Biography

Martin Hawkins, author of A Shot in the Dark: Making Records in Nashville, 1945–1955 and, with Colin Escott, Good Rockin’ Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock ’n’ Roll, has written over 400 magazine articles, LP sleeve notes, and CD booklets on roots music since 1971.

Schedule

Noon to 12:45 p.m.
Capitol Park Museum, First Floor
Book Talk
Slim Harpo

1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Barnes & Noble Bookselling Tent
Book Signing

Slim Harpo: Blues King Bee of Baton Rouge

As Louis Armstrong forever tethered jazz to New Orleans and Clifton Chenier fixed Lafayette as home to zydeco, Slim Harpo established Baton Rouge as a base for the blues. In the only complete biography of this internationally renowned blues singer and musician, Martin Hawkins traces Harpo’s rural upbringing near Louisiana’s capital, his professional development fostered by the local music scene, and his national success with R&B hits like Rainin’ in My Heart, Baby Scratch My Back, and I’m A King Bee, among others. Hawkins follows Harpo’s global musical impact from the early 1960s to today and offers a detailed look at the nature of the independent recording business that enabled his remarkable legacy.

With new research and interviews, Hawkins fills in previous biographical gaps and redresses misinformation about Harpo’s life. In addition to weaving the musician’s career into the lives of other Louisiana blues players—including Lightnin’ Slim, Lazy Lester, and Silas Hogan—the author discusses the pioneering role of Crowley, Louisiana, record producer J. D. Miller and illustrates how Excello Records in Nashville brought national attention to Harpo’s music recorded in Louisiana.

This engaging narrative examines Harpo’s various recording sessions and provides a detailed discography, as well as a list of blues-related records by fellow Baton Rouge artists. Slim Harpo: Blues King Bee of Baton Rouge will stand as the ultimate resource on the musician’s life and the rich history of Baton Rouge’s blues heritage.