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Robert Parker (October 14, 1930 – January 19, 2020) was an American R&B singer and musician, best known for his 1966 hit, "Barefootin'".
Robert Parker Jr. was born in Mobile, Alabama to Robert and Leana Parker. He grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, When he was a teenager, he began playing saxophone and in 1949 was playing with Professor Longhair on his hit "Mardi Gras In New Orleans." Parker began playing at the Tijuana Club which introduced him to booking agent Percy Stovall as well as encouraged Parker to start his own band, Robert Parker and the Royals, who toured around the southern US. Parker was highly sought-after for session recording. New Orleans artists such as Jimmy Clanton, Ernie K-Doe, Fats Domino, Frankie Ford, Irma Thomas and Huey “Piano” Smith all hired him to play on their recordings, earning him high respect and regard around the city. During his tenure with the Tijuana Club house band, he shared the stage with icons including Ray Charles and Little Richard.
He signed as a solo act with Ace in 1958 and cut his debut single, "June Teen" b/w "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," that same year. In 1959, he had his first hit on the Ron label, an instrumental entitled "All Night Long, Pts. 1-2," which charted regionally. He cut sides for Imperial and Booker Records in the early '60s. After the collapse of the music industry economy in 1963, Parker began working a day job at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, though still continued to work with his booking agency. Despite the challenge Parker faced, he continued to focus on his music and maintained the hope that he would be able to return to the music industry.
In 1966, Parker’s agent booked him a gig at Tuskegee University in Alabama. It was there that he received inspiration for the song that would become “Barefootin’”: “The girls took their shoes off and piled them in front of the bandstand before they danced. That stayed with me,” Parker once said. In other instance, Parker played a show in Miami with a comedian who came on stage and said “Everybody get on your feet, you make me nervous when you’re in your seat,” which became the opening line of “Barefootin’.”
After going back and forth with labels, NOLA Records eventually pressed a couple of boxes of records of the single, which sold right away. This prompted one of NOLA Records owners, Ulis Gaines, to take the record to local stations which caused the single to take off. “Barefootin’” peaked at the number-two spot on the R&B charts and remained on the charts for 17 weeks. It was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.
The legacy of “Barefootin’” still remains alive in New Orleans, with the song used in commercials for radio and television, and it’s likely one can hear the song while walking down the streets of New Orleans. In a 2006 article on “Classic Songs of Louisiana” for OffBeat, Jeff Hannusch wrote of “Barefootin,'” “It was irresistible because it combined the old New Orleans syncopated beat with contemporary soul. Along with ‘Tell It Like It Is,’ it briefly lifted the New Orleans recording scene out of the mid to 1960s doldrums. ‘Barefootin’ missed topping the charts by one place and reached number seven in the pop charts in the U.S.A. as well as being a huge international hit.
In 1967, he had another minor R&B hit with "Tip Toe" (no.48, R&B chart). Although his popularity was intermittent in the United States, Parker did much better with British audiences, and toured England regularly during the second half of the '60s. Parker moved to Silver Fox Records in 1969, and was later shifted over to SSS International, the principal label of Silver Fox's co-owner Shelby Singleton. His own recording career had ended by the close of the '70s, but Parker remained busy as a performer for years afterward, and he capped off his recording history in 1984 with a new version of "Barefootin' which reached the UK charts for the second time in 1967."
Although he continued to record, he failed to repeat his success in terms of sales, and his recording career effectively ended in the 1970s. However, he continued to perform and tour for many more years. In April 2007, in recognition of his contributions to Louisiana and national music, Parker was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.On July 19, 2009, he performed "Barefootin'" and "Where the Action Is" in a 'Tribute to Wardell Quezergue,' a concert at Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center in New York.
In 2012 Robert Parker received OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement in Music along with Jean Knight, The Dixie Cups, Frankie Ford, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Al “Carnival Time” Johnson and Ernie Vincent. The tribute band was lead by Ernie Vincent with each recipient performing their hit song. Looking frail, Robert Parker managed to get on stage, but when the music played he was transformed into a younger version of himself, wowing the audience.
Parker died from natural causes on January 19, 2020, at his home in Roseland, Louisiana, at the age of 89 of natural causes
