4th Annual Music History Conference

* This is from the 2011 festival, Current Ponderosa Stomp info can be found here.

The Ponderosa Stomp Music History Conference will take place September 15-17 at the Renaissance Arts Hotel at 700 Tchoupitoulas Street.

Admission to Conference & Clandestine Celluloid Film Series is $20 per day, per person. This small fee gets you the whole days' line-up of panels, discussions and films, lunch, and on Friday and Saturday, admission to the Record Show!

• Thursday, September 15, 2011

  • 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
    Booty Green:  Reflections on Bobby Marchan

    Moderator: Alison Fensterstock
    Panelists: Wild Wayne and Gerri Hall

    The year was 1953 when flamboyant singer Bobby Marchan’s troupe of female impersonators, the Powder Box Revue, came to New Orleans for a stint at the legendary Dew Drop Inn. An emcee at the Club Tijuana, he recorded for the Aladdin and Dot labels before hooking up with Huey “Piano” Smith to form the Clowns. Marchan served as vocalist on Smith’s slew of feel-good hits on the Ace label, such as “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu,” “Don’t You Just Know It,” and “High Blood Pressure.” He scored a #1 smash by covering the Big Jay McNeely hit “There Is Something on Your Mind” for Bobby Robinson’s Fire label, then moved on to Stax and Duke. He ran the floor show at Prout’s Club Alhambra on North Claiborne Avenue for years and managed the group Higher Ground. As a pioneer promoter and producer of local hip-hop and bounce via his Manicure Productions firm, he was a key figure in the formation of Cash Money Records.

  • 12:15–1:15 p.m.
    There’s Something Fuzzy in the Garage: An Exploration of Louisiana Garage Bands

    Moderator: Michael Hurtt
    Panelists: Danny Kimball, Steve Staples, and Camille Baudoin

    Inspired by British Invasion groups like the Beatles, the Stones, the Yardbirds, the Who, and the Kinks, youths across Louisiana dropped their clarinets and trumpets and picked up guitars to form garage bands. The records they cut on tiny labels with limited distribution are now highly prized by record collectors. Though the music survives, very little is known about the bands and the scenes they fostered.

  • 1:30–2:30 p.m.
    Chicken Heads and Bow-Legged Women: A Discussion with Bobby Rush

    Sponsored by the Mississippi Development Authority, Department of Tourism

    Moderator: Scott Barretta
    Interviewee: Bobby Rush

    Louisiana native Bobby Rush has long ruled as king of the chitlin’ circuit with his ribald vocals, unforgettable showmanship, bluesy guitar and harmonica, and voluptuous female dancers. Living in Arkansas and later Chicago for many years, he played with fellow blues legends such as Freddie King, Luther Allison, and Elmore James, to name just a few, before moving to Jackson, Miss., in the 1980s. He snagged his first hit in 1971 with his Galaxy-label single “Chicken Heads” and later scored with “Bowlegged Woman, Knock-Kneed Man” for Jewel and “Hen Pecked” (with the timeless lyric "I'm not henpecked, I’ve just been pecked by the right hen”) for Malaco’s Waldoxy imprint. A consummate entertainer for more than 50 years with 20+ albums to his credit, Rush still shows no sign of stopping, whether he’s playing Carnegie Hall or a juke joint on a dusty old road off Highway 61 in the Mississippi Delta.

  • 2:45–3:45 p.m.
    The Things I Used to Do: The Story of Guitar Slim

    Moderator: David Kunian
    Panelists: Lawrence Cotton, Irving Banister and Gerri Hall

    Born Eddie Jones, Guitar Slim created one of the most seminal blues classics of all time in “The Things I Used to Do.” A master showman who dyed his hair to match his suits and shoes, Guitar Slim was highly influential during the 1950s, and his colorful legacy, which touched musicians from Earl King to Frank Zappa, is well-worth another look.

  • 4:00–5:00 p.m.
    Sirens of the Bayou: Gulf Coast R&B Queens

    Moderator: Lauren Onkey
    Panelists: Lavelle White and Carol Fran

    Numerous chanteuses have riveted Gulf Coast audiences through the decades, from Katie Webster and Barbara Lynn to Tami Lynn and Irma Thomas. This forum spotlights Lavelle White and Carol Fran. As a recording artist for Don Robey’s Duke label, White waxed great songs such as “Stop These Teardrops” and “Teenage Love.” Touring with many of the major acts of the day, including B.B. King, James Brown, and Junior Parker, she logged many hours at New Orleans’ Dew Drop Inn. Now living in Austin, Texas, she has released several acclaimed CDs. Lafayette pianist Carol Fran recorded some classic sides for the Excello label, including “Knock Knock” and “Emmitt Lee,” and backed other J.D. Miller artists such as Slim Harpo, Lonesome Sundown, and Lazy Lester. She cut “The Great Pretender” with Cookie and the Cupcakes for Lyric and also recorded songs for the Port label, including “I’m Gonna Try.” A frequent performer on Bourbon Street and at the Dew Drop, she enjoyed a successful partnership with Clarence Holliman for many years until his death.

  • 5:00–6:00 p.m.
    Networking Reception

  • 6:00–7:30 p.m.
    Advocating for New Orleans’ Historical Music Treasures

    Sponsored by The Recording Academy® Memphis Chapter

    A short networking reception will be followed by a panel discussion focusing on why/how New Orleans should celebrate its local historical music treasures and locations (old studios, jazz clubs, homes of famous musicians) and how it can market them to the world. Of significant importance is how does the local music community attract the attention of and garner the buy in from local politicians and community leaders.

    Moderator:
    Terry Stewart: President, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

    Panelists:
    Terry Clements: Vice President, Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau
    John Frohnmayer: former chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
    Deanie Parker: Founder, Stax Museum of American Soul
    Jan Ramsey: Publisher, Offbeat Magazine
    John Schorr: President, Sun Studios
    Alex Thomas: Mississippi Development Authority – Mississippi Blues and Country Trails

• Friday, September 16, 2011

  • 11:00 a.m.–11:45 a.m.
    Fats Domino Concert Film, Live 1962 (35 minutes)

    A rarely screened 1962 concert film of the Fats Domino Orchestra, featuring Fats, Dave Bartholomew, Herb Hardesty, and others, courtesy Joe Lauro of Historic Films Archive; following the screening, there will be a discussion and Q&A with Dave Bartholomew led by Joe Lauro & Dr. Ike.

  • 12:00 p.m.–1:00 p.m.
    Heroes of the Stomp (60 minutes)

    Joe Lauro’s annual performance compilation showcasing vintage performance clips from Stomp artists. For the Stomp’s tenth anniversary, the focus will be on past, present and future hopefuls.

  • 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m.
    The Original Soul Men: Sam  & Dave (80 minutes)

    Career spanning documentary of the iconic duo, which features interviews with Al Bell, Duck Dunn, Sam Moore, Paul Schaefer and Dan Akroyd; never broadcast in the U.S.

  • 2:45 p.m.–3:45 p.m.
    The Deacon’s Hop: Big Jay McNeely Blows His Horn

    Moderator: Jason Hanley
    Interviewee: Big Jay McNeely

    “The King of the Sax Honkers,” Big Jay McNeely first topped the Billboard R&B chart in 1949 with “The Deacon’s Hop” on the Savoy label and charted once again in 1959 with the blues-drenched ballad “There Is Something on Your Mind.” Infusing his style with a frantic preacher’s intensity that paved the way toward rock 'n' roll, the rabble-rousing McNeely became known for his outrageously flamboyant stage antics as much for his trailblazingly torrential sax blowing, recording for many labels including Federal, Vee-Jay, Imperial, Exclusive, Aladdin, and Warner Bros.

  • 4:00–5:00 p.m.
    The Theater on McLemore Street with the Funky Sound: A Look at Stax Records  

    Moderators: Scott Bomar and Lauren Onkey
    Panelists: William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Deanie Parker and Mack Rice

    Moderator Scott Bomar will lead a panel of some of Stax’s greatest talents in looking back on the legendary Memphis label’s earth-shaking influence on soul, funk, and R&B.

  Saturday, September 17, 2011
  CLANDESTINE CELLULOID ALL DAY TRIBUTE TO ARCH HALL JR.–11:00 a.m–5:00 p.m.