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Producer Cosimo Matassa Always Believed In New Orleans

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New Orleans music didn't do as well in the 1960s, a few hits notwithstanding, as it had done. Musicians left town, major labels lost interest, and Motown and Memphis took over the black music charts. Nonetheless, the late Cosimo Matassa, who owned the only recording studio in town, kept busy. Fresh Air rock historian Ed Ward has the story today.

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Ed Ward is the rock-and-roll historian on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.