‘Barefootin,’ songwriter and singer, Robert Parker dies

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

Robert Parker will long be remembered for his 1966 smash hit, “Barefootin,” a tune he wrote that sold a million copies and won the singer, songwriter and saxophonist a gold record. New Orleans native Robert Parker died on January 19, 2020 at his home in Roseland, Louisiana. He was 89.

It’s been reported that he was inspired to write the song while performing in Tuskegee, Alabama when the girls in the audience took off their shoes, stacked them in a pile and began to dance. The catchy and highly rhythmic song traveled via radio airwaves across the country and along with it the shoe-less dance craze. It was mostly girls who participated – in the words of Cyndi Lauper, “girls just want to have fun” – though some guys undoubtedly got in on the hilarity. It’s not surprising to learn that the great Wardell Quezergue arranged the music and produced the 45 rpm that was released on Nola Records.

Parker started out as a saxophone player, first on alto and then moved to tenor. He was heard blowing sax in the 1940s and 1950s at the Tijuana Club. According to fellow saxophonist James Rivers, he led the house band at the then hugely popular hot spot where he had the opportunity to share the stage with now-legends Ray Charles and Little Richard.

Many New Orleanians as well as some fans of this city’s music might not know Parker beyond “Barefootin’ though he boasted an impressive career. His saxophone is heard on Professor Longhair’s perennial favorite, 1949’s “Mardi Gras in New Orleans.” He was also onboard for New Orleans Soul Queen Irma Thomas’ first release, “Don’t Mess with My Man.”

“He’s the one doing the solo – he did a lot of solos on a lot of records back in the day,” says Thomas adding that Mac Rebennack, later renowned as Dr. John, was in on the recording session. “I was also on the road with Robert during the early stages of my career. He was a quiet type of person but he knew his music and was [an] excellent musician.”

In 1958, Parker released the instrumental “All Nite Long (Part 1 and 2),” on the Ron label that stood as his first recording under his own name. On “Part 1,” the saxophonist kicks in immediately with some honkin’ New Orleans style rhythm and blues. He co-wrote the A-side with Larry McKinley, the influential radio disc jockey, a co-owner of Minit Records and “the Voice of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.” The flip side, “Part 2,” is credited to Parker, Bocage and Rebennack – read Eddie Bo and Mac Rebennack – who appear on both cuts on piano and guitar, respectively.

Before “Barefootin,” in 1960 Parker was in Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Recording Studio for a session that produced Al Johnson’s self-penned classic “Carnival Time.” He was teamed in the sax section with James Rivers, who came up with the familiar horn riff and takes the solo. “That was a powerful part they put in “Carnival Time,” says Al “Carnival Time” Johnson of the combination of Parker and Rivers that opens and recurs during the Mardi Gras staple.

On the 45 rpm’s B-side, “Good Lookin” it was Parker’s tenor that took center stage for some rather rowdy, screamin’ blowing. “I know for sure it was him because he was laughing after that and said, ‘I didn’t know what else to put there.’ He was fantastic.”

Even before that, Parker and Rivers played and recorded together with Huey “Piano” Smith & the Clowns where, according to Rivers, Parker acted as band leader. They are heard on Smith’s chart-topping 1959 record “Don’t You Just Know It.” “He had a unique style and great tone,” says Rivers. “I respected him highly and liked the way he played.”

Robert Parker, who through the decades continued to perform while also taking on a day job, was no “one hit wonder” – he was a talented musician. In the heydays of New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the mid-1960s, he was a much called upon sideman who extended the era with his typically Crescent City let’s have a good time “Barefootin.” He led his own band, Robert Parker and the Royals, and performed and/or recorded with greats like Ernie K-Doe, Fats Domino, Earl King, Frankie Ford and Jimmy Clanton and others.

In more recent decades, Parker was featured at Jazz Fest six times beginning as early as 1974 with his last show at the Fair Grounds in 1994 on the big, then Ray-Ban Stage. In 2009, he headed to New York to play a tribute concert to Wardell Quezergue and also was a headliner at the Ponderosa Stomp here in New Orleans.

So when the song “Go to the Mardi Gras” or “Carnival Time” comes on your radio, which will be often during this Mardi Gras season, remember you are hearing saxophonist Robert Parker. He’s the same guy who urged millions to abandon their shoes and start dancing when he sang: “Everybody get on your feet. You make me nervous when you’re in your seat…We’re barefootin.”

This article originally published in the January 27, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.