Singer for Spiders R&B; quintet

Hayward “Chuck” Carbo, 82, a singer who fronted the 1950s quintet the Spiders, a group that made the world aware of New Orleans rhythm and blues, died July 11 in New Orleans after a long illness.

Carbo and his brother Leonard “Chick” Carbo started singing in their father’s New Orleans church choir. They sang with the gospel group the Zion City Harmonizers before forming the Spiders under the guidance of studio owner Cosimo Matassa.

The Spiders had rhythm and blues hits in 1954 for Imperial Records with “I Didn’t Want to Do It” and “You’re the One.” The singles “I’m Slippin’ In,” “Tears Began to Flow,” “21” and “The Real Thing” followed. Dave Bartholomew, best known as Fats Domino’s producer and co-writer, wrote the group’s 1955 hit “Witchcraft.”

The Spiders toured with Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and the Drifters. But by the late ‘50s, the group had disbanded as the Carbo brothers pursued solo careers.

Lou Rawls successfully covered “You’re the One,” and Elvis Presley remade “Witchcraft.”

In 1993, Rounder Records released Carbo’s comeback CD, “Drawers Trouble,” and the single “Meet Me With Your Black Drawers On” was a New Orleans hit. A second Rounder album, “The Barber’s Blues,” followed in 1996.