Ernie K-Doe

Ernie K-Doe achieved what stands as one of the most towering successes, arguably the single greatest, in New Orleans R&B history through the 1961 release “Mother-in-Law,” a witty complaint whose broad appeal carried it to the summit of both the pop and R&B charts. Although several subsequent smaller hits displayed comparable catchiness, this remained his sole major breakthrough, even as he continued to rank among the city’s most distinctive characters. Born Ernest Kador, Jr. in New Orleans in 1933, he began performing at age seven inside the Baptist church where his father served as minister. Throughout his teenage years, Kador sang with local gospel ensembles including the Golden Chain Jubilee Singers and the Zion Travelers, drawing primary inspiration from the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi. He started entering and winning talent contests, grew increasingly drawn to secular R&B and blues, and at seventeen relocated with his mother to Chicago, where he took the stage at neighborhood clubs. Connections formed there opened opportunities to perform with the Flamingos and Moonglows, as well as the Four Blazes, whose engagement led to his debut recording session for United in late 1953.

Kador came back to New Orleans in 1954 and refined his extravagant stage presence at numerous local venues, among them the celebrated Dew Drop Inn, appearing both alone and alongside the vocal group the Blue Diamonds. The Blue Diamonds issued a pair of tracks for Savoy in 1954, and the next year Kador, still credited under his birth name, cut his first solo single, “Do Baby Do,” for Specialty. In 1957 he laid down additional sides for Ember under the billing Ernie Kado as well as Ernie K-Doe. At last, in 1959, he signed with the newly established Minit label and began working with producer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and future legend Allen Toussaint. His initial Minit release, “Make You Love Me,” failed to register, yet the follow-up, “Hello My Lover,” became a notable regional success that moved close to 100,000 copies. K-Doe reached the pinnacle with 1961’s “Mother-in-Law,” a Toussaint composition on which he alternated lines with bass vocalist Benny Spellman; the track’s buoyant cynicism, rendered in classic New Orleans R&B style, earned him a number-one position on both the pop and R&B charts. National tours followed, along with several more charting singles—“Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta,” “I Cried My Last Tear,” “A Certain Girl” (later recorded by the Yardbirds), and “Popeye Joe”—none of which replicated the scale of “Mother-in-Law,” though they fared better on the R&B side.

After Minit folded, K-Doe accompanied Toussaint to Instant, but a pair of 1964 singles could not restore his chart momentum, partly because Motown’s ascent had begun to eclipse the early peak of New Orleans R&B. Through the rest of the 1960s he recorded for Peacock and Duke, securing two modest R&B chart placements in 1967 with “Later for Tomorrow” and “Until the Real Thing Comes Along” on the latter imprint. Adapting his freewheeling, playful approach to prevailing R&B currents proved difficult, however. A short-lived reunion with Toussaint in the early 1970s yielded no results, and K-Doe entered an extended stretch of alcoholism. He regained a measure of local popularity in New Orleans after launching a radio program in 1982, attracting listeners through his unrestrained behavior and open self-promotion. In 1994 he launched his own venue, the Mother-in-Law Lounge, in New Orleans, where he appeared regularly in subsequent years and occasionally returned to the studio. The city’s Music Hall of Fame inducted him in 1995, and he continued to receive recognition for his contributions until his death from kidney and liver failure on July 5, 2001.