Who Is James Booker's Life Referred To As The Black Liberace

Referred to as the "Black Liberace", James Carroll Booker III was an anomaly of prodigious talent and self destructive behavior. He was obsessive, he had one-eye, and he was absolutely prolific. He encapsulated the spirit of New Orleans through his playing and advanced piano vocabulary. He played a mix of gospel, blues, R&B, jazz and boogie-woogie. He was absolutely out of his mind. Born in New Orleans on December 17, 1939, James Booker spent most of his childhood on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He began studying piano at the age of six. He grew up playing classical music, playing anything from Chopin etudes to Bach preludes, and picked out music, mostly jazz and pop standards, by ear from listening and emulating what he heard on the radio. James Booker was also a great fan of Erroll Garner, a jazz pianist popular throughout the 1940's and 1950's, and consistently attempted to emulate Erroll's playing style. Somewhere in 1939, an ambulance hit Booker and subsequently broke his leg. Lily Keber, a New Orleans filmographer and documenterist, cites this moment as Booker's first drug experience and what

In a world of segregation and homophobia, Booker's race and sexual orientation make him a ridiculed member of society. Booker was sensitive and constantly sought out self-medication, succumbing to addiction, namely drugs and alcohol. John Parsons, the owner of the Maple Leaf said "One person once asked me if James Booker was crazy... I thought about the question for awhile and I couldn't think of any way he wasn't crazy. He was manic depressive, schizophrenic, self-destructive to the point of suicidal, a severe alcoholic." Booker had a big hit in 1960. However, Gonzo was indicative of Booker's habits. Gonzo reached #43 on Billboard Magazine's chart and #3 on the national R&B charts and Booker was convicted of possession of heroin in 1967 and served a year in Angola