One of these days, I am hoping to visit New Orleans. I have always been fascinated with their parades, music and food. As many of my friends know, I like to create playlists. I have recently been doing this as a member of Amazon's Music Unlimited. My most recent playlist I created was one with a connection to Louisiana. New Orleans rich music history consists of Zydeco, Cajun, R&B and Jazz, among other styles.
I like to concentrate on a few artists and sprinkle various related artists around them. My base artists started with Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights ("Black Coffee"), Dr. John ('Right Place Wrong Time"), Amanda Shaw ("Good Southern Girl") and Buckwheat Zydeco ("Choo Choo Boogaloo"). Just those four artists alone are so different. On the Zydeco and Cajun side, the accordion and fiddle become very important to the compositions. Ann Savoy had joined Linda Ronstadt for a very soulful cover of "Walk Away Renee." Amanda Shaw is one of my favorites, as she can move from a Country song to a Pop song and then showcase her fiddle playing with a jig. She even did a cover of The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" Buckwheat Zydeco is exactly what his last stage name states, pure squeeze box driven hysteria. His real name is Stanley Dural, Jr.
I could listen to Dr. John's voice all day. While tickling the ivories, the good doctor, whose real name is Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., adds his soulful raspiness to numbers such as "Such A Night," "Jump Sturdy," "Iko Iko" and "Down In New Orleans." He is joined by Rickie Lee Jones for a very pop-standard sounding "Makin' Whoopee!" Dr. John & The Nite Trippers even recorded a version of Jungle Book's "The Bare Necessities." He also entertains the kids with the "Curious George Theme Song."
Another common theme is the use of Creole French in some of the tunes, such as Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys' "Bon Réve," Ann Savoy & Jane Vidrine's "Je M'endors" and Dwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers' "Ma Ti Femme." Other artists that made my playlist include Beau Jocque, Rockin' Sidney, Beausoleil, Rosie Ledet, Jo-El Sonnier, Wayne Toups, Fats Domino, Tab Benoit and so much more.
Fiddle virtuoso Doug Kershaw was included, but I can't help thinking of his appearances on the television show "Hee Haw." I didn't feel like my list would be complete without local boys The Neville Brothers. Aaron Neville's voice is as smooth as butter. I could go on and on, but maybe I should talk about some of those I didn't mention in a future blog. "Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gay-oh. Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the Bayou."