Oliver Morgan - Who Shot The La La (GNP Crescendo 318)

Who Shot The La La

Please join me in saying goodbye to the king of the second line, Oliver Morgan, who passed away this past Tuesday in exile in Atlanta.

Morgan came up in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, running partners with Jessie Hill, Eddie Bo, Papoose Nelson and his brother, the fabled Prince La-La. His first recordings, like La La's, were made for A.F.O. under the name of 'Nookie Boy'. This monumental party classic we have here today, was released in 1964 and helped turn La-La's untimely death into the stuff of legend. It also became Oliver's signature tune, performed with his trademark umbrella, as he led the 'second line' every year at Jazz Fest, and anyplace else that would have him.

He and his wife Sylvia had made their home on Tennessee Street in the Lower Ninth Ward until Hurricane Katrina took it from them in 2005. Relocating to Atlanta, their heart never seemed to have made the trip. "He had 9th Ward soul," said Antoinette K-Doe, the widow of Ernie K-Doe and a friend of Mr. Morgan's for more than 40 years. "And he was a good father and a good husband."

May he rest in peace.