Fird Eaglin Jr. (January 21, 1936–
February 18, 2009), known as Snooks Eaglin, was an a guitarist and singer based
in New Orleans. His vocal style was reminiscent of Ray Charles; in the 1950s,
when he was in his late teens, he sometimes billed himself as "Little Ray
Charles".
He played a wide range of styles of music
within the same concert, album, or even song: blues, rock and roll, jazz,
country, and Latin. In his early years, he also played acoustic blues. Eaglin
lost his sight not long after his first birthday and spent several years in the
hospital with other ailments. Around the age of five he received a guitar from
his father and taught himself to play by listening to and playing along with
the radio. He was given the nickname "Snooks" after a radio character
named Baby Snooks.
His ability to play a wide range of songs
and make them his own earned him the nickname "The Human Jukebox."
Eaglin claimed in interviews that his musical repertoire included some 2,500
songs.
At live shows, he usually did not prepare
set lists and was unpredictable, even to his bandmates. He played songs that
came to him on stage, and he also took requests from the audience.