WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Just poking around for more New Orleans stuff, I was teetering, trying to decide who to post first. Then I ran into the above photo of Eddie Bo. Look at that. He could be playing complete crap and I'd get sucked in just by that. Four barefoot women in short skirts putting their dukes up, with Bo in the middle of them. Wait. Look at his feet. (You can see them better in this high resolution version.) Just why in the fuck would he have the toes cut out of his shoes? Who knows? The nut.

Eddie Bo's music though is not crap. It's New Orleans R&B, classic to the core. He recorded for something like forty labels and released more singles than any other New Orleans artist, with the exception of Fats Domino. And he cut his shoes up for photo shoots.

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Listen:
Eddie Bo - Roamin-itis mp3 at Groove Addict
Eddie Bo - Baby I'm Wise mp3 at Groove Addict
Eddie Bo - The Sissy Walk mp3 at Groove Addict
The full LPs
Eddie Bo - Check Mr. Popeye at Groove Addict
Eddie Bo and the Soul Finders - The Hook and Sling  at Groove Addict

FAT TUESDAY IS NIGH

Yeah, baby. Fat Tuesday is early this year. You do know what that means, right? A New Orleans music binge. Man, if there was ever a city that revolves around it's own sound, it's New Orleans. I've never been to a city so proud of their own musical heritage. And they have every right to be. They got it all; rhythm and blues, zydeco, cajun, blues, jazz, dixieland, funk, brass bands. I don't know if it's still the same, but when I was there years ago you could walk around a neighborhood and hear all sorts of regional music coming out of living rooms and kitchen windows, not to mention bars and record stores. It was bitchen. It wouldn't make a bit of difference it the music wasn't good. But it is. New Orleans practically invented most of the genres they're known for.

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Listen:
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Cow Cow Blues mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Eddie Bo - Check Mr. Popeye mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Bobby Marchan - Get Down With It mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can, Pt 2 mp3 at Videogotz
Clifton Chenier - Zydeco Sont Pas Sale mp3 at Let's Polka
Huey "Piano" Smith - Would You Believe It mp3 at Modern Kicks
Jessie Hill - Oogsey Moo mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
A mix:
Funky 16 Corners presents Mardi Gras Boogaloo 22 song mix at Funky 16 Corners. Go there to get it, download link is posted after the song listing.

THIS DRUMMER IS AT THE RIGHT GIG

Okay, I've come to the conclusion that if you want to locate funky New Orleans music from the mid-sixties through the early seventies, you just have to look for a session that James Black played on. I've been poking around sporadically since last night and have found nothing that would negate that suggestion. This is a great example of why you never limit yourself to the music you know. If it wasn't for that Betty Harris photo yesterday, I'd would not have known about James Black. And, as it is, I feel like I slipped through some crazy secret portal. Maybe he's well known to collectors and his breaks are sampled all over the place, I don't know. I do know that I've been walking around my whole life not knowing who he is, and now I do. And now the fun begins...

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Listen:
Roy Ward - Horse With a Freeze mp3 at Soul Garage 1968 
Sonny Jones - Sissy Walk mp3 at Soul Garage 1971
Mary Jane Hooper - I've Got What You Need (streaming) at YouTube 1969
Eddie Bo and the Soul Finders - We're Doin' It (streaming) at YouTube  1969
The Explosions - Hip Drop (streaming) at YouTube 1971
This is good:
James Black - Guardian of the Groove - Audio documentary at YouTube 
Note: This is part one. At YouTube, check the right column for the rest.
Visit:
James Black bio and discography at Drummer World

GATEWAY TO THE BEAT

I have no idea where I'm going tonight. I had the photo above saved for some reason, so I thought, what the hell, let's check some Betty Harris stuff. You know how that happens. The first song I ran into was "Break In the Road". Flat out, this song blows my mind. The tone is set three seconds into it, with feedback. Not wailing feedback. It sounds like it was accidental and they just left it in. And it reappears sporadically throughout the song. Yes. It's raw. Then you notice the beat. Sweet holy Jesus. That's when the whole thing goes haywire. Totally distracted in a different direction. The drummer is James Black. I know that because I ended up at Drummer World of all places, digging on the other work of his. Add another one to the list. That reminds me, I don't know shit.

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Listen:
Betty Harris - Break In the Road mp3 at Drummer World
Betty Harris - Break In the Road mp3 at Soylent Cream
Eddie Bo - Hook and Sling mp3 at Drummer World
Lee Dorsey - Riverboat mp3 at Drummer World
Four more songs featuring James Black at Drummer World
Visit:
James Black bio and discography at Drummer World

LIKE THAT

There were tons of great R & B singers that came out of New Orleans in the late fifties and early sixties, and I'm pretty sure every last one of them worked with Allen Toussaint at one time or another. At least it seems that way. Chris Kenner was one of them and, like many of them, the partnership resulted in a couple hits for him. The first one was "I Like It Like That", later a hit for the Dave Clark Five, and the second, "Land of a Thousand Dances", a song he really cleaned up on with royalties. It became an even bigger hit for Wilson Pickett, and to a lesser degree Cannibal and the Headhunters, and Thee Midniters. But the song of his that I'm really digging on is "Cinderella". As usual, it's probably for the wrong reasons. One of the things I like about it is the repetitiveness of it. It allows you to be lulled into the groove. First it starts out a Mighty Hannibal type intro, then it veers towards Junior Walker "Shotgun" territory. But after it continues like that for a while, you realize that it's not really going anywhere. It just continues the same funky beat, with horns blaring, for the next couple minutes. What I really dig is the drummer getting a little flashy with the drum rolls every few measures. It sort of punctuates the song. You get the idea that he's sneaking them in. Though, it being a New Orleans thing, it could just be Earl Palmer behind the kit with a license to do just about anything he wants. I've no idea who produced it, but it was arranged by Eddie Bo, another New Orleans fixture, which explains a little of the repetitiveness. His big one "Pass the Hatchet" (under the name Roger and the Gypsies) was nothing if not repetitive."Sick and Tired" is early Kenner, from 1957. It rules. 

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Listen:
Chris Kenner - Cinderella mp3 at Second Line Social
Roger and the Gypsies - Pass the Hatchet (Pts 1 and 2) mp3 at A Terrible Blogger Is Born
Chris Kenner - Sick and Tired mp3 at The Dregs
Chris Kenner - I Like It Like That mp3 at Corey Barksdale

ATTN: PARTY PLANNING COMMITTEE

Don't get me started about New Orleans. I love that city. Within hours of my first arrival (on my only visit), my brother scored a Little Richard 78, and it just got better after that. There was a contingent of San Diegans that all happened to be going the same year, and we all had common friends in a couple that lived there, Harold and Holly. They lived right in the thick of it, both literally and figuratively. It was a great few days, I'll leave it at that.

Ever since then, my soft spot for New Orleans music has grown. Here's a random sampling. Not all are Mardi Gras related, but all have that feeling, that certain vibe that only one region can produce. Have fun; don't be stupid. Best advice I ever got.

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Professor Longhair - Tipitina mp3 (via Box.net) at Carnival Saloon
Ernie K-Doe - A Certain Girl mp3 at MBrownI.com
Dr. John, the Night Tripper - Mama Roux mp3 at Home of the Groove
Clifton Chenier - Zydeco Sont Pas Sale mp3 at Let's Polka
Eddie Bo - Check Mr. Popeye mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Feet Can't Fail Me Now mp3 at Home of the Groove
Professor Longhair - Going To Mardi Gras mp3 at Carnival Saloon
The Wild Magnolias - Handa Wanda mp3 at Vibrations Music
Lee Dorsey - Tears, Tears and More Tears mp3 at Home of the Groove
Sugar Boy Crawford and his Cane Cutters - Jock-A-Mo at Carnival Saloon
Fats Domino - Walkin' To New Orleans mp3 at Carnival Saloon
Bill Sinigal and the Skyliners - Second Line, Part I mp3 at Home of the Groove
The Meters - Hey Pocky-A-Way mp3 at Carnival Saloon
Dejan's Olympia Brass Band - Ain't My Fault mp3 at Carnival Saloon
Bonus:
Ernie K-Doe - WWOZ radio show mp3 at Beware of the Blog Over an hour of Mr. "Mother In Law" spinning wax and testifying on the air.
Neat images:
The Mistick Krew of Comus - 1873 Designs For Parade Costumes at Twisted Vingtage