Iconic ​Dew Drop Inn set for redevelopment, restoring music hall closed in 1970

By Nicholas Reimann

“Oh baby, Dew Drop Inn. I’ll meet you at the Dew Drop Inn.”

Those are words you might soon hear outside of just the 1970 Little Richard song “Dew Drop Inn,” as a developer takes the first steps in an ambitious project to restore the historic hotel and music hall on LaSalle Street in Central City — once a common stopping point for top African-American musicians performing in the Jim Crow South, including James Brown, Tina Turner and Ray Charles. The latter even lived in the hotel at one point.

The project’s developers had their first chance to show their proposal for a revived Dew Drop Inn to the public at a neighborhood participation meeting Saturday, Nov. 17, where they took input as well as outlined the plan for a completely renovated two-story space totaling around 10,000 square feet — including 15 hotel rooms, a restaurant, music venue and museum of New Orleans music.

Ashé hosts screening of “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World”

A screening of “Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World” — an in-depth look at the Native-American influence in popular music — will be held Friday, Nov. 16, at the Ashé Power House.

The film reveals that early pioneers of the blues such as Charlie Patton had Native as well as African-American roots, and one of the first and most influential jazz singers, Mildred Bailey, had a voice trained on Native-American songs.

As the folk-rock era took hold in the 1960s, and ’70s, Native-Americans such as Peter La Farge, and Buffy Sainte-Marie helped to define its evolution, and Native guitarists and drummers like Link Wray, Jimi Hendrix, Jesse Ed Davis and Randy Castillo forever changed the trajectory of rock and roll.

Danae Columbus: Jimmy Fitzmorris — A lifetime of service to Louisiana

On the eve of his 97th birthday, almost 200 admirers turned out last night to honor former Lt. Governor Jimmy Fitzmorris at the NOMA premiere of a new documentary on his life and political legacy. Co-produced by Jeff Courere and his sister Pat Denechaud, the film will begin airing tonight on WLAE-TV at 8 p.m. and will also run on statewide public television in 2019. In his opening remarks, current Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser said that if today’s public officials “can do half the job Jimmy Fitzmorris did with love and passion for Louisiana, our careers would be a success.”