This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

_THE SEA COAST ECHO?THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1989 3C
Bay songwriter pushes for hit with tune about New Orleans
BY D.C. HARVTLL
Some people have a song and dance, Bay St. Louis resident Mike Parris, however, has only a song?one he hopes will catch on.
After pitching other people?s songs and working various
show business-related jobs in New York for more than 20 years, Parris returned to his
native New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in the mid-70?s to plug his own work.
Having written more than 50 songs with littl success, Parris is pinning high hopes on his tune ?Good Old New Orleans?. He is leaving no stone unturned in his effort to push the song into the limelight.
Parris? original inspiration for the song was the 1984 New Orleans World?s Fair. The fair?s organizers, however, in the market for a song about the fair, not the city, passed on ?Good Old New Orleans.?
Being turned down by the fair did not kill Parris? enthusiasm for the tune. To the contrary, it seems to have strengthened his belief that the piece contains the right ingredients for a New Orleans theme song.
There have been numerous songs about the city, but none recently, he said.
?New Orleans needs a song that can lift th$ economy, that people can clap their hands to. Hopefully, mine will catch on,? Parris said.
Parris, who studied music at
Julliard and the Los Angeles City College, thinks ?Good Old New Orleans?, with its full compliment of New Orleans buzzwords, has what it takes? except for the right performer.
The song?s lyrics begin:
Good old New Orleans, the bayou?s so near,
close to the river there?s Mardi Gras cheer.
Red beans or gumbo now that?s quite a dish,
in good old New Orleans, I?ll soon get my wish
The list of people Parris has approached about the song reads like a ?Who?s Who? of the New Orleans music scene: Irma Thomas, Harry Connick Jr., Allen Toussaint, Pete Fountain, the Neville Brothers and Ronnie Kole, to name a few.
Patsy Ruella, a performer at the famous Crecent City night spot Pat O?Brien?s, recently received a standing ovation after doing a rendition of the tune, Parris said.
?People seemed to enjoy it,? he said.
Last year, Parris gained new hope for the song?s future when Edward?s Music Company in New Orleans published the tune.
?It?s going to be recorded, possibly later this summer. They?re also talking about a new Saints? theme song that may go on the flip side,? Parris said.
In the mean time, not one to kick back and leave things to chance, Parris is making sure ?Good Old New Orleans? is seen by anyone who might possible give it a break.
?I?m doing my best. I?m just trying to cover all the angles. You never know,? he said.