THE HOME STRETCH

It's just a few days before Fat Tuesday and it just occurred to me that some people don't do their whole Mardi Gras wig out on that particular day, because they have work or school the following day. That's some mixed up priorities. If you are a real Mardis Gras enthusiast, part of the challenge is surviving Wednesday morning. You really gotta have the big blow out on the right day. Fat Tuesday is the big crescendo, after days filled with music and celebration, pop-up parades through residential streets on the other side of town, getting liquored up and checking out music in the Quarter, and just general banging on shit and blowing horns. If there was one thing that impressed me the most about New Orleans (albeit from a single visit years ago) it was that music was everywhere. Blues, R & B, zydeco, cajun, even fucking Al Hirt, it was streaming out of clubs cars, homes, and stores. It was in the air. And that was just on the days preceding Fat Tuesday. I wanted to bottle that. 

I know some of you are already partying, and may make the stretch. Maybe not. But you know someone somewhere has already started partying with the intention of keeping it up until the last stupid ass Hurricane has been poured and the last Neville has left the stage. I salute you. Fool.

Here's a mess of New Orleans type stuff, most collected from other Mardi Gras posts. But there are some you may not have heard. What the hell. It's cheap and you get a lot.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Cow Cow Blues mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Dave Bartholomew - Carnival Time mp3 at Home of the Groove
Eddie Bo - Check Mr. Popeye mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
The Showmen - It Will Stand mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Huey ‘Piano’ Smith & The Clowns – Don’t You Just Know It mp3 at Augasm
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Moo Moo mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Smiley Lewis I hear You Knockin' mp3 at DJ Perro
Bobby Marchan - Get Down With It mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Shirley and Lee - Let the Good Times Roll mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can, Pt 1 mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can, Pt 2 mp3 at Videogotz
Huey "Piano" Smith - Would You Believe It mp3 at Modern Kicks
Professor Longhair - In the Night mp3 at DJ Perro
Jessie Hill - Oogsey Moo mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Roger and the Gypsies - Pass the Hatchet (Pts 1 and 2) mp3 at A Terrible Blogger Is Born
Jessie Hill - Whip It On Me mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Eddie Lang - Something Within Me mp3 at Soul Garage
Shirley and Lee - Feel So Good mp3 at Rocky 52
Lee Dorsey - Holy Cow mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Pelican Parade mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Huey "Piano" Smith - Popeye mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Wax Wonders: The Soul Of NOLA, Part 1 at Aquarium Drunkard Five New Orleans sides, Irma Thomas, Bobby Parker, Little Bob and two by Willie Tee. Worth the click.