Jeff Barnhart: Well, Hal, you’ve done it again. I’ve been grooving on the selections you chose to share the music and story of Edmond Souchon: banjoist, guitarist, vocalist, story-teller, and raconteur. Souchon’s stage sobriquet “Doc” also revealed his “day job”: He practiced medicine at clinics and hospitals throughout the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas, including Hotel Dieu as chief of staff. You shared sides with me that have a wide variety of terrific sounds and I’m looking forward to exploring them with you!
We’ve already met Doc Souchon during our discussions about Johnny Wiggs, and the many readers who shared positive responses about those columns will celebrate Wiggs’s cameo(s) this month, but now Doc is the star! Hal, can you share a bit about his background and lead us into the first tune you’d like to discuss?
Hal Smith: Jeff, “Doc” Souchon actually got to hear—and meet—King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton! Can you imagine THAT? Edmond Souchon was born in the Crescent City in 1897. His mother and father both played music at home and his nurse took him to “second line” funeral parades near the family home. He studied at Tulane and began to play on a guitar that was given to him by his grandmother. In the years before WWI, he put together the 6 7/8 String Band with a group of fellow New Orleanians who played guitar, mandol
