1950s and early 1960s. It was also home to musicians like piano and vocal men Fats Domino and Smiley Lewis plus the Lastie family with guys like drummer James Black, pianist Huey Smith and guitarist Earl King making regular treks across the canal to get in on the regular jams. Morgan, who began singing in church and learned to play piano by ear and by watching Fats Domino, was right there taking in the sounds at fish fries, house parties and the local joints. "We were just a group of people trying to be musicians - we had fun," says Bo, who encouraged Morgan to further pursue a musical career. "He was working at Kirschman's furniture store and moving refrigerators upstairs," remembers Bo, "and I said, 'Let's get together and start something.'" It was seeing Fats Domino's big Cadillac and his fancy shoes, however, that Morgan laughingly said first inspired him to be a musician. "He was a unique character," says Matassa, "but his character was softer-more happy than forceful. The players made the rounds and that was a big contribution to what the 'New Orleans sound' is. They defined that sound back then - the small group, house party sound." It was Bo who got Morgan back into the studio in the late 1960s to record some soul sides for his Seven-B label. Morgan continued to play clubs and received further recognition for his always-joyous sets at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He'd always get the crowd going when, with a second line umbrella in hand, he'd get down from the stage to dance among his fans. "He loved to do the things that made him popular," says Bo. "He had a magic touch greeting and communicating with his audience." "I cut up" is how Morgan smilingly described his shows and agreed that Jazz Fest as well as WWOZ radio reacquainted him with old fans and introduced him to new admirers. Morgan was a visible entity in the French Quarter where for ten years he worked at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. He enjoyed being acknowledged by the patrons who were surprised to see him outside of the music world. "People would say, 'I know you,'" Morgan again remembered with a smile. It wasn't until 1988 that Morgan released his first full album, I'm Home, on Allen Toussaint's NYNO label. With Toussaint on piano and the producer's studio band behind him, Morgan applied his soulfully gritty vocals to tunes from friends like Lee Dorsey and Joe Tex plus the essential Otis Redding. "I was glad to be back," Morgan said of I'm Home, just seven months before Hurricane Katrina drove him to Atlanta from his life-long residence in the Ninth Ward. Oliver Morgan was a family man, a friendly man, a gentle man who brightened people's world with his enthusiasm and quick smile. "He devoted himself to being an entertainer," says Bo. "He was great with everybody.
Related: Another favorite son Oliver Morgan succumbs to death
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