Cosimo Matassa, recorded New Orleans R&B, dead, 88

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Cosimo (KOS-moh) Matassa (muh-TAS-suh), who recorded New Orleans rock and rhythm and blues from the 1950s into the 1970s, is dead at the age of 88.

Granddaughter Mia Matassa says he had been ailing since a stroke in 2009 and died Thursday, after spending about two years in a nursing home.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Its website says, "Some of the greatest rhythm & blues and rock and roll sides of all time were laid down in Matassa's small, unpretentious room."

It said 21 gold records and about 250 that made national charts were recorded in Matassa's studio, including nearly every Fats Domino hit. Hits by others included Lloyd Price's "Lawdy, Miss Clawdy" and Ernie K-Doe's "Mother in Law."