Ed was a charming guy and at the highpoint of his career in those days. Before his hitch in the Navy he attended Tulane University for two years and went on to study at the New York School of Radio and Television Technique. He returned to the Big Easy after the Navy and worked as a director at WDSU-TV in New Orleans. By the time I met him in 1975 he was a big star and everyone in New Orleans knew him. He was a captain for one Mardis Gras crewe or another almost every year and was Bacchus (King of Carnival), in the mid-70s. He had a house at the retirement community in Diamondhead, MS, where those pictures were taken and my trio, US Steel (made up of former US Navy Steel Band members) played several private parties there and at his southern mansion in New Orleans' garden district.
Ed really loved steel drums and did a lot to promote us. As I recall, it was Ed that brought Robert Palmer to see US Steel perform in Jackson Square which resulted in him inviting us to join the finale of his concert at the newly renovated Saenger Theatre in 1980, playing "Every Kinda People" with The Neville Brothers, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Dr. John and The New Orleans Symphony.
Every Kinda People
~ Robert Palmer ~
