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 within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

singer, songwriter, recording artist, bandleader, MC, and female impersonator. He was the key singer in the early lineup of Huey "Piano" Smith and His Clowns along with Gerri Hall and Roosevelt Wright.

Biography

Born in

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

, 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 (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s, specifically the Dew Drop Inn and the Club Tijuana in the mid-1950s. He made his first recording, "Have Mercy", produced by

Cosimo Matassa Cosimo Vincent Matassa (April 13, 1926 – September 11, 2014) was an American recording engineer and studio owner, responsible for many R&B and early rock and roll recordings. Life and career Matassa was born in New Orleans in 1926.Komorowski, ...

for

Aladdin Records Aladdin Records was a record company and label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by brothers Eddie and Leo Mesner. It was originally called Philo Records before changing its name in 1946. Philo Records Philo's releases included 78 RPM singles of ...

, in 1954. He then recorded for the

Dot A dot is usually a small, round spot. Dot, DoT or DOT may also refer to: Orthography * Full stop or "period", a sentence terminator * Dot (diacritic), a mark above or below a character (e.g. ȧ, ạ, İ, Ċ, ċ, etc.), usually to indicate sou ...

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 a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

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 "Piano" Smith (January 26, 1934 – February 13, 2023) was an American R&B pianist and session musician whose sound was influential in the development of rock and roll. His piano playing incorporated the boogie-woogie styles of P ...

, 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 an American New Orleans rhythm and blues keyboardist and singer. Flamboyant in personality and style, and a pianist of extraordinary technical skill, he was dubbed "the Blac ...

on piano. Marchan also recorded with the band, singing on Huey Smith and the Clowns' hit records, but only after '' Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu'' was recorded. ''

Don't You Just Know It Don't, Dont, or DONT may refer to: Films * ''Don't'' (1925 film), a 1925 silent comedy film * ''Don't'' (1974 film), a 1974 film about the monarch butterfly * ''Don't'', a fake trailer from the film '' Grindhouse'' (2007) Songs * "Don't" (Bil ...

'' amongst others during this time had Marchan singing on them. In 1959, he left the Clowns and resumed his solo career, on Bobby Robinson's

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

record label. He had a number one hit 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 ...

in 1960 with '' There's Something on Your Mind'', a cover of a song written and first performed by

Big Jay McNeely Cecil James "Big Jay" McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018) was an American R&B saxophonist. Biography Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young, McNeely teamed with his older brother Robert McNeely, who played baritone saxophon ...

, but with Marchan adding lengthy

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

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 September 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. ...

, where he was assigned to their subsidiary label

Volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, Voltage#Galvani potential vs. electrochemical potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units, International System of Uni ...

, on the recommendation of

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as 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 Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

, 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 primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

band

Slade Slade are a rock band formed in Wolverhampton, England 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 Singl ...

as " Get Down and Get with It", giving the band their first chart hit. After moving to

Cameo-Parkway Records Cameo-Parkway Records was the parent company of Cameo Records and Parkway Records, which were major American Philadelphia-based record labels from 1956 (for Cameo) and 1958 (for Parkway) to 1967. Among the types of music released were doo-wop, ...

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, New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of vi ...

. 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 with Jim Stewart based in Memphis, Tennessee, during 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 Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

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 genre 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 Fr ...

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 Birdman (rapper), Bryan "Baby" Williams. The label gained prominence in the late 1990s for having signed and released albums for New Orleans– ...

. Marchan died from

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

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

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 American drag queens Fire Records artists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American LGBTQ people Deaths from liver cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Louisiana African-American LGBTQ people Huey "Piano" Smith and His Clowns members