Discovering The New Orleans Soul Sound

Earlier this year, while reviewing several (if not most) of the 45 Rpm records that were released during 1969 there were several great memories and more than a few new discoveries. One of those records however, has led me to a virtual gusher of great music from not only the same approximate time frame, but dating all the way back to before the birth of Rock And Roll as we know it.

That record was “Break In The Road” by Betty Harris, a stunning example of 1960’s soul from New Orleans, Louisiana. It was written, produced and recorded by the great Allen Toussaint using his house band known as The Meters. Among the track’s many highlights are the searing guitar feedback by Leo Nocentelli, and the propulsive parade-style drumming of Ziggy Modeliste, his kit pushed way up in the mix by Toussaint. George Porter’s bass line anchors the whole recording, which is a landmark example of the amalgam of styles that make up the New Orleans sound.



Turns out that this was the last record Betty Harris would appear on. The phrase “tip of the iceberg” comes to mind as I begin to research this. There are so many possible directions to go in, from Eddie Bo, to Huey “Piano” Smith, Fats Domino, Lee Dorsey, who also recorded extensively with the aforementioned Toussaint, and many, many more.

The records by Lee Dorsey alone are so monstrous in their righteous groovy-ness it’s nothing less than a true eye opener to me. Best known for “Ya, Ya” and “Working In The Coalmine”, Dorsey also recorded many other fantastic records like “Give It Up” and “Yes, We Can”. I have yet to find a dud amongst them.

It goes without saying that Fats Domino is a Rock and Roll legend, but I still could not help but marvel at the sheer number of influential classic hits he actually had. Domino is easily New Orleans’s most prolific hit maker, but his peers recorded bunches of stuff that were just as good, and it boggles my mind as to why more of this music did not reach a wider audience.

You can try to go back as far as possible to trace this path from Jazz to Blues to Rock and Roll, but you wont find an actual date when one genre stopped and was replaced by another. The trails overlap each other and can be more accurately traced within the performances and recordings of the musicians from that area doing whatever it took to get a gig. From Dixieland Jazz bands working Rhythm and Blues tunes into their repertoire to musicians that would play in both Dixieland and Modern Jazz bands at the same time during any one day or weekend, New Orleans musicians were eclectic jacks of all trades that could play whatever, and whenever.

The authenticity of the actual recordings is the real payoff for me. This was 2 track technology recorded on a budget with little or no overdubs. The band simply had to play the tune from start to finish until they got it right with as few mistakes as possible. Guitars, pianos and other instruments that occasionally shift in and out of tune makes for the virtual cherry on top.

Nowhere is this more apparent than within the recording of Guitar Slim’s 1953 smash hit, “The Things I Used To Do”, which is widely acknowledged as one of the records that helped shape Rock And Roll. Backed by a young Ray Charles on piano playing his own arrangement, you can hear Ray shout out an audible “yeah!” near the very end of the track. This exclamation was not so much a cry of enthusiasm for what was being laid down as much as it was a sigh of relief that they finally made it through the entire track without any flubs!

Guitar Slim had a distinctive playing style, very much ahead of the curve towards what other players were doing from a melodic standpoint. It would be almost two years before followers like Chuck Berry burst onto the scene, although it seems that both men were influenced by the great Texas blues guitarist T-Bone Walker.

Like I said earlier, there are more directions to go in at this point than you can count. Research Fats Domino and you will no doubt uncover Dave Bartholomew. Trace the history of Allen Toussaint, and you will eventually end up finding out about Eddie Bo and Professor Longhair. Look into them both, and you will find out about Cosimo Matassa, whose J&M recording studio was the birthplace for so many of these seminal works.

I hope to write about all of these people and many more in depth at a later time, because even though the history is well documented for those that want to seek it, it still seems to be history that is not widely known. The origins of everything that was ever musical emanates from this region, with no disrespect intended towards Detroit, Chicago, New York, Memphis or any other scene .

It just seems that those other regions get talked up much more often than New Orleans does. Combine that with the fact that fewer records out of New Orleans “broke” nationally than out of any other region, and it makes for a thrilling first time listening experience. This music is an unrecognized part of our history, and what I want to do is convey this excitement in order to get our readers not so much to pick up a book, but to play and appreciate the records. As Lee Dorsey sang on “Give It Up”, “Don’t wait another longer…”.

The Battle Over “Iko Iko”

If you were ever to find yourself in New Orleans, Louisiana during Mardi Gras, it would be hard to not hear many of the local musicians singing and playing “Iko Iko”. The song tells a story regarding two warring tribes of Mardi Gras parade Indians. The tradition surrounding these parades dates back to the mid 19th century, and possibly even before.

The song depicts a chance meeting between a “Spy Boy” from one tribe and a “Flag Boy” from an opposing one. As the tradition goes, the spy boy would run ahead of the tribe, and the flag boy in between. The flag would bear the colors of the tribe and the flag boy would wave it to communicate messages back to the tribe’s chief.

Now it must be understood that this tradition is rooted in violence, so it’s no wonder that in the song’s lyrics the spy boy threatens to set the flag of the opposing tribe on fire. There were about 38 different tribes in and around the New Orleans area, and they had a penchant for starting brutal fights with one another. So dangerous were these altercations from generations ago, it used to be that when Mardi Gras Indians marched through neighborhoods, the townspeople would run away. Fortunately, the tradition has evolved away from fisticuffs and more towards which tribe has the most appealing costumes, and who sings and dances better. So now, people run towards the tribes in order to witness the colorful spectacle and be entertained.



The earliest example of this tradition is steeped in the cultures of African-Americans and Native Americans sharing a common bond as oppressed minorities. By disguising themselves as Indians, the Black people were able to avoid some of the inhumane racial segregation laws put forth by the white man. The tradition may have also evolved out of African – Americans dressing up as Indians to pay tribute to them for helping runaway slaves escape from capture.

Since the subject matter of the song goes back so far, the lyrics lend themselves to many opinions as to their origin. Some trace it back to Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians, while other linguists and historians feel that it’s either West African or even Haitian. What is certain though is that the song’s lyrics were lifted directly from those tradition rich parade tribes of New Orleans in 1953 by James “Sugar Boy” Crawford, who was attempting to use the street language of the day to cobble together a hit song in the same fashion that Lloyd Price did a year earlier with “Lawdy Miss Clawdy”.

“Iko Iko”, released under it’s original title of “Jock A Mo”, was a moderate hit locally in and around New Orleans, but never broke nationally. The lyric was actually sung by Crawford as “chock-o-mo”, but the record company misspelt the title of the song before sending it off to be manufactured.

Crawford’s band , Sugar Boy And The Cane Cutters, had earned some local status as a live act . His performing career though, would come to an abrupt halt when he was beaten up badly after a gig by some “rednecks” somewhere between the Mississippi/Louisiana state lines near the small town of Bogalusa.

Fast forward 13 years later to 1965. The Dixie Cups, a girl group vocal trio with all three members hailing from New Orleans are in a New York City recording session with record producers/songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. During some down time, the three ladies begin singing a song their grandmother taught them, tapping studio ashtrays with drumsticks as accompaniment. Unbeknownst to them, Leiber and Stoller left the tapes running and the basic track for their next record, “Iko Iko” was in the can within the blink of an eye. After additional bass and drums were added, it would be released as a 45 rpm single and reach #20 on the Billboard charts, making it The Dixie Cups’ last bona fide hit record.

The Dixie Cups and their management knew very little about the origins of the song, much less it’s author. So when it was released the songwriting credits were given to their three members. Soon after that, they found themselves in a lawsuit with James Crawford, who claimed that “Iko Iko” was exactly the same as his composition, “Jock A Mo”.

The two parties would settle out of court in 1967, with the agreement that although Crawford could never claim authorship or ownership of “Iko Iko”, he would be credited a 50% royalty for public performances and radio broadcasts of the tune. Even though the two songs are clearly identical, Crawford elected to settle rather than continue to fight the battle while receiving no royalty at all. His reasoning being that it’s “better to get 50 percent of something as opposed to 100% of nothing”.

During the 1990’s, yet another group would claim to have written the song. The Dixie Cups’ former manager Joe Jones filed a copyright registration in 1991, stating that he had written it in 1963. Jones even went so far as to license the song for the Hollywood film, “Mission Impossible 2”. The Dixie Cups filed a lawsuit against Jones, and earned a unanimous verdict in their favor.

One of the most well known songs to ever come out of the New Orleans region, “Iko Iko” has been covered by a diverse range of artists from The Grateful Dead to Cyndi Lauper, Warren Zevon, Dr. John, and many, many others.

A 2002 interview that James Crawford gave to “Offbeat Magazine” is perhaps the best summary of how he unconsciously tapped into the rich tapestry of this country’s checkered history, and composed a song that will live forever.

Interviewer: How did you construct 'Jock-A-Mo?'
Crawford: It came from two Indian chants that I put music to. “Iko Iko” was like a victory chant that the Indians would shout. “Jock-A-Mo” was a chant that was called when the Indians went into battle. I just put them together and made a song out of them. Really it was just like "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". That was a phrase everybody in New Orleans used. Lloyd Price just added music to it and it became a hit. I was just trying to write a catchy song....
Interviewer: Listeners wonder what 'Jock-A-Mo' means. Some music scholars say it translates in Mardi Gras Indian lingo as 'Kiss my ass,' and I’ve read where some think 'Jock-A-Mo' was a court jester. What does it mean?
Crawford: I really don't know. (laughs)

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Upscale Gyros

There was a show that I caught on The Cooking Channel the other day called "Cook Like An Iron Chef". It had a recipe for lamb that looked a little different, so I thought i'd try it.It ended up being too much work given the outcome which was a type of upscale gyro, albeit with no bread. However, there were some very good components within the recipe that I just may work into my regular repitoire.

First off, fresh oregano is awesome in salad. The recipe called for a vinegarette dressing that used fresh chopped oregano with radish, cucumber and radish greens. Radish greens are too bitter for me, so I just substituted romaine lettuce. The fresh oregano stripped off the stalks and chopped fine made for an awesome break from the salad blahs. Great flavor and highly recommended.

Secondly, the lamb itself was dredged in flour, dipped in egg and then coated with a mixture of panko bread crumbs and grated parmesan. While I am certainly no stranger to the extra crispy wonders of panko, it had never occurred to me to mix grated cheese into the crumbs. Previously, I would start with cheese, then egg, and then the plain panko. The result here was a much more tasty crust, not to mention an overall more consistent golden brown appearance.

So when we plated this thing, we started by putting down a yogurt sauce called "tzaziki" that was ok, but it was made with greek yogurt which also is just too bitter in flavor for me. The yogurt was mixed with some grated cucumber, lemon,garlic, salt and pepper. it was okay, but I just cant see myself reaching for that recipe again. The lamb cutlets went on top, with the salad on top of that. It actually tasted pretty good, and the textures of crispy,creamy and crunchy went well together.

So although the dinner that night was only a mild success, it did yield some interesting flavor techniques and combinations that I may in fact find myself returning to at some later date.