Iko Iko

[MarkRhodes]

A lot of other people have covered this song, but let's start with the original version ('65 or so) by The Dixie Cups. (I don't mean they wrote it. This was a popular version.)

This is a New Orleans song about Mardi Gras Indian tribes. Here's a bit of the Wild Tchopitoulas with George Landry (the founder) as Big Chief Jolly. In '76 they put out an album and all four of the Neville Bros sang on it. (It was the first time all four Neville Bros recorded together.)

"The Wild Tchopitoulas gonna stomp some romp."

Now, the Neville Brothers with the Dixie Cups, live. This begins with "Brother John" (-which is how the album opens too.) The volume of this track is low; apologies.

[MarkRhodes]

This is the original version of the song, from '1953, by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford.

[MarkRhodes]

Dr. John's studio version.

[MarkRhodes]

The Grateful Dead doing it live.

[MarkRhodes]

The etory behind the Dixie Cups' version:

In 1965 New Orleans girl group The Dixie Cups were recording for Leiber & Stoller’s Red Bird Records in a New York studio. They’d finished “Chapel of Love” and during a break the girls began singing a song they’d learned from their mother called “Iko-Iko,” a call and response chant of a Mardi Gras Indian tribe. Group member Barbara Hawkins said: “We were just playing around with it during a session using drumsticks on ashtrays. We didn’t realize Jerry and Mike had the tapes running.” Leiber and Stoller later overdubbed bass and percussion along with the drumsticks on ashtrays, released it, and in 1965 it became the Dixie Cups’ final Top 40 record.

When the Dixie Cups released the song in 1965, they didn’t know the origins of it, only that they’d heard their mother sing it. So the original authorship credit went to the members, Barbara Ann Hawkins, her sister Rosa Lee Hawkins and their cousin Joan Marie Johnson. Crawford sued, claiming that “Iko Iko” was the same as his “Jock-A-Mo,” and in 1967 it was settled with him winning no claim to authorship but being credited 25% for public performance of “Iko Iko” in the United States. In the end he said, “I don’t even know if I really am getting my just dues. I just figure 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.”

Source: The Story Behind "Mardi Gras Mambo" and "Iko Iko"

[MarkRhodes]

The lyrics. This is how The Dixie Cups sang it. (Dr. John and Jerry Garcia used some different lyrics.)

My grand-ma and your grand-ma were sit-tin' by the fire.
My grand-ma told your grand-ma: "I'm gon-na set your flag on fire."
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-ko, I-ko, un-day
Jock-a-mo fee-no ai na-né, jock-a-mo fee na-né
Look at my king all dressed in red I-ko, I-ko, un-day.
I bet-cha five dol-lars he'll kill you dead, jock-a-mo fee na-né
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-ko, I-ko, un-day
Jock-a-mo fee-no ai na-né, jock-a-mo fee na-né
My flag boy and your flag boy were
Sit-tin' by the fire. - My flag boy told
Your flag boy: "I'm gon-na set your flag on fire."
Talk-in' 'bout, Hey now ! Hey now ! I-KO, I-KO, un-day
Jock-a-mo fee-no ai na-né, jock-a-mo fee na-né
See that guy all dressed in green? I-KO, I-KO, un-day.
He's not a man, he's a lov-in' ma-chine
Jock-a mo fee na-né
Talk-in' 'bout, hey now! Hey now! I-ko, I-ko, un-day
Jock-a-mo fee-no ai na-né, jock-a-mo fee na-né

Source: LyricFind

[neatomic]

good stuff mark

always liked the dixie cups version!! am big fan of the red bird label girl groups


cheers

[MarkRhodes]

good stuff mark

always liked the dixie cups version!! am big fan of the red bird label girl groups


cheers

Me too! Great voices.

[kevmoga]

For those that love NOLA music, the local public radio station WWOZ is streaming past performances from Jazzfest this coming weekend. Some great stuff, this past weekend had a late 70s set from Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder among other gems - check it out. I heard 2 or 3 versions of Iko this past weekend!

[MarkRhodes]

For those that love NOLA music, the local public radio station WWOZ is streaming past performances from Jazzfest this coming weekend. Some great stuff, this past weekend had a late 70s set from Ella Fitzgerald and Stevie Wonder among other gems - check it out. I heard 2 or 3 versions of Iko this past weekend!

I loved that radio station while I lived there and still keep up via the Internet. (It's pronounced O-Zee, not Oz as in the Wizard of...) They went so deep into the vaults when Ray Charles died, they were playing cuts of him on saxophone.

[MarkRhodes]

This is the original recording. Supposedly the drumsticks are playing on ashtrays. Wonder what kind of ashtrays those were....

[citizenk74]

This is the original recording. Supposedly the drumsticks are playing on ashtrays. Wonder what kind of ashtrays those were....

Sounds like cheap stamped aluminum motel units, with a freshly-stubbed Chesterfield in the largest one, at a guess....

[neatomic]

in moroccan gnawa/trance music, empty cassette tape cases were often used (like castanets) for providing rhythm, when qraqebs were not available

ingenuity conquers lacking

qraqebs-





cheers

[henryrobinett]

I love Iko Iko