Singer for Spiders R&B Quintet
Carbo was 82, a singer who fronted the 1950s quintet the Spiders, a group that made the world aware of New Orleans rhythm and blues, died July 11 in New Orleans after a long illness.
(pictured with the Spiders far right)
Chuck Carbo and his brother Leonard Chick" Carbo started singing in their father's New Orleans church choir. They sang with the gospel group the Zion City Harmonizers before forming the Spiders under the guidance of studio owner Cosimo Matassa.
The Spiders had rhythm and blues hits in 1954 for Imperial Records with I Didn't Want to Do It" and You're the One." The singles I'm Slippin' In," Tears Began to Flow," 21" and The Real Thing" followed. Dave Bartholomew, best known as Fats Domino's producer and co-writer, wrote the group's 1955 hit Witchcraft."
The Spiders toured with Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and the Drifters. But by the late '50s, the group had disbanded as the Carbo brothers pursued solo careers. Lou Rawls successfully covered You're the One," and Elvis Presley remade Witchcraft."
In 1993, Rounder Records released Carbo's comeback CD, Drawers Trouble," and the single Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On" was a New Orleans hit. A second Rounder album, The Barber's Blues," followed in 1996.