Sho-Biz (New Orleans)

Sho-Biz in New Orleans

The Sho-Biz Corporation and record label was based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Operated by local DJ Jim Stewart, Sho-Biz released a string of 45rpm singles between 1959 and 1966. Stewart was working on WWOZ and WNOE during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. He is best remembered today for interviewing Elvis Presley on July 10, 1956, while Elvis stopped in New Orleans. The interview was re-released three times in the 2000s.

James Orton "Jim" Stewart, Jr., was born on November 11, 1925, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Following high school, he joined the US Navy in 1944, serving in the South Pacific. Upon his discharge, he enrolled at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and later at North Texas State University in Denton. Receiving a bachelor's degree, he taught in a New Orleans school but headed to Oklahoma, where he had accepted a position at Lake Murray Lodge. While there, he met his future wife and they married in 1954. It was around this time he became involved in radio and worked for WBYE.

Louisiana Weekly, March 11, 1961
Stewart's "Big Show of '61",
incl. Sho-Biz artist Bobby Mitchell

Following his return to New Orleans, he started working with WNOE in 1956 and by the end of the decade, had become the station's program director. His on-air personality soon made him a broadcasting legend due to his unusual style of announcing and hosting a show. One might say, show business was his passion. Accordingly, he started the Sho-Biz Corporation (sometimes also called Sho-Biz Productions) and his record label Sho-Biz. The first record release was produced with a local band, Allen Collay and the Satellites, and their single "Last Chance" b/w "Little Girl Next Door" (Sho-Biz #1002) was released in late 1959. A huge hit in New Orleans, the disc was picked up by Bill Lowery's National Recording Corporation (NRC) for distribution and finally reached #82 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The success of the Collay single promted Stewart to sign more artists, including veteran New Orleans R&B singer Bobby Mitchell. Stewart managed to continue the deal with NRC and the next Sho-Biz releases until 1960 saw national distribution by NRC as well. However, chart success eluded all subsequent releases. After release #1006 from 1960, the label fell dormant for some years. Stewart reactivated Sho-Biz in 1964 with a new numerical series, beginning with Joe Barry's "Can't Do Without You" b/w "Can't Live With You" (Sho-Biz #2001). He operated the label until 1966 or later, producing a few more releases.

Stewart took over Ched's Club on Canal Street for a while in the late 1960s, renaming it "Jamie's", where a lot of well-known acts performed, including Eric Burdon & the Animals. He remained a popular DJ on WNOE well into the 1970s. In 1986, he and his wife moved to Oklahoma City and retired to Houston two years later. Jim Stewart died on September 13, 2023, in Houston at the age of 97 years.

Sources

• Discogs

• 45cat entry

• Jim Stewart obituary

• 1972 aircheck of Jim Stewart WNOE show

• Bob Walker's New Orleans Radio Gold Facebook group

• http://www.neworleansradioshrine.com/email_12.html

• Tony Rounce: "Tommy Ridgley & Bobby Mitchell - In the Same Old Way: The Complete Ric, Ron and Sho-Biz Recordings" (Ace Records), liner notes, 2015