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Liner Note Author: Rick Coleman. Recording information: Cosimo Recording studio, New Orleans, LA (01/1956); J & M Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA (01/1956); Universal Recording Corporation, Chicago, IL (01/1956); Cosimo Recording studio, New Orleans, LA (03/1957); J & M Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA (03/1957); Universal Recording Corporation, Chicago, IL (03/1957); Cosimo Recording studio, New Orleans, LA (03/1961); J & M Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA (03/1961); Universal Recording Corporation, Chicago, IL (03/1961); Cosimo Recording studio, New Orleans, LA (06/1957); J & M Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA (06/1957); Universal Recording Corporation, Chicago, IL (06/1957); Cosimo Recording studio, New Orleans, LA (08/28/1956); J & M Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA (08/28/1956); Universal Recording Corporation, Chicago, IL (08/28/1956); Cosimo Recording studio, New Orleans, LA (10/1955); J & M Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA (10/1955); Universal Recording Corporation, Chicago, IL (10/1955); Cosimo Recording studio, New Orleans, LA (12/1956); J & M Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA (12/1956); Universal Recording Corporation, Chicago, IL (12/1956); Cosimo Recording studio, New Orleans, LA (1956); J & M Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA (1956); Universal Recording Corporation, Chicago, IL (1956); Cosimo Recording studio, New Orleans, LA (1958); J & M Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA (1958); Universal Recording Corporation, Chicago, IL (1958). Illustrators: Colin Escott; Nico Feuerbach. Photographers: Colin Escott; Nico Feuerbach. Whether it's a single-disc compilation or a comprehensive box set, Bear Family sets the standard for high quality in sound and for scholarship, content, and presentation. This 28-cut, single-CD Bobby Charles collection is an excellent case in point. See You Later, Alligator compiles all of his sides for Chess Records between the years 1955 and 1961, a full half of which didn't see release at the time they were recorded. Abbeville, LA's Charles (given name Guidry) was a 17-year-old Cajun high-school kid when he wrote and cut "See You Later, Alligator" with his own band, the Cardinals, at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Recording Studio on North Rampart Street in New Orleans. What is remarkable about this track nearly six decades later is how different it sounds from the hit Bill Haley version and how much more it jumps; the whole band feels like it's barely staying on the rails. This is pure swamp pop, unadulterated Cajun rhythm & blues. The flip side was another Charles original, the classic "On Bended Knee," a strolling, midtempo ballad that rhythmically slips and slides all around his wide-open, soulful lyric. There are three sides he cut during sessions with Willie Dixon's band in early 1956. Playing with Dixon, Bill Stepney, Harold Ashby, Jody Williams, and Harold Burrage, Charles cut his most uncharacteristic sides -- harder, edgier, and faster than what he'd cut in New Orleans. These three songs include "W
