Paul Leon Gayten (January 29, 1920 – March 26, 1991) was a seminal figure in New Orleans rhythm & blues, who led a varied career in the music business as a bandleader, producer, label owner, and one-time overseer of the West Coast operation of Chess Records.
Paul Gayten looms large in the rich history of New Orleans rhythm and blues. He was born in Kentwood, a small town in North Louisiana (population 2,205 at the 2000 census). His mother was the sister of blues pianist Little Brother Montgomery and his other uncles also played piano. Before World War II, in Jackson, ![]()
Mississippi, Paul played in the bands of Don Dunbar and Doc Parmley while also setting up his own group, Paul Gayten's Sizzling Six, which featured future bebop saxophonist Teddy Edwards.
Mississippi, Paul played in the bands of Don Dunbar and Doc Parmley while also setting up his own group, Paul Gayten's Sizzling Six, which featured future bebop saxophonist Teddy Edwards.During the war, he led a band at the Army base in Biloxi, Mississippi. He then moved to New Orleans and, with a new trio, established a residency at the Club Robin Hood. Gayten's first combo, which included Edgar Blanchard on guitar, first recorded for DeLuxe Records in January 1947 That first session yielded the hit (# 5 R&B), "True (You Don't Love Me)”, and "Since I Fell for You", the latter featuring singer Annie Laurie. Both made the top ten in the US Billboard R&B chart. Gayten also backed singer Chubby Newsom on her hit single "Hip Shakin' Mama". During his 30-month tenure at DeLuxe, Gayten had over 20 singles released on the label.
In 1949, Gayten expanded his combo into a nine-piece orchestra and moved to Regal Records. There, Gayten wrote the number 1 ![]()
R&B hit "For You My Love" for Larry Darnell, and recorded "I'll Never Be Free" again with Annie Laurie. His orchestra toured widely, for a period adding saxophonist Hank Mobley and singer Little Jimmy Scott, and appearing on double bills with both Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.
R&B hit "For You My Love" for Larry Darnell, and recorded "I'll Never Be Free" again with Annie Laurie. His orchestra toured widely, for a period adding saxophonist Hank Mobley and singer Little Jimmy Scott, and appearing on double bills with both Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.When Regal folded in 1951, Gayten's contract was bought by Columbia Records, who released eight singles by his band on its OKeh subsidiary (1951-53), with no commercial success. Tired of the road, he returned to New Orleans in 1953 and formed another band featuring Lee Allen, who went on to be one of the top tenor saxophonists of the rock 'n' roll era.
Beginning in 1954, Gayten decided to quit as a touring bandleader and worked as a talent scout for the New Orleans branch of Chess Records, which also signed him as a recording artist..He discovered Clarence "Frogman" Henry and produced his first hit, "Ain't Got No Home", in 1956, later going on to co-write and produce his biggest hit, "But I Do", in 1961. At Chess, Gayten produced Bobby Charles'"Later Alligator" and played piano on Chuck Berry’s "Carol". In 1956 he also had one of the biggest hits of his own career with "The Music Goes Round And Round", followed up by "Nervous Boogie".
The follow-up, "Tickle Toe", was in the same style, though not quite as exciting (Argo 5300). Curiously, it was the other side, the flute-led "Windy", that charted (# 78). In the UK, this song was a # 2 hit in 1958 under the title "Tom Hark" (by Elias and the Zig Zag Jive Flutes). According to the website www.mustrad.org.uk,.it is not even Gayten playing on "Windy", but the Ramsey Lewis Trio.
In 1959, Paul recorded two instrumental singles for Berry Gordy's Anna label in Detroit. The first of these, a cover of Bobby Peterson's "The Hunch" (Anna 1106), gave him his last hit (# 68 pop). It was the second record to be released in the UK under Paul's own name (London HLM 8998), the first one being the instrumental "Yo Yo Walk" on the back of the Tune Weavers'![]()
"Happy Happy Birthday Baby" (London HL 8503, November '57).
"Happy Happy Birthday Baby" (London HL 8503, November '57). In 1960, tired of nightclub performing, he moved to Los Angeles with his wife, Odile. Paul took the Chess brothers up on their offer to open and run the label's L.A. office, which he continued to do until Chess was sold in 1969. In that year he founded his own (short-lived) independent label, Pzazz Records, which recorded Louis Jordan, among others. He continued to live in Los Angeles with Odile after retiring in the 1970s, and died there aged 71 in March 1991due to complications from bleeding ulcers.
(Info edited from Wikipedia & BlackCat Rockabilly Europe)
As you may of noticed there is a lack of photographs of Mr. Gayten on the web.
As you may of noticed there is a lack of photographs of Mr. Gayten on the web.
Paul Gayten:Piano
Waldron Joseph:Trombone
Lee Allen:Tenor Sax
Alvin "Red" Tyler:Bariton Sax
Justin Adams:Guitar
Frank Fields:Bass
Frank Parker:Drums Recorded in New Orleans, LA. Tuesday, March 20, 1956
Originally issued on the 1956 single (Checker 836) (78 & 45 RPM)
This recording taken from the 1989 album "Paul Gayten:Chess King of New Orleans" (Chess/MCA CH-9294) (LP)