Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is unapologetically, unwinkingly retro. Their high-energy music feels like it blends so many genres as to be unclassifiable, at least by me. Wikipedia takes the easy way out, dubbing them a “contemporary swing revival band.” They are that. But such a generic label covers a lot of territory, and BBVD (as they agreeably refer to themselves) are nothing if not specialists. Think high-energy Dixieland, tinged with rockabilly and big-band influences and presented with Cab Calloway-style showmanship, infectious Big Easy roadhouse chaos and Windy City Roaring ’20s radio broadcasts…
(As with many bands who take on retro personas — say, Stray Cats — I like that these guys don’t take themselves seriously… but are not kidding around about the music.)
They’ve got a new album out, an EP called Rattle Them Bones. One of the three bonus tracks on the digital version is this number, “Going Back to New Orleans,” shaded with Creole rhythms as well as their characteristic go-go-go energy. (That just happens to be the title of a 1990 album –although not a song — by blues pianist Champion Jack Dupree. Longtime readers of RAMH may recognize the feel of the lyrics from this post, as translated on that song’s Wikipedia page.)
[Below, click Play button to begin Going Back to New Orleans. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left — a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 4:06 long.]
[Lyrics]
And here’s the entertaining video — apparently edited to induce seizures in the unwary — for “Mr. Pinstripe Suit,” from 1998’s Americana Deluxe:
[Lyrics]
I’ve never been to a show that these guys put on — they seem to tour a lot — but I bet the audience finds it pretty much impossible to stay seated. I know firsthand that just trying to type and listening to BBVD are incompatible activities.
Andrew says
My wife and I have seen BBVD in concert twice, both reasonably small venues (Ann Arbor, MI, and Manchester, NH). You’re right, it’s almost impossible to sit through the entire show without dancing your fool head off. The only problem with the live performances is that they crank their amps WAY too high… almost to the point of being painful. Talking to the members after the show is wonderful – very down-to-earth guys (unlike other icons like Michael Bolton, who thinks he’s doing his fans a favor by showing up). I haven’t been able to find it recently, but there is (or was) a web page dedicated to stories of people who were knocked over by pianist Joshua Levy — he gets quite animated. A tremendously talented group of guys, and unlike so many other bands these days, they don’t need a billion dollars in special effects to do a good show. They come out, they play their music, they make their audience happy, like the Doobie Brothers years ago. Both groups have honest-ta-God TALENT.
Oh, and go to YouTube and download their DirecTV special from 2003: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_VPQ5XN0-o
John says
Thanks for stopping by, Andrew, and thanks for the comment.
That — the over-amped performances — would drive me from the venue (especially with all the horns). I kinda thought, from their photos and press coverage and their Facebook page, that they must be pretty nice guys.
…and, for anyone reading the above who doesn’t want to hop over to YouTube: the DirecTV special which Andrew refers to was filmed at The Majestic Ventura Theatre, Ventura California: