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The Southern Walmart Gothic Of Mr. Bobby Lounge

Just got back in from New Orleans, having driven down at the invitation of my friend Ken Bickford to catch the Bobby Lounge set at Jazzfest. You may remember my blogging about Bobby Lounge a couple of years ago, when Ken introduced me to him. My favorite BL song is “I Remember The Night Your […]
Your Working Boy + Mr. Bobby Lounge, @ the New Orleans Jazzfest
Your Working Boy + Mr. Bobby Lounge, @ the New Orleans Jazzfest

Just got back in from New Orleans, having driven down at the invitation of my friend Ken Bickford to catch the Bobby Lounge set at Jazzfest. You may remember my blogging about Bobby Lounge a couple of years ago, when Ken introduced me to him. My favorite BL song is “I Remember The Night Your Trailer Burned Down.” If you want to know more about the greatness of Bobby Lounge, consult this NPR story about him from 2006.

Prof. Calvin Tubbs, as is the custom, introduced Bobby, first calling out a welcome to various supporters, including, he said, Frackers For Jesus. The professor pulled off his bottle of Jim Beam and nearly wept as he broke the news that Bobby was forced off the board of a church home for sexually addicted teens. The professor quoted Bobby as saying, “Gettin’ reared in the church ain’t what it used to be.”

And then out came Bobby, pushed along in his iron lung by the lovely Nurse Pontevecchia, his caretaker. He popped out of the iron lung to great acclaim. That’s the iron lung behind Bobby; Nurse Pontevecchia is to the left:

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Later, the lovely New Orleans burlesque performer Athena appeared and sang to Bobby’s accompaniment:

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Afterward, I approached Mr. Lounge at the table where he received his admirers, and begged for a selfie, which you see above. He was wearing the specially styled choir robe he donned for the, um, gospel portion of his program.

All in all, it was worth the trip. I had my chakras realigned by a powerful blast of proper theology and geometry. I even got some oysters out of it. Here’s a slightly blurry view from my table at the Fairgrounds:

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Though we will not be blessed by a Bobby Lounge appearance at Walker Percy Weekend, we will be graced by the company of Mr. Ken Bickford of New Orleans, who will no doubt be wearing a seersucker suit and holding court. You won’t want to miss this. Trust me.

UPDATE: I was just now thinking about how to describe Bobby Lounge’s music. I came up with something, and changed the title of this post.

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