The Knickerbockers “Lies” (1965)
I guess the biggest of the “lies” here was that this delightful, melodic and catchy little song was not actually recorded by 4 mop-topped Beatles in Liverpool, England – as one might quite naturally assume – but by a garage band named The Knickerbockers led by a couple of brothers from Bergenfield, New Jersey. Apocryphal...... Read More
Albert Cummings “Man On Your Mind” (2004)
Like Ted Striker in the Airplane! clip, I (too) have been nervous lots of times. Taking exams, going into surgery, just about any type of public speaking..and a million other things. But, I’ve never been more nervous than when Massachusetts bluesman Albert Cummings handed my 13-year-old son his guitar.... Read More
Li’l Queenie & The Percolators “My Darlin’ New Orleans” (1981)
Their recording output was exactly one record. Not one album, mind you, but one song – a 45 single. And yet, last week Leigh Harris, aka Little Queenie, was inducted into the... Read More
The Wild Magnolias “All On A Mardi Gras Day”
It’s Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras day.
So accordingly, here’s my favorite Mardi Gras day song,... Read More
Trombone Shorty “Here Come The Girls” (2017)
He’s James Brown with a horn. Really, with two horns – because despite his name, Trombone Shorty is equally adept at blowing both the trombone and the trumpet, and ever since the first time I saw him perform live I was completely blown away. In a city where... Read More
The Hawketts “Mardi Gras Mambo” (1954)
If I had to pick just one song heard throughout the city of New Orleans in the days and weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, that was both the most ubiquitous and the most universally adored, I think it would have to be ‘Mardi Gras Mambo’ by The Hawketts. Everybody... Read More
Louis Armstrong “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans”
Satchmo posed the enduring question: Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? Can you conjure the sound of the Streetcar clickety-clacking it’s way up St. Charles Avenue? Could you spend hours listening to a brass band play both in a crowded club on Frenchmen Street or sitting alone in Jackson Square? Do you... Read More
Kermit Ruffins “Drop Me Off In New Orleans”
As part of their 2018 series marking the tricentennial of the city of New Orleans and highlighting “300 people who have made New Orleans New Orleans”, The Times-Picayune, the city’s local newspaper, ran a feature on beloved local trumpeter... Read More
The Meters “Cissy Strut” (1969)
If you like New Orleans music, you surely owe something to The Meters. If you enjoy funk music, you undoubtedly owe a lot to The Meters. And if you revel in New Orleans funk music, well, you pretty much owe it all to The Meters. This is the... Read More
Jim Pepper ‘Witchi Tai To’ (1971)
Freshman year of college two of my friends disappeared one day to some record store, and returned later with a few offbeat choices: “German Drinking Songs,” “Gregorian Chants,” and “Music Of The American Indian.” I think the three of them cost a dollar combined, and they probably overpaid, but we sat in their dorm room...... Read More