Today’s funky jam from Chuck Carbo, an enigmatic character with a talent for Bboy-friendly breakouts, is ILL for your Sunday:
From a 2008 Obituary:
In a career that lasted almost 50 years, Chuck got his start in the music business singing gospel music when he returned to the city after World War II. In the early ’50s Carbo, his brother Chick and two friends joined the local Zion City Harmonizers, which eventually became the Delta Southernaires.
When they were offered a recording contract by Dave Bartholomew for Imperial Records, they changed their name to the Spiders and eventually became the best known R&B vocal group out of New Orleans. Their initial release of “I Didn’t Want to Do It” paired with “You’re the One” brought the group national fame. Their biggest hit, “Witchcraft,” which came out in 1955, climbed to number five on the R&B charts.
Carbo eventually left his music career and made his living as a dump truck driver. In 1982, he appeared at a WWOZ benefit concert and began performing again, cutting his first solo LP, Life’s Ups and Downs, for the 504 label in 1989. His 504 release Second Line On Monday was used as the theme song for longtime WWOZ host Donald “Moose” Jamison’s Monday “New Orleans Music Show.”
