The Wild Tchoupitoulas

Wild Tchoupitoulas

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Fontana Island
• ASIN: B000003QKN
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #70,896 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Mardi Gras remains one of America's most other-worldly cultural riots, never more exotic than in the beaded, feathered spectacle of New Orleans' black "Indian" tribes. Each year they stir the city's African, Native American, and European influences into an intoxicating gumbo roiling with syncopated rhythms and coded with their own sense of the festival's competitive spirit. It's that tradition that explains this deliriously infectious 1976 project, which magnifies the Tchoupitoulas' fanny-shaking bravado with a formidable studio crew helmed by producer Allen Toussaint, who enlisted the Neville Brothers and the Meters to give these tracks a kinetic R&B push-and-pull. With the Nevilles' choral vocals fleshing out traditional chants, this is funky prancing of the highest order, from the infectious "Brother John" to a ripe remake of the Meters' "Hey Pocky A-Way." One need only hear the tough bragging of "Meet the Boys on the Battlefront," with its promise that "the Wild Tchoupitoulas gonna stomp some rump," to get the outrageous picture. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tchoupitoulas Stomp Rump !, June 5, 2001

By	David Kinney (San Francisco, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Good goshamighty it's good to see this out on CD. This magnificent testament to the power of the Mardi Gras Indian music scene featured all four Neville Brothers performing together for the first time. Throw in The Meters fonky rhythm section and guitarist and you've got one heck of a backing band. The Tchoupitoulas themselves were older gentlemen, most of whom, their leader and the Neville's uncle George Landry included, have passed away since the record was cut. But luckily for us, in addition to spawning The Neville Brothers band, they left behind this butt burnin' document to remember them by. Do the songs all sound kind of the same? Yeah, but what a sound it is! New Orleans funky gumbo and war chants that'll have your party guests up and dancing in milliseconds. Put away the good china. Warning! Play this one in your car and your right foot starts to tap to that irresistable beat and pretty soon your car's doin' a stop and go rhumba down the road, and you'll have to explain why to the state trooper. But if he's got ears at all he'll hear it for himself and tear up the ticket. It's contagious after all. This one's another desert island disc cuz on my island we like to groove.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Tchoupitoulas Way Up Town, June 14, 1999

By	Darren Dunn (Oklahoma City) - See all my reviews

This 23 year old release features all the elements of a great funk record. All the Nevilles are here, Allen Toussaint, (once known as Naomi Neville) produces, Leo, George Porter & Zigaboo from the Meters are here, as well. Big Chiel Jolly wrote a lot of the songs that are performed by all the Mardi Gras Indian tribes now. This is the album that started it all, as far as I'm concerned. The Wild Magnolias have upped the tempo, and the Flaming Arrows have incorporated the wildnees, but no one tops the Wild Tchoupitoulas funk. This album contains the best recorded "Indian Red", and "Hey Mama" is unique to this outfit. While you may have heard Neville Brother versions of some of these tunes, you must hear them performed by Geoge "Jolly" Laundry. Buy this cd and learn how to rock.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars JOYOUS BLEND OF STYLES, July 11, 2002

By	Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Although they're from New Orleans, The Wild Tchoupitoulas sounds almost like a hybrid of World Music and R&B. The excellent rhythm section drives the music in a wild mutation of New Orleans R&B, funk and what sounds like early Jamaican influences. The harmonies are great throughout and the songs all blend into each other in an undulating festive stream of sound. When listening, I often recall early R&B like Sugarboy Crawford's "Jock-O-Mo" that later became the standard "Iko Iko." But it's rough and raw vocals, very unlike the polished sound of the Neville Brothers on eg. their version of "Bird on a Wire." This is a joyful and seamless blend of styles that lifts the spirit.