Esquerita, an early pioneer of rock and roll who influenced LIttle Richard, brought a unique style to the emerging music in the 1950s.
A small island off of Manhattan, Hart Island, is the final resting place of more than one million people. Long the cemetery for unclaimed and unidentified bodies, the island holds many in mass and unmarked graves.
Various pandemics in the city’s history sent many bodies to Hart Island. Along those lines, combined with discrimination and society’s treatment of the poor, Hart Island became the final resting place for many impoverished people who died from AIDS.
Thus, after one of the parents of rock and roll known as Esquerita died of complications related to AIDS on October 23, 1986, city workers buried him in an unmarked grave on Hart Island. His body remains lost among others on the island to this day (just as many earlier blues musicians, such as Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith, were laid to rest in unmarked graves).
Esquerita was born Eskew Reeder, Jr. on November 20 in either 1935 or 1938 in South Carolina. He still went by his birth name when as a young gay black teenager in the early 1950s, he met Richard Penniman, who would soon become famous as the legendary Little Richard. Reeder taught Penniman his piano and singing style. The two would stay in touch throughout their lives.
Esquerita had a deeper voice than Little Richard. But the driving piano and the rock-and-roll whoops of ecstasy as well as the excitement in the music illustrate clear parellels.
Yet, despite similarities in styles that helped birth rock and roll, their lives diverged widely. Little Richard was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, the same year Esquerita was buried in an unmarked grave in a potter’s field. Prior to that, in his later years, Esquerita worked as a parking lot attendant and was seen washing car windshields for tips in Brooklyn.
But Reeder, under the name Esqueriata and other names, made some great music during the early years of rock and roll. Like many other early rock and rollers, Esquerita’s music had its roots in gospel music. But he would develop his own style under the name Esquerita, often wearing makeup, sunglasses, wigs, and a high pompadour.
Starting in the 1950s and even going into the 1980s, he recorded and performed music, but never found the success or credit he deserved. One of his best-known songs from his early recordings is “Rockin’ the Joint,” where you can hear the Little Richard connection.
Unfortunately you cannot find his grave to pay your respects. But you can visit and enjoy the great music to hear the legacy left to us by Eskew Reeder, Jr., also known as Esquerita, S.Q. Reeder, Estrelita, Escorita, The Magnificent Malochi, and The Fabolash.
Although our purchased lawn seats in Saratoga Springs did not let us see the live humans of Dead & Company, the band put on a great show on its final tour.
In 2022, my wife and I got a babysitter and scheduled a rare night out to see Dead & Company in Saratoga Springs, NY. As we left our home, lacking confidence in my ability to use online tickets, I pulled over to double check I could access the tickets on my phone. But it came up that the tickets were being refunded. My wife did a quick Google search and we discovered that our first post-baby post-pandemic-shutdown live music show was cancelled. John Mayer could not make it due to family health issues that night. So, we ended up going to see a movie, Top Gun: Maverick.
Dead & Company was returning in 2023 as part of their final tour. Although a year earlier we had great tickets, we did not initially get tickets in 2023. So, later when we had to buy them through the secondary market, they were so expensive we settled for the lawn seats at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) on Sunday, June 18, 2023.
I’ve had lawn seating at many concerts. It has always been a good experience, lounging on the lawn even though you see the band at a distance. But soon after arriving at SPAC, I realized something was different. Thousands of people were outside of a building instead of surrounding an open ampitheater. A realization came over me, my wife, and her cousin who had come with us. The band would be indoors out of our view completely.
And that is how we paid $450 for three people to watch a band on a big screen and never even catch a glimpse of the real human forms of Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, Bob Weir, Oteil Burbridge, or Jeff Chimenti.
The Show
So, how was the show? Well I am not an expert on the Grateful Dead and had only seen them twice before this show, including one time touring with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. But like my previous shows, this one was a lot of fun with a lot of good music. And most importantly, the band always has one of the most fun, dedicated, and polite crowds of any live shows.
As Bob Dylan noted in his book The Philosophy of Modern Song, “With most bands, the audience participates like in a spectator sport. They just stand there and watch. They keep a distance. With the Dead, the audience is part of the band – they might as well be on the stage.” So, in a sense, even from our vantage point outside the Center, we were with the band on the stage the whole time. Had it been any other band, I would not have enjoyed paying for tickets to never see the band members live.
Being the last tour, there were a number of classics like “Friend of the Devil” and “Sugar Magnolia.” They played “Drums” and “Space” as they seem to be doing everywhere. Despite the love for those intstrumentals from many longtime fans, I noticed a lot of folks heading to the bathroom during them even as this version of the the Dead did a great job. Mayer, brought his guitar skills and bluesy vocals and love of the Grateful Dead catalog to the songs he sang. In the second set, to appease the longtime fans, Weir did most of the lead singing.
As usual, there were some covers previously performed during the Jerry Garcia days, like Rev. Gary Davis’s “Death Have No Mercy” and an encore of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London.” If you care to see the full list, you may check out the whole setlist from the show I basically watched on TV.
In conclusion, if you like the Grateful Dead, you should have been there or maybe catch Dead & Company at one of the few remaining shows. It seems while this is the end of this particular version of the many post-Jerry Garcia bands, it is not the last we will hear of Bob Weir. Still, it is sad to know we are nearing the end of this great American band that carved out its own niche of music history and culture.
Overall rating: The band: A. The venue’s lawn seating: C (saved from failing by excellent screen placement and wonderful videography). The fans: A+
Check out a video from the show below. If you invite over a bunch of friends who are fans, you can pack yourself together in your yard and watch your screen to get the same experience I got at SPAC.
Leave your two cents in the comments. What is your favorite show you’ve seen from the Grateful Dead or one of its offshoot bands?
Simon & Garfunkel last performed a concert in 2010 with Art Garfunkel struggling through the performance due to health issues at the time.
On Saturday, April 24, 2010, Simon & Garfunkel performed at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Due to health issues, Art Garfunkel struggled through the performance, supported by Paul Simon. Seeing the two onstage as the show was coming to a close, someone in the audience would be surprised that it would be the last concert the two performed together.
The two would reunite briefly two months later for one song, “Mrs. Robinson,” at an American Film Institute Life Achievement Award tribute to director Mike Nichols. But the New Orleans Jazz Festival remains the last show the two did together.
Through the years, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel became almost as well known for their feuds and breakups as for their beautiful harmonies and great library of recordings. And then there were the various reunions, including the famous 1981 Concert in Central Park. Another one of their reunions was the 2010 New Orleans Jazz Festival. It was not meant to be their final concert, and many additional shows were planned as part of the tour.
In New Orleans, though, Art Garfunkel had been sick and showed up with what was later diagnosed as vocal cord paresis. The difficulties with his voice during the show led him later to explain, “I was terrible, and crazy nervous. I leaned on Paul Simon and the affection of the crowd.”
His voice struggles and the ensuing support from Simon and the crowd highlight the main set closing song, “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” While reports regarding earlier parts of the show focused on the troubled performance and ruined songs, the closing number was a triumph, at least in context of Garfunkel’s problems.
Oh, if you need a friend, I’m sailing right behind; Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind; Like a bridge over troubled water, I will ease your mind.
Garfunkel made it through the difficult song, supported by his lifelong friend and sometimes nemesis, and urged on by the crowd. It is beautiful to watch, especially in light of the message of the song about supporting a friend.
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” was the closing number of the 15-song set. But the two came back on stage for an encore with three more songs, “Sounds of Silence,” “The Boxer,” and “Cecilia.” It would be the main closer “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” though, that remains most remembered for the song’s reliance on Garfunkel’s challenged solo voice to hit the high notes.
Yet, despite what appears to be love and good will between the two men onstage in New Orleans, that good will would be lost once again after the performance. They had to cancel the rest of the tour due to Garfunkel’s vocal problems.
After the show, Garfunkel looked forward to eventually continuing performing as a duo. But his claim to Simon that he would be able to continue within a year did not come true. Simon felt Garfunkel was not honest about the seriousness of the problem. Once again, their exchanges damaged the trust between the two men. The distrust, as well as the friendship, went back to when they were teenagers (when Garfunkel first felt Simon breached a trust by signing a record deal without him).
After the New Orleans performance and delays, more words were exchanged through the media. In a 2015 interview, Garfunkel called Simon a “jerk” and “idiot” for breaking up the duo, though he still left open the possibility of a reunion. But in 2016, Simon said, a reunion was “out of the question” and that the two men no longer even talked.
Garfunkel’s voice did return, as shown by a 2019 solo acoustic performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” But with the exception of the short 2010 tribute to The Graduate director Mike Nichols, Simon and Garfunkel never returned to the stage together.
While we can still hope for a reunion, Paul Simon announced his retirement from touring in 2018. But he has appeared live since then, including a 2019 show where he sang “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”
What is your favorite Simon & Garfunkel song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
How many major artists have gone through as many record companies as Charlie Rich? His amazing career starting with Sun Records in the 1950s through his death in the 1990s.
Many music fans may only know Charlie Rich (aka “the Silver Fox”) through his massive hit songs in the 1970s, “Behind Closed Doors” and “Most Beautiful Girl.” But Rich had a long diverse musical career that ranged from being one of the early rock and roll singers at Sun Records to a final album in the 1990s highlighting his love of jazz. But for someone wanting to delve deeper into his catalog, the journey may be confusing, largely because he recorded for so many record companies.
Unlike other artists of Rich’s talent, he has no large music box set covering his career due to his music being spread out across so many record companies. Similarly, it remains surprising that there is no official biography of someone who created such a wonderful body of music during a long career.
Many have noted that Rich never consistently achieved the level of fame he deserved, often blaming it upon the fact that record companies and producers had trouble categorizing someone with such diverse talents. Others have noted Rich’s own hesitancies about fame, sometimes bordering on self-destructiveness.
Despite the lack of a comprehensive biography, author Peter Guralnick has written two beautiful lengthy essays about Rich that appeared in his books Feel Like Going Home: Portraits in Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll (1971) and Lost Highway: Journeys and Arrivals of American Musicians (1979). Around 2005, I asked Guralnick — who has now written definitive biographies of Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, and Sam Philips — if he had any plans to ever write a full biography about Rich. Unfortunately, at least at that time, he said he had not plans on expanding what he had already written about Rich in his essays.
Regarding the music, despite Rich’s lack of a large career-spanning box set of music, fans newly discovering Rich’s music have several options. Although there are numerous one-CD “greatest hits” packages, fans are better off starting with the excellent 2-CD compilation that does include music spanning his career, Feel Like Going Home: The Essential Charlie Rich. Feel Like Going Home does a wonderful job of capturing the range of Rich’s talent. The hits are here as well as other important songs from his career. It is a great place to start.
If you prefer to start with a one-CD collection, I suggest you avoid the many slapdash “greatest hits” packages. Instead, the best one-CD hits package is the one that captures many of the peaks across several different record labels,A Rich Anthology: 1960-1978. Beyond that, if one wishes to delve deeper into Rich’s career (and one should), one must understand how his music career went in many different directions. And then find CD’s each reflecting the different era’s.
Sun Records 1958-62
Prior to signing to Sun Records, Rich developed his love of jazz that included studying music at the University of Arkansas and playing in a jazz group in Oklahoma after enlisting in the Air Force in 1952.
When Rich signed with Sun Records in 1958, Sam Phillips saw great potential in the singer-songwriter. But ultimately Rich did not have the success at the label that Phillips had hoped for, although Rich wrote a hit for Sun’s Jerry Lee Lewis (“I’ll Make It All Up to You”) and wrote and recorded his own hit, “Lonely Weekends.”
In retrospect, though, Rich’s output at Sun is a remarkable body of work. Fans looking to explore this part of Rich’s career would be well-served by the 2009 3-CD set, The Complete Sun Masters, featuring 102 tracks recorded for the Sun Records and Phillips Records labels (including alternate versions and demos). Covering the same ground, Bear Family Records earlier released Lonely Weekends: The Sun Years 1958-1962. The latter includes better packaging and a worthwhile book, so if you can find a copy and price is not a concern, the Bear Family Records version would be preferable. But otherwise, if you just want the music, The Complete Sun Masters is available for a much better price as a digital download.
There are one-CD best-of compilations covering the Sun Years and you cannot go wrong with them either. I own The Sun Sessions (2007) and enjoyed it before upgrading to The Complete Sun Masters. But I suggest you ave yourself some time and just get the entire Sun output.
Groove/RCA: 1963 – 1965
By the early 1960s, Rich was frustrated with Sun Records. He explained, “Sam Phillips had gotten wealthy, and was more interested in Holiday Inn stock than the record business.” So, he switched to Groove, a subsidiary of RCA records. The legendary Chet Atkins signed him to the label and produced his recordings.
Atkins recognized Rich’s vast talent, saying after Rich’s death, “He was one of the greatest singer-musicians that I ever knew.”
Atkins did a great job in capturing Rich’s tenor voice. While Rich’s recordings still contained elements of rockabilly, soul, jazz, pop, country, and blues, most recordings show a Nashville influence. Groove was the first place to add chorale vocals and strings to some of Rich’s songs. At Groove, Rich did not achieve any major hits, with the first single, the wonderful version of “Big Boss Man,” failing to meet expectations on the charts.
One may explore Charlie Rich’s Groove/RCA years with the compilation 2-CD set, Too Many Teardrops – The Complete Groove & RCA Recordings(2008). Again, there are shorter samplers of the period, but it is worth getting all of the wonderful music. AllMusic recommends the set, too, saying it reveals the sound of a master discovering his voice, and the set provides “a clean, comprehensive retrospective of everything Rich recorded between 1963 and 1965. “
Below, Rich performs “River, Stay Away From My Door” and “Big Boss Man” on The Jimmy Dean Show in 1964. One may see that Dean is impressed with the young Rich, who does not yet have his signature silver hair.
Smash Records 1965
After Groove, in 1965 for a brief period, Rich went to Smash Records (a subsiduary of Mercury Records), where producer Jerry Kennedy focused on Rich’s country and rock-and-roll sound. The first single, “Mohair Sam,” written by Dallad Frazier, was a top 30 hit for Rich.
But none of the following singles did so well, although Rich and Kennedy made some great music, including “Mohair Sam'” B-side, “I Washed My Hands in Muddy Water.” Soon, Rich was off to another label.
There are great songs from this period, such as “You Can Have Her,” a rerecording of his Sun record “Lonely Weekends,” and a range of strong songs written by other writers as well as by Rich and his wife Margaret Ann Rich. So, again, the way to go is to go complete, with The Complete Smash Sessions (1992) or 2011’s It Ain’t Gonna Be That Way: The Complete Smash Sessions. If you are buying rather than streaming, because of Rich’s short tenure at the record label, the complete set is not going to hurt your pocketbook (with only 29 tracks).
Hi Records 1966-1967
Rich next made a short stay with Hi Records, a small Memphis label. There, he recorded a number of R&B singles and covers of Hank Williams songs. Although his stay at the label was brief, his recordings showed a wonderful range and quality. Highlights here include “When Something is Wrong With My Baby,” “I’ll Shed No Tears,” a re-recording of his Groove/RCA song “Who Will the Next Fool Be,” and a cover of Williams’s “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” that AllMusic calls “among the most beautiful and emotionally naked ever recorded.”
Once again, because of the short stay at the label, you should just get the whole set of 28 tracks available on 2000’s The Complete Hi Recordings Of Charlie Rich. Or you may find 25 of the tracks on 1994’s Charlie Rich Sings the Songs of Hank Williams Plus the R&B Sessions (missing “Anytime,” an alternate version of “Only Me,” and “Don’t Come Knocking at My Door”) . Currently, The Complete Hi Recordings is more difficult to find (and so more expensive), so if you are buying rather than streaming, Charlie Rich Sings the Songs. . . may be the way to go for all but completists.
Epic Records: 1967 – 1978
With a recommendation from legendary producer Billy Sherrill, Epic Records signed Rich in 1967. Rich would stay at Epic for more than a decade, the longest tenure he would have at any record label. And it would be at Epic where Rich had his greatest commercial success as a country singer, recording records with Sherill’s lush backing vocals and strings.
The biggest two hits were “Behind Closed Doors” and “The Most Beautiful Girl.” Anyone alive during that time could not escape those songs on the radio. The success of those songs even prompted Rich’s previous record labels to look for songs to release, such as Groove releasing “There Won’t Be Anymore,” recorded in 1960s, as a single in 1973 (when it topped the country charts and did well on the pop charts).
“Behind Closed Doors” later also featured on the soundtrack for the Clint Eastwood movie Every Which Way But Loose (1978). In the film, Rich briefly appeared in an uncredited role as himself.
The movie also included Rich’s song, “I’ll Wake You Up When I Get Home,” selected by the orangutan on the jukebox. That song is apparently only available on the movie soundtrack, never appearing on a proper Rich album. But it became his last country music hit song. And, like much of Rich’s music, through the years it had an impact on listeners, such as Toby Keith (“about as good as it has ever got”).
Alas, Rich’s commercial success did not last. There are various explanations for his reversal of fortune. Some have claimed that Rich’s decline was a result of his behavior at the 1975 CMA Awards ceremony, where, on pain pills and drunk, he famously burned the card announcing John Denver had won Entertainer of the Year.
A more likely explanation for his career’s trajectory is that changing tastes in the 1970s as well as the sameness of some of his Epic recordings may have contributed to the decline. Sherrill’s productions, which once commercially complemented Rich’s tenor, began to overshadow Rich’s voice, as on 1974’s Very Special Love Songs.
Ultimately, Rich would again change record labels. He later explained that he felt he had gone as far as he could with Sherrill: “Billy worked hard on my recordings, but we were not progressing anywhere.”
There currently is not a good sweeping collection of Rich’s Epic years, perhaps because this label is where he had his largest output. Outstanding albums include Behind Closed Doors, Let Me Go, and Fabulous Charlie Rich (including a wonderful “Life’s Little Ups and Downs,” written by Charlie’s wife Margaret Ann Rich). Another excellent album from this period is Silver Linings, a gospel album where Sherrill allowed sparser arrangements than his other productions to highlight Rich’s voice.
Some Rich fans may downplay Rich’s work at Epic, saying the countrypolitan productions and strings sound dated and did not let Rich shine. But one cannot dispute the craftsmanship of the recordings that gave Rich his greatest success.
I still get shivers when I hear the opening piano of “Behind Closed Doors.” And the more consistent direction of Rich during these years gave a steady competence to the work, whether for good or bad.
United Artists 1978 – 1980; Elektra Records: 1980 – semi-retirement
After his success at Epic, Rich once again changed labels at the end of the 1970s and then again in 1980. His stays at United Artists and Elektra Records produced a number of singles. And United Artists released the albums I Still Believe in Love (1978), The Fool Strikes Again (1979), and Nobody But You (1979).
These albums apparently never made it to CDs or digital so are not available except for used vinyl versions. The Fool Strikes Again, however, may be the best Charlie Rich album cover, featuring the Silver Fox next to . . . a real fox.
Swan Song with Sire Records in 1992
After spending nearly a decade in semi-retirement with only an occasional performance, and more than a decade without a full album, Rich returned with a new album in 1992, Pictures and Paintings. The album was a labor of love, produced by journalist Peter Guralnick, who had earlier written moving essays about Rich at different stages of his early career.
The new album allowed Rich to delve into his lifelong love of jazz, sounding unlike many of his prior recordings in one way but also highlighting elements that were always there too. Similarly, one may also see his love of jazz in a performance at Church Street Station in 1988.
For this period, fans will of course want to listen to Pictures and Paintings, with highlights including a gospel version of Rich’s song “Feel Like Going Home” (which also appears as a wonderful demo version on the collection Feel Like Going Home: The Essential Charlie Rich (mentioned at the start of this essay)
Final Thoughts
The album Pictures and Paintings received critical praise, but it would be Rich’s final album. He passed away in his sleep in July 1995 while on vacation in Louisiana. He was 62. His body was buried within thirty miles of where he got his career break at Sun Records (just like another Sun Records legend, Elvis Presley, who lies buried at Graceland not far from Sun Records).
There are few, if any, comparable artists who bounced around to so many record companies while creating such a vast quality catalog. Hopefully some day we will get that comprehensive box set — or at least more of his unreleased recordings will become available. For now, though, there is plenty of great music and hopefully this short tour gives you an idea of where to start.
What is your favorite Charlie Rich period? Leave your two cents in the comments.
Our review of Natalie Merchant’s “Keep Your Courage” album and tour, finds one of music’s finest writers and singers of the last four decades in top form, inspiring us out of darker days.
Natalie Merchant released her first new album of new material in nine years with Keep Your Courage. Along with that album’s release on April 14, 2023, Merchant launched a new tour at the Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, NY, near her Hudson Valley home. And I was fortunate to see her show there on April 15.
Below we examine the new album and what inspired Natalie Merchant’s new music. And then we discuss the opening weekend of the tour supporting the album from one of our most enduring singer-songwriters of the last forty years.
Keep Your Courage
First, the album. Keep Your Courage emerges from a rough time for Natalie Merchant. In addition to trying to get through the pandemic, she underwent spinal surgery four days after the start of the lockdown. The surgery required a long healing process.
The album’s title, Keep Your Courage, as well as the image of Joan of Arc on the cover, gives away that it is not a dark album. Instead, as AllMusic writes, the music “celebrates compassion, empathy, and inspiration.”
The album includes some of the most catchy songs from Merchant’s post-10,000 Maniacs career, including the album’s opening two duets with Abena Koomson-Davis of the Resistance Revival Choir. “Come On Aphrodite” immediately became one of my favorite songs from Merchant’s career.
The title of “Come on Aphrodite” hints at some of the themes on the album, where Merchant’s songwriting incorporates myths, legends, and history to send a positive message. As Merchant has explained, “During the pandemic, it really felt like we were living in the myth.”
Many of the songs on the album are slower and many feature rich orchestrations, more rooted in classical and folk music than in pop or rock. Or as Jim Shahen at No Depression describes the arrangements as “baroque pop.”
Merchant wrote nine songs for the album, which also includes an interpretation of “Hunting the Wren” by Ian Lynch of the Irish band Lankum. Merchant’s “Sister Tilly” provides a tribute to the inspiring women of her mother’s generation.
Yet, both the slower and more upbeat songs are uplifting. Largely because Merchant’s writing and her voice, as always, bring a deep warmth and compassion to the music.
Perhaps the best description of the two types of music on Keep Your Courage comes from a statement Merchant made about creating the album: “Music got me through the pandemic, and what I wanted to hear was thoughtful, beautiful music, or I wanted to dance.”
The Keep Your Courage Tour
The above description about the combination of “thoughtful, beautiful music” with dancing music, not surprisingly, also describes Merchant’s 2023 tour. Alternating between the slower lush music of her career and music that makes you want to dance, Merchant performed a moving and, at times, lively show. Throughout, despite needing some honey for her throat at one point, Merchant’s voice remains distinctive and strong as it ever was.
Her performance at Bardavon Opera House in Poughkeepsie, NY on Saturday, April 15, 2023, featured a guitar, a piano, a cello, several stringed instruments, and a powerful backup singer. Although some of her shows on this tour feature a fuller local orchestra, her smaller travelling group filled the house with a sound that well-suited Merchant’s voice.
Not surprisingly, the setlist featured several songs from the new album, including “Sister Tilly,” “Come On Aphrodite,” “Narcissus,” “The Feast of St. Valentine,” “Big Girls,” and “Tower of Babel.” But the 25 songs (with an intermission) also included highlights across her long career, like “Beloved Wife” and “Ophelia.” And, much to the delight of the audience, Merchant herself danced to uplifting songs from both her solo career and her time with 10,000 Maniacs, like “Kind and Generous,” “Wonder,” and the final encore closing “These Are Days.”
All in all, in both her new album and her ongoing tour, Merchant brings us both somber reflection and uplifting celebration of getting through dark days. And it means more because she dances with knowledge that the dark days always come again.
But that is why when you can, you have to take time to reflect while also remembering to dance.
