New Orleans R&B cult icon Prince La La was born Lawrence Nelson in 1946. A product of the Crescent City's Ninth Ward district, he was the brother of guitarist Walter "Papoose" Nelson, one of the signature guitarists in producer Dave Bartholomew's ace session band. Lawrence began his career as a songwriter, and became a recording artist almost by accident: producer Harold Battiste planned to record Lawrence's "She Put the Hurt on Me" with singer Barbara George