Gary U.S. Bonds - New Orleans - 1960

Did this song change my life? Maybe. It turned me up a corner, that's for sure. I was eleven or twelve, getting ready to wrap up grade school, and I was amazed by this song, it just grabbed me by the coat, dangled me off the ground, and spoke to me. I had been way into the Rock n' Roll thing since 1956, but as far as what actually put me on notice, there's this.

After "New Orleans" I was very aware of what records came out of New Orleans, and that's a rich vein to mine right there. Then, when the Rolling Stones came along, the fact that they covered a lot of New Orleans music was a big selling point.

These songs sounded great on juke boxes and car radios, which emphasized the bass and compressed everything.