PRICE, LLOYD

born March 9, 1933, New Orleans, La., U.S. American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. Price made his mark in rock music history with his exuberant tenor and his flair for recasting rhythm and blues as irrepressible pop music, often working with seminal New Orleans producer Dave Bartholomew. Price's recording of his composition "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" (with Fats Domino on piano) topped the rhythm-and-blues charts in 1952 and was later a hit for Elvis Presley. "Personality" (1959) remains one of the most delightful of all New Orleans rhythm-and-blues hits, and his cover of the traditional ballad "Stagolee," which tells of a turn-of-the-century murder, became the best-known version of that often-recorded song. Price renamed it "Stagger Lee" (1958), turned the song's cautionary theme on its head with an uproarious arrangement, and wrote a delicate introduction reminiscent of haiku: "The night was clear / The moon was yellow / And the leaves1/4came1/4tumbling / Down." Price turned out hits throughout the 1960s and appeared on the oldies circuit well into his 60s. He also established three record companies and ran a booking agency and limousine service. Christopher Walters