From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Dec 9, 2002  6:18 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Jessie Hill

JESSIE HILL

Born 9 December 1932, New Orleans, Louisiana
Died 17 September 1996, New Orleans, Louisiana

Singer / pianist /drummer.
One of the most distinctive records to come out of New Orleans during
the early sixties was undoubtedly Jessie Hill's "Ooh Poo Pah Doo".
Instantly recognizable, the raggedy, stomping blues has inspired over
a hundred cover versions
Hill's first musical experience was as a drummer at the age of seven.
At 15 he played in a dixieland band and at 20 formed an R&B group
called the House Rockers. He briefly worked with Professor Longhair
and Huey Smith in the mid-50s before re-forming the House Rockers
in 1958, abandoning the drums to sing. After Hill performed "Ooh Poo
Pah Doo" as a joke at his gigs, Joe Banashak of Minit Records heard
the song and agreed to record it. Arranged by Allen Toussaint, "Ooh
Poo Pah Doo, Part 2" reached # 3 on the R&B charts and # 28 on the
Billboard pop charts in 1960.
Hill's next record, "Whip It On Me," charted for one week at # 91, but
he couldn't get much else going. A one-hit wonder, yes, but surprisingly
there is no entry for him in Wayne Jancik's Billboard Book of One-Hit
Wonders. (How come, Wayne?) He recorded six singles at Minit, bowing
out appropriately with "Can't Get Enough of that Ooh Poo Pah Doo."
After leaving Minit in 1962, Hill moved to Los Angeles where he became
a moderately successful songwriter, penning songs for Sonny and Cher
as well as Ike and Tina Turner among others. One of his co-writers was
Mac Rebennack. Together they formed their own publishing company.
He also co-wrote with Willie Nelson.
Hill returned to New Orleans in the mid-70s but found musical employment
hard to come by. For a spell he drove a taxi - "The Poo Cab" - which helped
to supplement his scant musical income. On occasion he still fielded a band
for small jobs around the city and opened the bill for Fats Domino's rare
local engagements. In 1996 he succumbed to kidney and heart failure.

More info (obituary by Jeff Hannusch):
http://www.offbeat.com/obfebruary2002/feature.html
CD : Golden Classics (Collectables, 16 tracks). This is a reissue of an LP
of his Minit sides on Charly CRB 1169 (1987), called "Y'All Ready Now?".