"Born For You" liner notes:
This CD was actually made as a response to a classified ad.
A couple of years ago Rockie Charles - "The President of Soul"
placed an ad in a New Orleans entertainment directory basically fishing
for a few gigs to play when he wasn't commanding a tug boat. The ad caught
the eye of Carlo Ditta, who noted Rockie's telephone exhange was similar
to the one his parents had when he was growing up on the West Bank of New
Orleans.
With his curiosity perked, Ditta phoned Rockie and found an amazing musician, an emotive vocalist as well as a man with an interesting and prolific career. The fact that he was building a forty foot boat in his backyard out of scrap lumber only made him more intriguing.
"I don't remember not being around or playing music", said Rockie, "My dad was a trawler and he played the guitar. He was my inspiration."
When Rockie turned 13, he and his family moved to the New Orleans Ninth Ward. By the time he was 16, Rockie was playing blues and rock and roll with the Eagles, a four-piece group that played in several hole-in-the-wall clubs that dotted the rural neighborhood. He later attended Houston's School of Music on North Claiborne Avenue where he learned to read and write music. At this time, Rockie's confidence grew and started his own band, the Gauges, which he kept busy. However, his interest in boats and the River remained alive and he became a tug boat captain at the age of 18.
In the early 1960's, the Gauges played several small clubs
around town and also became a very popular attraction at Tulane fraternity
dances. Around this time, Rockie befriended Earl King, Dell Stewart and
Guitar Ray, while hanging around the infamous Dew Drop Inn.
By the mid-1960s, Rockie was backing vocalist Al White, traveling as far as Detroit to work. Back home he often played sessions backing other New Orleans artists. In 1967 Rockie cut his first single, "Mr. Rickashay" b.w. "Sinking Like a Ship", a modest local seller on Black Patch, a label owned by the ubiquitous Senator Jones.
"In the late 1960s I moved to Nashville because that's
where I was being booked out of," said Rockie. "I backed O.V.
Wright, Percy Sledge, Little JohnnnyTaylor and Otis Redding on the road.
You see, any record I hear I can play, but I have my own style of playing
for myself."
Rockie got a good opportunity to play his own style when he started the Soulgate label after moving back to New Orleans. Rockie cut three singles for Soulgate including "Living the Good Life" and ominous "Show My People Around the Curve". His biggest success on Soulgate was "The President of Soul, Pt 1 & 2",which got lots of airplay around New Orleans in1969 and 1970.
"I cut that at Malaco's studio in Jackson (Miss.) before King Floyd and Jean Knight went up there(1970)," Rockie said. "I was doing the 'President of Soul' one night in club up in Yazoo City (Miss).A guy came up to me and said I should cut the song and he told me about a new studio in Jackson that I could use. I got back to New Orleans and called Malaco and talked with Jimmy Couch. We worked out the song and drove up one day and cut it. It did pretty good for me. I got a lot of work off that record."
Rockie continued playing around New Orleans, but in the 1970's recording opportunities were increasingly scarce forblues and soul artists, and work slowed down. With a full-time job as a tug boat captain, music became a passion he embraced less frequently.
"I've always kept music on my mind," said Rockie. "Even when I'm not playing jobs, I'm thinking about new songs. I'm always listening to people talk and looking at situations that people get into that give me ideas about writing. Music is really about life -- you have to watch the way people live to get ideas for songs."
What's captured on this CD ("Born For You") is a combination of Rockie's talent and his world view. Every track here is a Rockie Charles original.
"When I write a song I write it about life," said Rockie. "These songs are about me and life. They come from my heart and that's the truth."
-- Jeff Hannusch, author of
"I Hear You Knockin'"; the sound of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues. Orleans Records Booking: RC Productions - 504.362.4237 Back to Rockie's home page.
828 Royal Street #536
New Orleans, Louisiana 70116
U.S.A.
Phone: 504-837-5042 Fax: 504-867-9601
E-Mail: - orleansrec@aol.com
E-mail for Rockie's booking info - 
Visitor 
since May 19th, 2004.
This web-site is managed by J.L.
Roberts.
This page last updated on May 19th, 2004