Of the many renditions so helpfully enumerated yesterday by Jim Dixon, I would single out James Booker's as the closest to "definitive," and certainly one worth listening to.

James Carroll Booker III was both the personification or "Platonic ideal" of a Junco Partner himself, and also an absolute virtuoso on the piano.

Booker was about the same age as Mac Rebbenac (Dr. John) and the two of them started out as young stars on the then-vibrant N.O. studio-recording scene in the '50s. Both learned from the same masters (e.g., Professor Longhair) at about the same time.

Booker was a junkie and a homosexual who spent a lot of time at the Angola Prison Farm. Sometime during the mid-70s, he established a cordial relationship with the local District Attorney (public prosecutor), one Harry Connick, Sr., a noted amateur trumpter and jazz/standard vocalist. Booker became a tutor for the DA's son, Harry Jr., when he was a young prodigy as a pianist. From that time on, Booker didn't serve any more prison time (although he seems NOT to have "cleaned up his act" to any noticeable degree, and indeed died young of causes attributable to excessive drug use).

Many cynical observers are convinced that Booker must have been serving as a police informer in order to avoid prosecution during his final years. That may or may not be true; Connick Sr. may have extended him favorable treatment purely because of his musical talent and his personal friendship with the DA and his son.

There's a famous Michael P. Smith photo of a *very* young Harry Connick Jr. sitting in with Booker before a huge crowd at Jazz Festival one year. I just tried to locate a copy on the web, with the intentino of posting a link, but no luck. Mike Smith is probably protecting his copyright.