William Thomas "Champion Jack" Dupree grew up an orphan in New Orleans, learning barrelhouse piano from the older "professors" of the city's Rampart Street dives before a stint as a professional boxer gave him his ring name. His raw, rolling piano blues — heavy on humor, hard living, and rambling narrative — became a direct source for the New Orleans R&B that followed, most famously when his 1941 "Junker Blues" supplied the melodic bones for both Professor Longhair's "Tipitina" and, later, Fats Domino's debut "The Fat Man."

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1941

Junker BluesChampion Jack Dupree