INTERVIEW: Earl Gordon is ready for Mo’ Fess at French Quarter Fest

Drummer Earl Gordon made one thing clear about his new band: They’re not in the cover song business.

Gordon, along with a talented roster of New Orleans musicians, has created a musical tribute to Professor Longhair, the Crescent City piano legend whose real name was Henry Roeland “Roy” Byrd. Professor Longhair, or Fess as he was known, continues to influence musicians to this day. His vibrant and energetic piano playing in the 1970s is the stuff of legend, and Gordon had a front-row seat in the latter part of the decade.

Gordon got his musical start at age 13 and eventually joined a Canadian band by the name of the Saxons. He moved to Montreal after graduating college and signed up for Carnival Connection with Al Nichols. In the 1970s, after a recommendation by It’s a Beautiful Day’s Billy Gregory, Gordon moved to New Orleans and was asked to fill in as drummer for Fess’ band. He continued with the piano legend until 1979 and can be heard on four of the professor’s albums, including Live in Germany and Live in Chicago.

It was actually Live in Chicago that gave birth to Mo’ Fess. The recording took place at the Chicago Folk Festival in early 1976. Gordon was on the bill as the drummer. Joining him and Fess were Gregory on lead guitar, Will Harvey on rhythm guitar and Julius Farmer on bass guitar. A local radio station captured the concert, and Gregory supervised the mixing.

“Apparently they recorded, but the tapes got kind of messed up,” Gordon said in a recent phone interview. “They got refurbished again last year, and then I got a call to come in for the album debut, which they were releasing in New Orleans. And when I got in there, I was lucky to meet Tom Worrell because what we were going to do basically is do a little get-together concert with Billy Gregory who was one of the remaining players with Fess. Actually a lot of them are gone now.”

After the release party for Orleans Records’ Live in Chicago album, Gordon looked at Worrell, who was playing piano, and they knew there was some energy in the room. Gordon called Worrell one of the greatest piano players of all time, which is high praise but necessary if he’s going to play the Fess parts in Mo’ Fess. Worrell used to play with Solomon Burke and Jumping Johnny Sansone, among many, many others.

“I’ve been searching all over since I stopped playing with Fess in 1980, after he died, never found anybody that could emulate Professor Longhair quite like Tom Worrell could, and so that was like finding a needle in a haystack,” Gordon said. “It was incredible, and so we were able to basically take some of Fess’ songs and reproduce them so well.”

After the concert, Gordon started filling out the band. He contacted David Hyde, a bass player who worked with Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Delbert McClinton, the late Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Percy Sledge, Chicago’s Bill Champlin and Toto’s Bobby Kimball.

“David has been around for many, many years,” Gordon said. “I had played with David years and years ago in New Orleans as well, so that was kind of unique bringing him back into the fold. And Mo’ Fess just started becoming an entity at that point. … Now we didn’t want to be a Professor Longhair cover band. What we wanted to do was basically stay in that genre and play authentic New Orleans music the way it was supposed to be played back in that era but using our own style and basically taking from Fess as well. That’s how it turned out.”

Other band members include Leslie Blackshear-Smith (jazz singer), June Yamagishi (Papa Grows Funk), Lance Ellis (War) and Alfred Roberts (house percussionist for Allen Toussaint’s Sea Saint Studios). Originally Diane Lotny, who used to sing with Dr. John, was in the band, but they needed a New Orleans singer and recruited the immensely talented Blackshear-Smith. “We actually got a really good representation of guys that could actually play New Orleans style music,” Gordon said.

The plan is for Mo’ Fess to play a monthly residency at the legendary Maple Leaf Bear in New Orleans. They also perform at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 6 on the Tropical Isle Hand Grenade stage at the annual French Quarter Fest.

“We’re going to put a CD out,” Gordon added. “We’re going to continue in that New Orleans [style] of keeping it authentic from the roots and trying to bring back Professor Longhair’s sound. Like I said, we’re not trying to do covers, but at the same time, we’ll be playing ‘Tipitina’ to the T. We’ll be playing it like our style.”

The story goes that Fess sat down one day at a piano and began to play — no formal teaching and playing everything by ear. His first recordings, according to Orleans Records, were issued between 1949 and 1953. Early songs that drew attention include “Bald Head,” “Hey Little Girl” and “Walk Your Blues Away.” Arguably “Tipitina” and “Mardi Gras in New Orleans” became his most popular tunes (the latter was recorded by Fats Domino).

The songs were there, but the popularity faded. Fess went a decade without much musical movement, and he fell into poverty and became ill. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, of which Fess is an inductee, attributes 1971’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival as the big turnaround for the pianist. He was rediscovered and reinvigorated, and the next 10 years would prove to be his most productive and successful.

“This guy just sat down and started playing piano,” Gordon said. “The stuff didn’t really get recognized until about the early ‘70s.”

Fess, Gordon and company opened Jazz Fest multiple times in the late 1970s and often closed the musical celebration. The drummer also remembers opening for Etta James in New Orleans and having Dizzy Gillespie sit in for a whole set in 1978.

“We didn’t have cellphones or anything because I would have videotaped that whole night because all it is a memory for me at this point,” Gordon said. “There’s a lot great stories with Fess on stage. He was a great showman. His timing was impeccable. He was never mean to anybody on stage. He was just a super human being — very, very thoughtful. … I was a young kid. I was 20 years old when I was playing with him, so it didn’t really register until my later years when I really sat down and listened.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Mo’ Fess will play 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 6 on the Tropical Isle Hand Grenade stage at the annual French Quarter Fest. Click here for more information on the band. Click here for more information on the festival. Photo courtesy of the band.