Along with Iry LeJeune and Nathan Abshire, Lawrence Walker played an integral part in Cajun music’s accordion revival in the early ’50s. He was such a smooth, precise player that he was crowned “King of the Accordion Players” with his only real competition coming from Aldus Roger in the latter part of the decade. This [...]
Tag Archives: rock n roll
Tav Falco’s Panther Burns at Siberia: Photos
November 16, 2011 – 2:36 pm
Long-running garage/rock/blues/psychedelic/rockabilly band Tav Falco’s Panther Burns came to New Orleans Sunday for a full day of Falco. During the day, the singer, guitarist, and now author read from and signed his new book Ghosts Behind the Sun: Splendor, Enigma & Death: Mondo Memphis Volume 1 at Euclid Records. At night, he and his band [...]
Ira “Dr. Ike” Padnos
September 1, 2011 – 12:23 am
The Ponderosa Stomp is a record collector’s library come to life. The classic—and occasionally obscure— R&B, rockabilly, blues, garage and swamp pop songs that shaped pop music history are performed by the artists who made them. It’s not an oldies show, though. Producer Ira “Dr. Ike” Padnos pairs the artists with bands that love the [...]
YouTube du Jour: Guitar Wolf
June 6, 2011 – 11:37 am
Tonight, Japanese garage punk trio Guitar Wolf come to Siberia. The show is our featured “Plan A” concert in the June issue. In the story, Alex Cook fondly recalled that, “The only time I thought I was in the presence of superheroes was in the late ’90s at a Guitar Wolf show. The trio appeared [...]
Various Artists, The Ace Story Volumes 1 & 2 (Ace Records UK)
March 1, 2011 – 12:51 am
While these tracks have been around the block more times than the mailman, it’s great to know they’re available again, conveniently on two discs. Although Ace was based in Jackson, Mississippi, it was a New Orleans label for all intents and purpose, one which, from the mid-1950s to early 1960s, took advantage of the abundance [...]
Bobby Charles, See You Later, Alligator (Bear Family Records)
October 1, 2010 – 12:56 am
As widely revered an American songwriter as Bobby Charles was, it’s curious that none of his early material has ever been reissued domestically on compact disc. In fact, if memory serves me right, this material was only reissued once on vinyl in the US when All Platinum controlled the Chess catalog briefly in the early [...]
Louisiana Hellbenders, Main Drag Fair (Bayou Dog Records)
October 1, 2010 – 12:48 am
Listening to this record is like spending a night at the Ponderosa Stomp. Along with a good sense of the personality of the band we get a history lesson at the crossroads of R&B, rockabilly and Louisiana rock ’n’ roll. The group is a sturdy unit built around the rockabilly rhythm section of Dave Maleckar [...]
This Is Pop?
May 1, 2009 – 12:01 am
Blame Bill Millar. Although the English music critic had used the term throughout the Sixties, “swamp-pop”—a label everyone agrees is his invention—became ingrained in musicological lore forever with his 1971 essay in Britain’s Record Mirror, “Swamp Pop—Music From Cajun Country.” It wasn’t until the term was reintroduced via fellow Englishman John Broven’s 1983 book South [...]
Earl Palmer: Hiding in Plain Sight
November 1, 2008 – 12:01 am
In his 1978 book Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans, writer John Broven quotes Earl King attributing the word “funk” to drummer Earl Palmer. “At the recording sessions, he would say, ‘Look, man, let’s play a little funkier,’ and the word would start going around,” King said. But Palmer’s not known for funk. He was [...]
