Natural Soul Brother DANNY WHITE Video Steven Bogarat

Danny White http://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/W/danny_white/index.php Joseph Daniel White was born on 6 July 1931 in New Orleans where he grew up, but didn’t start in show business until he returned from armed forces duty in California in the early 50s. And the 50s in the Crescent City was a good time/place to be if you wanted to be a singer as the city, was jumping with good time rhythm and blues. White got a residency at the Golden Cadillac club with his band the Cavaliers which lead to a stint on the much more lucrative tourist area of Bourbon Street at the Sho Bar. He started recording around 1958 when the great Huey Smith took him to see Johnny Vincent of Ace records. Whit’s sides were never issued at the time but have appeared on a couple of Westside CDs. They are pleasant but pretty unremarkable New Orleans style R & B. His one-off for Shelby Singleton, leased out to Dot in 1961, wasn’t much better – but the next record made his career. Kiss tomorrow goodbye - FRISCO 104Connie LaRocca, who was a restaurant owner, had decided to start her own label which she called Frisco, and hired the talented singer/songwriter Al Reed to be her A & R man. He’d written a song called ListenKiss Tomorrow Goodbye which White and producer Wardell Q turned into a lovely blues ballad. It was a big hit locally and all over the Gulf Coast and has proved to be an enduring evergreen covered by a host of artists over the years. I think my favourite cover from the 60s is Billy Thompson’s and the hugely talented Reuben Bell from the 70s. A lot of White’s following Frisco tracks were (not surprisingly) attempts to recreate the hit, but none of the came close to having the same magic. I think the tuneful Loan Me A Handkerchief, which was leased out to ABC, is probably the best of them although Earl King’s mournful slowie “Love Is A Way Of Life” is well worth hearing as well, and reportedly sold over 100,000 copies

Added 2 Apr 2026