Crescent soul

The sounds of New Orleans

by Norman Weinstein

Know that feeling when a certain song evokes a cherished memory? I was listening to "I'm Walkin' " by Fats Domino, one of 119 songs in the four-disc set Crescent City Soul: The Sound of New Orleans 1947-1974 (EMI), when the memory of my first trip to New Orleans surfaced. I recall how bewildered I felt as I stepped out of the airline terminal, into the sweltering heat, and heard Fats' 1957 hit blaring through the terminal loudspeakers. I even started walking in time to "I'm Walkin'." What kind of city was this, I wondered, that would prepare visitors with such a welcome?

Indeed, "I'm Walkin' " served as a New Orleans compass, guidebook, and companion. I can imagine Crescent City Soul doing the same for others. Concentrating exclusively on R&B artists, this seemingly exhaustive, intelligently programmed collection is one of the most far-ranging musical baedekers to New Orleans ever. Many of the performers and songs are familiar: Clarence "Frogman" Henry ("Ain't Got No Home"), Little Richard ("Tutti Frutti"), Aaron Neville ("Tell It Like It Is"), and Dr. John ("Right Place Wrong Time") are joined by Fats Domino (whose 11 tunes are highlights).

My favorite among the more esoteric personnel here is Dave Bartholomew, trumpeter, vocalist, bandleader, and producer at many Fats Domino recording sessions, who also appears as a player on any number of Fats' hits. Bartholomew was a most unconventional and sly humorist. Songs like "That's How You Got Killed Before" and "Who Drank My Beer While I Was in the Rear?" are recklessly rocking masterpieces, randy, rowdy, insouciant -- faithful mappings of Bourbon Street after dark.

What the famous and the infamous share is a goofy sense of throwaway lyrics (including bathroom graffiti, romantic clichés, nursery rhymes, even a beer advertisement) and a strong sense of Latin rhythms impacting R&B (mambo and other Caribbean dance rhythms are evident in Professor Longhair's "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," which opens the first disc). Every tune suggests that the musicians were enjoying themselves in the studio. How many recordings today suggest that? The pleasures these musicmakers communicate are plentiful in this priceless (though full-priced and shoddily packaged) collection.

As staggeringly complete as Crescent City Soul seems -- EMI owns the rights to the old Imperial, Minit, and Aladdin labels -- a few labels eluded the corporate reach. The Rip and Ron labels issued remarkable recordings in the late '50s and early '60s, many of which have been reissued on CD by Rounder. Collector's Choice (Rounder) gathers 10 rare singles by Professor Longhair along with nine other singles by a variety of artists. The Longhair recordings are entertaining but not essential. The Professor Longhair Anthology on Rhino captures more-inspired peaks on better-recorded versions of some of these same songs.

The real reason to get this single-disc grab bag? Where else can you find Eddie Bo -- one of two serious omissions from Crescent City Soul, the other being pianist James Booker -- doing his novelty hit "Check Mr. Popeye"? This funky retelling of the Popeye comic strip is wryly memorable. Also noteworthy is Irma Thomas's "Don't Mess with My Man," a catalogue of reasons why "You can have my husband/But please don't mess with my man." Infidelity is a universal theme, but this song, with Thomas's defiantly incisive vocal, exquisitely sums up a certain Crescent City attitude toward traditional mores.

Irma Thomas maintains her title of "Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans" by regularly performing in her hometown, but if you want to hear the early hits that earned her the royal title, listen to The Irma Thomas Collection (Razor & Tie). Mixing songs of rebellious passion and rage ("Time Is on My Side," later famously covered by the Rolling Stones) with pathetic resignation ("It's Raining"), this CD collects hits from her late teens and early 20s that are marked by smoldering vocals. Thomas sounds as emotionally urgent and musically vibrant as the best of Aretha Franklin from the same era, capturing the archetypal sound of the African-American woman looking for love in all the wrong places.

And don't forget that an important part of the New Orleans music scene has migrated to the city from rural Louisiana. Louisiana: Live from Mountain Stage (Blue Plate Music) does a stellar job with live recordings from the Mountain Stage public-radio series. There's fiddle-fueled Cajun music by Beausoleil and Jo-El Sonnier and jumping zydeco by C.J. Chenier and Queen Ida; only four out of the 13 tunes are by New Orleans R&B/rock artists. This is a refreshing guide to the musical pleasures just beyond Crescent City's borders.