A Missing Link

 

For those like me who were a little surprised that no one thought to match funk and Mardi Gras Indian music before  The Wild Magnolias, Dan Phillips at Home of the Groove reminds us of a precursor: “Boogaloo Mardi Gras” by the Bobby Williams Group. The Eddie Bo-produced single has New Orleans’ signature eccentricity/incompetence guaranteeing the single from 1968 would never be bigger than it was – the sides were mislabeled, so the obvious start of the song is “Boogaloo Mardi Gras Pt. 2,” and the instrumental, stripped down jam is labeled “Pt. 1.” But the rhythmic churn by Williams band is pretty powerful, with groovy chicken scratch guitar and Wiliams’ percolating drums supporting Indian call-and-response vocals. It doesn’t sound like everybody was certain about the horn arrangement, which opens and closes with a B-movie Indian music motif. Still, that uncertainty keeps you on your toes for all of the track’s 2:39 running time.