Bobby Mitchell (August 16, 1935 – March 17, 1989) was an American,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

-based, rhythm & blues singer and songwriter. Mitchell was born in the Algiers section of New Orleans. He was a popular recording artist in the 1950s and early 1960s, making records for

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to ...

, Show Biz Records and Rip Records. He first recorded in his teens with the

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group "The Toppers", which was broken up as most of the members were drafted. Mitchell's single "Try Rock 'n Roll," hit the top 20 of the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

in 1956. Many of his sessions were arranged by

Dave Bartholomew David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019) was an American musician, bandleader, composer, arranger, and record producer. He was prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century. Originally ...

. His single "

I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday" is a popular song written by Roy Hayes, Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew. The song was first recorded by Bobby Mitchell & The Toppers in 1957 and released in the same year. Origin The song's lyrics were written by ...

" was a hit, pre dating the more famous cover of the tune by

Fats Domino Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...

and got Mitchell an appearance on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

''. In the early 1980s he did radio shows at

WWOZ WWOZ (90.7 FM) is a non-profit community-supported radio station in New Orleans. It is owned by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. The station specializes in music from or relating to the cultural heritage of New Orleans and the sur ...

. Mitchell died in March 1989, at the age of 53, after years of health issues including diabetes, renal failure, and several heart attacks.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Bobby 1935 births 1986 deaths Musicians from New Orleans American rhythm and blues singers 20th-century American singers