And the not-so-long-awaited answer to our previous quiz is...

Yes, that's right. After some cogitation, I finally remembered that it's only white people who get wrapped all around their own axle about depression and tragedy and suchlike. Now, if that sounds like, well... what it sounds like, let me hasten to add that this is because Black folks gots de Blues. And while I don't mean to insinuate that that's exactly a good thing, it sure as hellfire beats nuthin.

The Wild Tchoupitoulas are a legend in the history of New Orleans music and defined what we now identify as the "New Orleans sound." To my knowledge they only recorded one complete album...but what an album it was! The Wild Tchoupitoulas, recorded in 1976 and produced by the legendary Allen Toussaint, marked the first time that the Neville Brothers recorded together. Decked out in full Mardi Gras Indian regalia, the Wild Tchoupitoulas paved the way for the acceptance of a diverse group of musicians that even includes Robert Palmer!

-from Joe's Jumpin' Juke Joint

And, in no particular order, here's a little somethin might come in handy should you chose to peruse these blues in more depth: A Lexicon of New Orleans Terminology and Speech.

Then, here's some more stuff about New Orleans "injuns" from a very good (not all of them are) About.com page: Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans. And what would a CBO post be without some elsewhere-unavailable background from HighBeam Research?

Is it blues, r&b, New Orleans voodoo music, world beat or Mardi Gras street funk?

Actually, the combination of all five is what makes the syncopated sound of Mardi Gras Indian gangs like the Wild Magnolias, the Wild Tchoupitoulas and Joseph Pierre "Monk" Boudreaux's Golden Eagles revered all over. The distinctive, cheery music is among the big draws of the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival...

Boudreaux grew up hanging out with his Mardi Gras Indian father at local gathering places where he soaked up the neighborhood's polyrhythms and chants, often joining the "second line" at traditional New Orleans funerals. It's the same environment that spawned Professor Longhair, the Meters, Lee Dorsey and other Big Easy music legends...

We called Boudreaux, 62, to talk about his delightful solo debut, "Mr. Stranger Man," featuring cameos from Dr. John, Neville and, of course, the Golden Eagles on background vocals and percussion.

Q: Why do Indian groups like the Magnolias, the Tchoupitoulas and the Golden Eagles sound similar but tell different stories?

A: All the gangs have their own songs. The background music might sound the same, but every gang in the city has different lyrics because they're singing about themselves and their history. My song "Battle of New Orleans" deals with the clash between an Indian gang and a white band that was marching on another street. It was 1964 and the second line started some trouble and there was some head busting. Back in those days, there wasn't a lot of guns in play - it was just sticks and bottles. People have gotten together since, whites and blacks. It's not like the '60s anymore.

from: Playlist New Album Releases - The Big Easy's Big Man
source: Daily News (Los Angeles), 29 April 2003
via: HighBeam™ Research

As the final entry in our documentation of anti-depressant tragicomedians, this bit from from emory joseph's recipe for mardi gras. Do not miss his final link, below, which goes to MARDI GRAS INDIANS: Tradition and History. Worth it. But you gotta say that thing three times, just like he tells it here.

Now, although I first heard about the Professor Longhair, Jelly Roll Morton and every-"fessorly"-body down there from a very hip record store lady in St. Louis MO, I first got HIPPED 'bout NOLA by Sal Bernardi of Ricki Lee Jones' "A Weasel in a White Boy's Cool" fame. He heard me reference The Wild Tchapatoulis (a Neville Family, George Porter and Zigaboo music project by, about and for their uncle "Big Chief Jolly" aka George Landry and his Mardi Gras Indian tribe) at the original downtown location of the Lone Star Cafe in NYC and made it a personal mission to make sure I was about the implications of my referensation.

You can find out more about the Mardi Gras Indians (who are a heap might less dangerous to each other now than they were back in the day) by clicking here and saying "Um Bah Way" three time fast.

meet the boys on the battlefront!

this killer  photo was taken at the BAM Rhythm and Blues Festival
in Brooklyn, NY on 7.22.04 by Dino Perrucci © DIno Perrucci. Respect.
it lives here.

Now, that could have been it, right there, you know? It's a decent length post as it stands. God knows, some of these blog entries you see these days are like, "I went to the stoar and got a 7-up life sucks." Spelled and punctuated just about like that. Makes you wonder, after all the blood, sweat and tears we shed to make blogging genuinely seditious. Co-opted again. Happens every time. But look, this isn't the end yet, because I feel compelled to explain something more here.

I made some dangerously generalized remarks at the start of this. I mean, about black people. That is to say, African-Americans. And the reason these remarks are potentially dangerous, the reason that ethnic generalizations in general are dangerous, is because, under the skin, Democrat or Republican, neocon or liberal, genius or moron, Americans are seething with homicidal race hatred. Sure, sure, we all pretend we're full of multicultural "understanding" and positively brimming with small-d democratic longings for "equality." Until some Latino swipes our favorite parking spot, or some black dude cops an attitude in the supermarket checkout lane. And it's dangerous to admit such things public or there might be a, you know, race war or something.

However, I want to be totally fair here. It's not a one-way street. Contrary to popular opinion, white people have feelings too. And let me ask you this: when was the last time you saw grown up white people dressing up like indians, or calling themselves silly names like Professor Longhair? (Forget Captain Beefheart for a minute.) I want to argue that white people -- that is to say, generally speaking -- have more important things to think about. Like thermonuclear war, for example. And other neat shit too cool to imagine, like what The Geeks of War, who you can bet are all 99.9% Aryo-Caucasian, think about, which is: The Secretive Labs And Brilliant Minds Behind Tomorrow's Warfare Technologies (by John Edwards, pictured above left). And I ask you, moreover, where are all the People of Color in this important work? That's right: out playing cowboys and niggers -- a Troublesome Word, I'll be the first to admit; or the second, anyway, right after Randall Kennedy -- while the rest of us hard working white people are left to do the thankless job of blowing the world to Kindgdom Come.

And c'mon y'all, I mean, how fair is that?