Roy Perkins

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Roy Perkins (born Ernie Suarez, 26 April 1935, Lafayette, Louisiana) was an American rock & roll rhythm & blues and rockabilly singer and piano player. Ernie was of Spanish/Irish extraction. Life was tough for his family during the depression. His dad was a bartender and would come home drunk, spin some old blues 78s and dance round the house with his wife. He got the record from a pal who was a jukebox operator. Boogie pianist Cecil Gant was a great influence on little Ernie. He tried to copy the licks on his granny's piano in the house next door. He began playing R&B as a teenager in a high school band called the Modernaires in the early '50s, they played mainly swing and big band standards until Ernie got hooked on Lloyd price's now classic Lawdy Miss Clawdy, which became the highlight of the school band's set. Some nights they had to play it four times as it was the only r&b number they knew. Quickly they realised that this innovative New Orleans sound was the way forward. A local record shop owner got them an audition for a Capitol records distributor, Mel Mallory. He also owned his own little label Mel -A -Dee. Ernie's name was changed to Roy Perkins by Mel , mainly due to the chart success of Sun god Carl Perkins. He released a single by Roy Perkins and his band, You're on My Mind, cut at a Nawlins tv studio. Black guitarist Left Hand Charlie Morris played guitar on the session. It was a number one hit in Lafayette and did well in New Orleans, and was covered by swa

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