Home of the Groove

Based on the premise that the true Home of the Groove, at least on the North American landmass, is the irreplaceable musical and cultural nexus, New Orleans, Louisiana and environs, this audioblog features rare, hard to find, often forgotten, vintage New Orleans-related R&B and funk records with commentary. Some general knowledge of N.O. music is helpful here, but not required to get your groove on.

: Name: Dan Phillips; Location: Lafayette, Louisiana, United States

I currently host a weekly show, "Funkify Your Life", on KRVS 88.7 FM in Lafayette which includes music covered on HOTG and more. You can listen-in live Thursdays at 2:00 PM or to the rebroadcast Fridays at 9:00 PM, or stream shows on demand and see playlists at the station website under the Programs tab. I am a former resident of Memphis, TN, where I did a weekly radio show called "New Orleans: Under the Influence" from 1988 to 2004 on WEVL 89.9 FM. I've been collecting and researching this kind of music (& others) even longer.

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Individual audio files are accessible for a limited time after posting. Link to access audio will be on the song title. No link? Audio's outa here.

When you hit a song link, a player streams it in a separate window. For other listening options, right click on the player when it comes up.

Note: Audio files on this blog are not high resolution (usually 128k) and are posted for reference purposes only. Please do not link directly to them. Use caution if booty shaking while operating vehicles or heavy machinery. Whenever possible, please buy music by these artists!!!

EMAIL: hotgblog (AT) gmail (DOT) com

ARTISTS & LABELS (or reps thereof): On da blog, my focus is mainly hard to find, out of print or otherwise obscure New Orelans-related music on vinyl records from the 20th Century.. If you want to send along recent funky music to be considered for play on my weekly KRVS radio show, please email me for format requirements, etc.

COMMENTS, corrections, or further enlightenment are encouraged and appreciated. Due to a big spam attack, the comments section is now moderated. Legitimate comments will be posted after review. Thanks for your understanding...and patience.
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QUOTES OF NOTE:
"New Orleans is of such key importance to American music because historical factors combined to make it the strongest center of African musical practice in the United States, and, cliches aside, that practice really did travel up the Mississippi and did spread overland." - Ned Sublette, from Cuba And Its Music

"I heard a group called Huey Smith & the Clowns, out of New Orleans. Now this is where funk was really created! That's where funk originated.... I couldn't understand how to do it, so this drummer from Huey Smith's band [Hungry Williams] showed me how to play [it]." - Clayton Fillyau, drummer for Etta James and James Brown, on the origins of the 'James Brown Beat', in The Great Drummers Of R&B, Funk & Soul, interviewed by Jim Payne.

"A lot of those New Orleans drummers would come through, and I got a lot of stuff from those guys....Tenoo [Coleman] was...as funky as any of them..... I learned some of that funk by listening to Tenoo." - John 'Jabo'Starks, drummer for Bobby Bland and James Brown, to Jim Payne as above.

"At the risk of sounding egotistical, a lot of the broken up stuff that these guys are playing now stems from the stuff that I had started doing." - Earl Palmer, on his early days drumming with Dave Bartholomew's band, to Jim Payne, as above.

"With funk, it's almost more what you don't play than what you do play. I like those long silences between riffs, I like the empty spaces. Those empty spaces, when you stop and let the groove wash all over you, make the difference between fake funk and real funk." -Art Neville in The Brothers Neville

"Thank the good Lord for the funk musicians." -Jon Cleary ("Pin Your Spin")

"Without New Orleans, there would be no America." -Keith Frazier, Rebirth Brass Band, 2005.

"....don't be fooled. This city is deeply wounded. I'd say it's like an amputee with phantom memory." -David Freedman, WWOZ, post-Katrina.

"If there was no New Orleans, America would just be a bunch of free people dying of boredom." -Judy Deck, in an e-mail to Chris Rose at the Times-Picayune

"I'm not finished!" - Wardell Quezergue's final comment of the night after accepting the 2008 Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement In Music Award from Offbeat

"I discovered New Orleans along the way, and that made a big difference - It loosened me up." - Richie Hayward, the late drummer for Little Feat.

"National Funk Congress Deadlocked On Get Up/Get Down Issue" -The Onion

"Find The Thing You're Most Passionate About, Then Do It On Nights And Weekends For The Rest Of Your Life" -ditto dat

July 22, 2005

R & R

Mable John and one of her fans, my wife, Jeanne Plaisance

My wife and I went to my old hometown, Memphis, this weekend for a little respite (though NOT from the heat!) and got to see Mable John perform at the Stax Museum. Mable, of course, is not a New Orleans* artist; but I had to show off with a couple of photos for the blog anyway. The performance was part of a monthly series the museum has. Mable was supposed to do a tribute to Etta James; but she only did a few of Etta's tunes before stopping to talk about the value of the museum and drumming up some contributions. In the second set, she did some of her own tunes and was outstanding. I highly recommend a visit to the museum, built on the site of the original studio, which had been sadly torn down. The studio has been recreated as part of the complex, which includes a music academy for local children.

Mable and Jeanne, together at last

*But, as Jeanne notes, Mable was born in Bastrop, LA, up in the northeastern part of the state.

I'll have some more music posted soon; another Tuff City Side is in the works. Time to get back in da groove.

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