Walter "Popee" Lastie

Walter Daniel Lastie (September 18, 1938 – December 28, 1980), also known as "Popee", was an American rhythm & blues and jazz drummer from the musical Lastie family who played and recorded with many of New Orleans' leading R&B musicians.

Walter Lastie, was born September 18, 1938, in New Orleans to Frank and Alice Hill Lastie. Walter's five siblings were brothers Chester, Melvin, David, and Joseph, and sister Betty Ann. The family lived in the lower 9th Ward of New Orleans. In the 1920s Frank Lastie became a disciple of Mother Catherine Seals, a trombone-playing leader of the Spiritual movement. She and other Black Spiritualist preachers encouraged their congregations to follow Psalm 98 and "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord". At Mother Catherine Seal's request, Deacon Frank Lastie introduced drums into her Spiritual Church rituals in the late 1920s. Walter attended Joseph S. Clark Sr. High School, where he studied with influential teacher Yvonne Busch. Busch was a graduate of Southern University, who had toured with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm as a trumpeter. She also played trombone and drums. Among her students were drummers Smokey Johnson, John Boudreaux, and James Black. Herlin Riley, son of Betty Ann Lastie, said that when he was growing up his uncle Walter Lastie rehearsed at his house with his friend Smokey Johnson.

Career Lastie's first job was when he went on the road with the Freddie Domino band when he was sixteen years old in 1954. Domino, a trumpeter and vocalist, was Fats Domino's first cousin. Walter remembered, "It was a real good experience for me and a whole lot of other guys who came up during the time I was coming up because Freddie hired all young people. He is the cause of a lot of musicians my age getting their start." Beginning in 1955 Lastie toured with New Orleans piano player Eddie Bo, at that time going by name Spider Bocage, and his band, including David Lastie on saxophone and Irving Banister on guitar, organized for the Shaw Booking Agency. They backed such artists as Little Willie John, Amos Milburn, Etta James, Ruth Brown, the Platters, and Big Mama Thornton until 1964. Another Eddie Bo band- James Rivers and Robert Parker on tenor sax, Porgy Jones on trumpet, Joe Morrison on guitar, Placide Adams on bass, and Walter Lastie on drums- played on the first hits by Irma Thomas ("Don't Mess with My Man") and Robert Parker ("All Nite Long"), and a Mardi Gras classic by Al Johnson ("Carnival Time"). and "Every Dog Got His Day" powered by Lastie's driving beats. He spent time as Fats Domino's drummer and road manager for the band.

The French Market Jazz Hall Band, a traditional jazz outfit featuring David Lastie on tenor sax, Clarence Ford on tenor sax and clarinet, Waldren "Frog" Joseph on trombone, Placide Adams on bass, Richard Fleming on trumpet, Neal Unterseher on banjo, Betty Ann (Lastie) Williams on vocals, and Walter Lastie on drums, performed and recorded traditional jazz in the 1970s. The two Lastie brothers also played and recorded with the French Market Jazz Band, a different group of musicians.

Beginning in 1977 the Lastie brothers' band "A Taste of New Orleans" performed around New Orleans and abroad.

Influence Herlin Riley grew up hearing his uncles Melvin, David, and Walter rehearse at his grandmother's house. "They would play Fats Domino R&B stuff, and then they would play something like 'Moanin' ' by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. So I heard those two styles and my grandfather (Deacon Frank Lastie) was playing the earlier stuff. It was never a big deal going from one idiom to the other." Riley elaborated on the influence of his mentor, "That's something I got from my uncle Walter 'Popee' Lastie. Whenever he would sit down and tell me about playing the drums, he would always say, 'Whenever you play a solo think about the melody and try to play the form of the tune so that people can relate to it.' As opposed to playing just a beat or playing a lot of wild licks. Whatever I play I try to make it musically coherent." Lastie died of a heart attack at age 42 on December 28, 1980, Walter Lastie's life was celebrated with a jazz funeral. Musicians from the Olympia, Tuxedo and other bands participated. As one said, "Ain't many cats could draw this many of us out - on a Saturday morning, to boot."