PARTY HARD. THEY'RE CHEAP PLASTIC BEADS.

Yikes! I forgot that Fat Tuesday, the big Mardi Gras blowout, is this coming week. That means all of the amateurs who prefer not to blow chunks at the office will be holding their Mardi Gras wing dings this weekend. And it's already Saturday night, so it's a might late for for posting this stuff. Sorry office zombies, save 'em for Tuesday and then just call in on Wednesday. 

Here's a handful of songs, but the real party fuel are the two mixes at Funky 16 Corners. Two hour long mixes in mp3s so you don't have to fuck around too much to download them. There will be more, but I wanted to get these posted for any Mardi Gras type shenanigans that might be happening tonight.

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Listen:
Joe Jones - You Talk Too Much mp3 at Time Goes By
Professor Longhair - Mardi Gras in New Orleans mp3 at Groove Addict
Ernie K-Doe - Popeye Joe mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Lee Dorsey - Workin' In a Coal Mine mp3 at Tumblr
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Moo Moo mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
The Mixes:
Funky16Corners Mardi Gras! at Funky 16 Corners Two fine mixes, Mardi Gras Boogaloo and Keep the Fire Burning. One click and mix the drinks.

TAKE IT PLUME HEAD

Hey it's Fat Tuesday, or was, depending on where you are. regardless, it is here, right now. It is also my excuse for a hasty exit. Dig on the man on the left (above), Mr. Ernie K-Doe. The dude who did "Mother In Law" and a zillion other N.O. classics. Several years later, he was a radio DJ on WWOZ, and his between song banter was all over the place. Making things up spontaneously is tough, but he goes on weird tangents almost like he's talking just to hear his own voice, ranting about all sorts of shit. After a few minutes, it's back to the music. This is good stuff.

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Listen:
Ernie K-Doe - Wanted, $10.000 Reward mp3 at J Yuenger
Ernie K-Doe - Mother In Law mp3 at Net Animations (?)
Radio show:
Ernie K-Doe on WWOZ at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 110 minutes

TOUSSAINT WINS THE COOL PHOTO CONTEST

Jeez, for some reason this year the whole New Orleans music vibe is hitting me hard. Maybe it's because I haven't listened io music from New Orleans since about this time last year, which is just stupid. There's holiday music and there's holiday music. I'd never listen to Christmas music in the middle of summer. That's the most black and white type of an off season decision that needs to be made. Halloween is a different story. The real goofy "Monster Mash" type shit only gets played at Halloween, but the Sonic's "The Witch"? All bets are off. Any day of the year. Valentines Day? Shit, if I wanna get soapy, I've been known to play a love song. Okay, so Christmas music is the only truly limited type of holiday music. So, what the fuck? New Orleans music isn't just a soundtrack to people in loud clothes yelling in your year and then turning to puke. All of this because of Joe Jones's "You Talk Too Much". It set me off.

It was at one of the four posts over at Time Goes By, a blog for Australian seniors that has among its ranks a Mr. Peter Tibbles. Dude knows music. He has a weekly column over there and they're always interesting regardless of the genre. Among his posts are four that have all varieties of New Orleans music. Tibbles's posts are at the bottom. Here's a few others as appetizers.

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Listen:
Joe Jones - You Talk Too Much mp3 at Time Goes By
Professor Longhair - Mardi Gras in New Orleans mp3 at Groove Addict
Ernie K-Doe - Popeye Joe mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Lee Dorsey - Workin' In a Coal Mine mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Al Tousan (Allen Toussaint) - Moo Moo mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban 
The Posts:
New Orleans Music at Time Goes By
Part 1:
King Oliver, Sidney Bechet, Roy Brown, Lee Dorsey, Joe Jones, Bobby Charles, Dave Bartholomew, Jessie Hill, Coco Bobicheaux
Part 2:
Louis Armstrong, Professor Longhair, Lloyd Price, Eddie Bo, the Neville Brothers, Benny Spellman, the Dixie Cups, Smiley Lewis
Part 3:
Kid Ory, Johnny Dodds, Alvin Robinson, Fats Domino, Johnny Adams, Ernie K-Doe, Lonnie Johnson, Chris Kenner, The Meters, Dr, John
Part 4:
Jelly Roll Morton, Champion Jack Dupree, James Booker, Aaron Neville, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas, Clarence "Frogman" Henry, Larry Williams, Shirley and Lee. Wynton Marsalis

WELL HOWDY MERRILL

Listen to new music? Hell yeah, Listen to these three tunes. It's new music to me, music new to me. Same difference. I heard these songs for the first time tonight and had never heard of Moore at all. As long as that keeps happening, I don't feel the urgency to scope "new" bands. I just need a steady fix of good shit, regardless of vintage.

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Listen:

Merrill Moore - House Of Blue Lights mp3 at Internet Archive
Ernie K Doe's Blue Diamond With Billy Tate & His Band - No Money mp3 at Internet Archive
John Lee Hooker & His Band - No More Doggin' mp3 at Internet Archive

K.DOE SAVES THE DAY

I saw a commercial earlier for a TV version of Jesus Christ Superstar to be aired on Easter. Two participant names I caught were Alice Cooper and John Legend. What in the fuck. Is this even a world I want to live in? I flushed the toilet, washed my hands and went straight to the computer. Ernie K. Doe will fix things.

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Listen:

Ernie K. Doe - Hurry Up and Know It mp3 at J Yuenger
Ernie K. Doe - Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta mp3 at J Yuenger
Ernie K. Doe - Heebie Jeebies mp3 at J Yuenger
Ernie K. Doe - A few more songs and his radio show here

YES ERNIE, YOU LOOK DANDY

Despite all the references to Mardi Gras and partying and the French Quarter and puking in your solo cup and all of that, the real reason I like Mardis Gras, from this distance anyway, is as an excuse to go on a New Orleans music binge and not feel the least bit guilty about it. The world needs New Orleans. It's a city in love with its own music heritage, an example in that way to all of us. Despite having its share of contemporary big shots, the reverence for the rich history of New Orleans music by locals is something you aren't going to hear in many places.

If you want to wrap your head around what New Orleans music is like, you can listen to all sorts of music from there and hear a common thread. It might lean towards jazz or blues or rock 'n' roll, and you might hear a strains of all of it in one song, but it all somehow seems to connect in that distinctive R&B of the region. Ernie K-Doe, like Joe Jones and Eddie Bo (see the last two posts) and a thousand others, epitomized that sound.

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Listen:
Ernie K-Doe - A Certain Girl mp3 at Hearsay
Ernie K-Doe - Wanted, $10.000 Reward mp3 at J Yuenger
Ernie K-Doe - Mother In Law mp3 at Net Animations (?)
Ernie K-Doe - Popeye Joe mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Ernie K-Doe - Here Come the Girls mp3 at Brendan McGetrick (?)
Radio show:
Ernie K-Doe on WWOZ at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Visit:
Ernie K-Doe at Wikipedia

THE NATIVE

Ernie K-Doe didn't have a lot of hits. He had one. That doesn't make a bit of difference. He is as New Orleans as any of the more successful musicians, producers, and songwriters associated with the city, maybe even more so. Because he had that certain thing, the secret ingredient of any music scene with a soul, he was a funky eccentric. After his first go-around lost steam, he went on the radio, as a DJ on WWOZ, ranting and raving like a nut, and occasionally getting around to playing records. He started calling himself "Mister Naugahyde", a suitably WTF moniker, but then he settled on "The Emperor of the Universe", which was brilliant. When you're going to give yourself a title, go big, right? He enjoyed something of a comeback in the nineties, after his wife Antoinette encouraged him to really let his flag fly. (That's her with K-Doe above. The excellent photo is by Jeff Riedel). Capes, crowns, flowing tresses, feathers, the whole shooting match.

Here's a handful by K-Doe, and a radio show from his days on WWOZ. Dig it, It's seventy minutes of K-Doe, going off and spinning the wax.

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Listen:
Ernie K-Doe - A Certain Girl mp3 at Hearsay
Ernie K-Doe - Wanted, $10.000 Reward mp3 at J Yuenger
Ernie K-Doe - Mother In Law mp3 at Net Animations (?)
Ernie K-Doe - Popeye Joe mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Ernie K-Doe - Here Come the Girls mp3 at Brendan McGetrick (?)
Radio show:
Ernie K-Doe on WWOZ at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Visit:
Ernie K-Doe at Wikipedia

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED

Fat Tuesday is a little over a week away, I'd imagine the wooping it up has already begun down there in New Orleans. I've only been down there once, arriving mid-Mardi Gras and staying a day or so later. A bunch of my friends, along with my brother and I went down. Our ersatz local guides were our friends Harold and Holly They told us where to go, off the beaten track, and hosted our excesses, and what not. One night their radio was tuned to WWOZ when Ernie K-Doe was doing his radio show. Harold was a regular listener, and taped some of his shows. A few weeks after I returned home, he sent me one of the shows on a cassette. I still have it here someplace, in one of "the boxes". You know how it is, you probably have a disorganized mess of your own. Regardless, it's on a cassette, and Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban has a seventy minute show ready to go, so when I need a fix I've got that one at ready.

Ernie K-Doe, for those of you don't know, was a New Orleans rhythm and blues singer, one of many who exemplified the New Orleans sound. That much I'll give you. But I'm not going to lay out what's been done more thoroughly elsewhere. Well. Just get out of here.

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Listen:
Ernie K-Doe - A Certain Girl mp3 at Hearsay
Ernie K-Doe - Wanted, $10.000 Reward mp3 at J Yuenger
Ernie K-Doe - Mother In Law mp3 at Net Animations (?)
Ernie K-Doe - Popeye Joe mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Ernie K-Doe - Here Come the Girls mp3 at Brendan McGetrick (?)
Radio show:
Ernie K-Doe on WWOZ at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Visit:
Ernie K-Doe at Wikipedia

SHOW US YOUR 78S

Tuesday, March 4 is Fat Tuesday. You do know what that means right? It's the day you get it all out of your system, one last blow out, traditionally the day before Ash Wednesday, a day in which practicing Christians straighten up and fly right, for forty days anyway, in observance of Lent. For a particular breed though, it's just about beads and breasts and party 'til you puke. You know them. Then there's that other group, the group that digs the rich cultural history of the carnival season, including the music. There is a subgroup of that, a group I really admire, and feel a kind of absentee kinship with. They're the locals, the ones who get more into it. They know where the backstreet Indian showdowns are, when Ernie K. Doe is on the air, what tiny bar Professor Longhair's cousin is playing in, and where to get 78s. Everyone I know that has lived, or currently lives, in New Orleans, has been in that last group. Some weird sort of pride about that. West Coast representin'.

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 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
Jessie Hill - Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Pt 1 mp3 (via DivShare) at Junk Shop Juke Box
Jessie Hill - Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Pt 2 mp3 (via DivShare) at Junk Shop Juke Box
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
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
Jessie Hill - Oogsey Moo mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Jessie Hill - Whip It On Me mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
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 
Vintage ranting
Ernie-K Doe on WWOZ, New Orleans (1980s) mp3 at Beware of the Blog An hour and ten minutes of K Doe going off, DJing, ranting and actually playing some records.
Listen live:
WWOZ "Guardians of the Groove" streaming here

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