Bobby Mitchell
b. 16 August 1935, Algiers, Louisiana, USA, d. 17 March 1989, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. After studying music in high school, Mitchell formed a vocal group, the Toppers, in June 1950. The group comprised various high school friends and they entered local talent shows. After being discovered by Dave Bartholomew in 1952, the group began recording for Imperial until they split up in 1955 upon graduation, leading Mitchell to a solo career and his biggest hit the following year, Try Rock And Roll. This reached number 14 on Billboard's R&B chart—although he is probably better known as the originator of I'm Gonna Be A Wheel Someday which was later covered by Fats Domino. Leaving Imperial in 1958, he recorded infrequently for small local labels like Ronn, Sho-Biz and Rip, and by the late '60s, he was working outside the music business.