"Winchester Cathedral"?

A pretty bad song, surely . . . BUT: Who recorded it, and whoever it was, were they otherwise "respectable"?

(NOTE: The above relates to the original question. From here on down, thread creep ensues.)

Mention of this song reminds me that one of my favorite New Orleans artists (and one of the world's most amazing guitar fingerpickers), Snooks Eaglin, used to do an improbably delightful cover version of this silly little tune. For a couple of years ('99 - '01, maybe?), it was one of his most-requested songs. More recently, Snooks and/or his audience seem to have finally tired of it, and I haven't heard him do it for a year or more.

Snooks Eaglin is often classified as a "blues guitarist," but his playing is really nothing like that of, say, BB King or Buddy Guy. Despite playing electric rather than acoustic guitar, and despite customarily performing with a small band rather than as a solo, he's more accurately classified as a blues "songster" (cover artist) in the tradition of John Hurt, Mance Lipscomb, etc. His sensibility is certainly fully informed by the blues, but he's more of a rock/pop/r&b artist, with studio credits dating back to the 1950s, when he played on some of the biggest hits ever to come out of the city.

Anyone with an interest in guitar technique (not to mention soulful American music) ought to give a listen to any of Snooks' many recent recordings. Opportunities to observe his unique five-fingered bare-fingered playing -- he looks like he has an extra set of knuckles, all of which bend in both directions -- are pretty rare outside of New Orleans, although he does go on tour worldwide once or twice a year. (He probably plays more gigs in Europe and Japan than in US cities outside Louisiana). If you ever get a chance to see him live at the Rock 'n' Bowl at Carrollton and Tulane, don't miss it.

It has taken many years for Snooks to get his due recognition; I lived here in town many years before I became aware of him, but he has finally achieved some of the recognition he deserves, if only among the local community and a *very* limited circle of international cognoscenti.

He is now often touted as "the Professor Longhair of the guitar," for his pervasive sense of humor as well as for his technical virtuosity, and I think the comparison is entirely valid. Also, my contention (above) that places Snooks in the tradition of Mississippi John Hurt is not made lightly. Fess and John Hurt are two of my absolute all-time faves, and Snooks might be the *only* living musician I would place in the same classification with those two. Please check him out if you can.