Bobby Marchan (born Oscar James Gibson, April 30, 1930 – December 5, 1999) was an American

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

singer, songwriter, recording artist, bandleader, MC, and

female impersonator A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

. He was the key singer in the early lineup of Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns along with Gerri Hall and Roosevelt Wright.

Biography

Born in

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County. At the 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of the Youngstown–Warren metropolitan area, which ...

, Ohio, Marchan started as a female impersonator in his teens, and formed a drag troupe, the Powder Box Revue. He began performing in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

s, specifically the

Dew Drop Inn Dew Drop Inn may refer to: *Dew Drop Inn (New Orleans, Louisiana) *Dew Drop Inn (Mountain View, Arkansas) *Dew Drop Inn (musical), 1923 Broadway musical {{disambiguation ...

and the Club Tijuana in the mid-1950s. He made his first recording, "Have Mercy", produced by Cosimo Matassa for Aladdin Records, in 1954. He then recorded for the Dot and

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

labels, with Ace boss Johnny Vincent apparently offering him a contract under the misapprehension that Marchan was female and releasing his record "Give a Helping Hand" under the pseudonym Bobby Fields.Biography by Jason Ankeny, ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved October 25, 2016 From 1957, Marchan also toured with the Clowns, the band led by

Huey "Piano" Smith Huey Pierce Smith, known as Huey "Piano" Smith (born January 26, 1934) is an American rhythm-and-blues pianist whose sound was influential in the development of rock and roll. His piano playing incorporated the boogie-woogie styles of Pete Joh ...

, sometimes performing as lead singer and bandleader in place of Smith, who reputedly would stay in New Orleans to write and record while his band played clubs and toured. The touring band included

James Booker James Carroll Booker III (December 17, 1939 – November 8, 1983) was a New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Booker's unique style combined rhythm and blues with jazz standards. Musician Dr. J ...

on piano. Marchan also recorded with the band, singing on Huey Smith and the Clowns' hit records ''

Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" is a song written and originally recorded by Huey 'Piano' Smith in 1957, who scored a minor ''Billboard'' hit with it, peaking at No.52 on the Top 100 chart, and a more successful No.5 on the Most ...

'', '' Don't You Just Know It'' and the original version of ''

Sea Cruise Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "sho ...

'' (later recorded by

Frankie Ford Frankie Ford (August 4, 1939 – September 28, 2015) was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer, best known for his 1959 hit "Sea Cruise". Biography He was born in Gretna, Louisiana, as Vincent Francis Guzzo, across the Mississippi ...

), amongst others. In 1959, he left the Clowns and resumed his solo career, on Bobby Robinson's

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...

record label. He had a

number one hit A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

on the national

R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

in 1960 with '' There's Something on Your Mind'', a cover of a song written and first performed by Big Jay McNeely, but with Marchan adding lengthy

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

passages. His follow-ups on Fire, however, were less commercially successful, and in 1963 he signed for

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

, where he was assigned to their subsidiary label

Volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defin ...

, on the recommendation of

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

. Two singles were released including a cover of

Donnie Elbert Donnie Elbert (May 25, 1936 – January 26, 1989) was an American soul singer and songwriter, who had a prolific career from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s. His U.S. hits included "Where Did Our Love Go?" (1971), and his reputation as a No ...

's ''What Can I Do''Rounce, Tony, sleeve notes for Bobby Marchan: Get Down With It: The Soul Sides. Kent CD (2011) before he soon moved on to the Dial label, where in 1965 he recorded his own song ''Get Down With It''. The song was covered by Little Richard, and then reworked in 1971 by British

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

band

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

as " Get Down and Get with It", giving the band their first chart hit. After moving to Cameo-Parkway Records he had some success with ''There's Something About You, Baby'', and then his second solo R&B chart hit in 1966 with ''Shake Your Tambourine''. However, later records on various labels, including Ace, were unsuccessful, and by the early 1970s Marchan had returned to club work in New Orleans as a female impersonator and MC. He regularly performed at the

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (commonly called Jazz Fest or Jazzfest) is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of visitors to New ...

. His final studio based work was in 1987 when he released a reworking of his biggest hit ''There Is Something On Your Mind'' on

Al Bell Al Bell (born Alvertis Isbell; March 15, 1940) is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. He is best known as having been an executive and co-owner of Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, during the latter half of the ...

's Edge label. He also set up his own production company, Manicure Productions, in the 1980s. In the 1990s his company Manicure was involved in hip hop music booking and promotion including

Take Fo' Records Take Fo' Records is an independent record label from New Orleans and the first to specialize in bounce music. The label is a subsidiary of Positive Black Talk, Inc., was founded in 1992 and operated by creative duo Earl J. Mackie and Henry F. Holde ...

bounce music Bounce music is a style of New Orleans hip hop music that is said to have originated as early as the late 1980s in the city's housing projects. Popular bounce artists have included DJ Jubilee, Partners-N-Crime, Magnolia Shorty and Big Freedi ...

artist DJ Jubilee. Marchan was also involved with the formation of

Cash Money Records Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. Distributed by Republic, formerly known as Universal Republic, the label has been home to a roster of mostly hip ...

. Marchan died from liver cancer in

Gretna, Louisiana Gretna is the second-largest city in, and parish seat of, Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. "Gretna, Louisiana (LA) Detailed Profile" (notes), ''City Data'', 2007, webpage: C-Gretna "Census 2000 Data for the State of Lou ...

on December 5, 1999, aged 69.

Chart hits

With Huey (Piano) Smith and the Clowns

* "Rocking Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" (Ace 530) 1957 (#5 R&B/#52 Pop) * "Don't You Just Just Know It" (Ace 545) 1958 (#4 R&B/#9 Pop)

Solo

* "There's Something on Your Mind" (Fire 1022) 1960 (#1 R&B/#31 Pop) (Billboard) * "I've Got a Thing Going On" (Dial 3022) 1964 (#25 R&B #116 Pop) (Billboard) * "Shake Your Tambourine" (Cameo 429) 1966 (#14 R&B) (Billboard)

References

External links

NOLA Picayune article / obituary by Jeff Hannusch
by JD Doyle
Recordings: The Very Best of Bobby Marchan with audio samples
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchan, Bobby 1930 births 1999 deaths American rhythm and blues singers Musicians from Youngstown, Ohio American blues singers American bandleaders Ace Records (United States) artists Dot Records artists African-American drag queens Fire Records artists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century LGBT people Deaths from liver cancer Deaths from cancer in Louisiana LGBT African Americans