Lloyd Price loved to hang out with his little brother Leo at their mama Beatrice’s fried catfish restaurant, the Fish ’n’ Fry in Kenner, Louisiana when they were kids. She had a jukebox filled with early blues stompers like Beans and Cornbread by Louis Jordan.

A play would cost you a nickel, and if Lloyd was in the building he would dance along to the cut. Customers would throw quarters at him to spur on his shuck and jive routine.Lloyd was born the 7th child of Louis and Beatrice Price. He started out playing the trumpet as a freshman

By the time Lloyd Price was a sophomore he’d formed a five piece band, the Blue Brothers, and started performing live on WBOK, Louisiana’s oldest black-owned radio station

Ever the vigilant talent scout, Dave Bartholomew had seen Lloyd Price play at Miss Beatrice’s cafe, and offered him the opportunity to cut a demo at F&M Studios, 10 miles down the river at the edge of the French Quarter in New Orleans.

On March 13, 1952 Lloyd Price ventured into Cosimo’s studio at Rampart and Dumaine to lay down a demo of Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Fats Domino sat in on piano replacing Salvador Doucette.

"I just wanted to impress the girls in high school and hear my name said on the radio," said Lloyd Price. Lawdy Miss Clawdy went number one on the R&B charts and would sell over a million copies.

Lloyd Price on the song’s importance: “After Lawdy Miss Clawdy, suddenly black kids and white kids were coming together through music. White kids were buying the record, dancing to the record, and that was the catalyst for the first youth movement.”

It had to be a delicious bit of revenge for Bartholomew as he was on the outs with Lew Chudd of Imperial Records, and was responsible for what would become a massive hit for Chudd’s rival Art Rupe. But how bad was Rupe screwing the artists of the day?

Take it away Henry Stone:“Art Rupe from Specialty had a whole guide that he gave his people on how to find an artist in the street, sign em’ to a deal, and cut a record. In those papers, he’s offering a half cent royalty contract.