Bobby Marchan

Bobby Marchan – Still My Baby: The Ace & Fire Sessions (Remastered) (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 47:15 minutes | 413 MB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Sunset Blvd Records

Bobby Marchan was one of New Orleans’ most colorful rhythm and blues artists. A larger-than-life performer best remembered for his R&B chart-topper “There’s Something on Your Mind,” a number 1 R&B single in 1960 on the Fire label. In 1955 he signed to Ace Records, and in ’57 joined Huey “Piano” Smith as the original lead vocalist with Smith’s legendary Clowns. In addition to appearing on classics including “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the BoogieWoogie Flu,” “Don’t You Just Know It,” “You Don’t Know Yockomo,” and “Havin’ a Good Time,” Marchan also continued his solo career, issuing several more Ace singles including “I’ll Never Let You Go” and “Rockin Behind The Iron Curtain.” When Ace owner Johnny Vincent took a pass on the two-part “There’s Something On Your Mind,” Marchan defected to Harlem-based Fire, soon posting his only R&B chart-topper.
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Bobby Marchan – There’s Something on Your Mind: The Greatest Hits (1960/2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 46:27 minutes | 514 MB | Genre: Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Fire Records

A larger-than-life performer best remembered for his 1960 R&B chart-topper “There Is Something on Your Mind,” singer Bobby Marchan was born Oscar James Gibson in Youngstown, OH, on April 30, 1930. As a child he became fascinated by the female impersonators who appeared on the so-called “chitlin circuit” of black nightclubs, and began singing and performing comedy in drag while in his teens. In 1953 Marchan organized his own drag troupe, the Powder Box Revue; during a booking at New Orleans’ Dew Drop Inn, he became enamored with the city, making it his home for the remainder of his life. There he accepted a job as MC at the Club Tijuana, where he was discovered by Aladdin Records president Eddie Meisner. Marchan cut his debut single, “Have Mercy,” for producer Cosimo Matassa in 1954, but Aladdin dropped him soon after, and he landed at Dot for the follow-up, “Just a Little Ol’ Wine.”
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