Eddie Bo - A Shoot From The Root

I bought this CD with Kingcake in mind. It's a gift on behalf of all of the Chitlins regulars KC.  We love you bruh and cherish all that you do.

This album is just as funky as anything else he did... cop it y'all!!!

Eddie Bo was a fairly major New Orleans R&B figure ("Check Mr. Popeye") in the '60s and Shoot from the Root is his return on a European label after an extended absence from recording. Think that spells comeback by a veteran going through the correct motions for reverential roots rockers? Well, better think twice, because Bo has crafted a really, really vital disc that almost shockingly makes you believe there's still some fresh life in that venerable New Orleans R&B tradition.
The title track boasts a great groove with tuba, King Floyd-style horns, and very sharp, literate Afro-centric lyrics delivered by Bo in great voice. "Groove in My Soul" just pops on all cylinders; Bo has assembled a collection of graybeard contemporaries and the whole band, especially drummer Herman Ernest, is playing hard without getting in each other's way. You can also hear it in the sharp, sophisticated horn charts and funky rhythm to "Old Fashioned Sookie" and, well, maybe the bottom line of Shoot from the Root is that these veterans sound like they're really having big-time fun playing the music. There are fine ballads ("O'Lady," "I Love You in Every Way") and "Kick It on Back" shows Bo's real knack for funny, smart James Brown-style catch phrases with organ and drums shining in the arrangement. "Will I Ever Learn?" is just a quality, punchy, compact R&B tune and Bo doesn't even bother with an intro to "Let's Get It Straight," jumping right into the verse and singing up a storm supported by nice horns and bring-it-on-home drums. Both tracks leave you saying out loud that this is a great record, that there's life in old New Orleans R&B yet; so does "Fingers," a '50s rock & roll/R&B piano instrumental with Bo tickling the ivories while backing singers chant "Go, Mr. Piano Man, go!" when the horns aren't tossing in nice lines. Yeah, there are a few loose ends, but if you care, you got no idea what serious fun is. "Every Dog's Got a Day" is equally seriously funky, with Eddie Bo singing his butt off, Bo Dollis of the Wild Magnolias hoarse and convincing, and the masterful Johnny Adams coming in clean and serene with a couple of finale soul screams. And Adams is in absolutely devastating form on "Bring It on Home" (an Eddie Bo blues number, not the Sam Cooke hit), with the leader cheering him on. Dollis' hoarse pleading doesn't have a prayer of following Adams' commanding singing, but know what? I can't imagine the idea of giving a good goddamn ever crossed the mind of Bo Dollis or Eddie Bo or anyone else during the session. These veteran musicians grew up playing this music because they loved it and Eddie Bo has crafted a set of challenging songs that's rekindled that spark. Hell, you can say some grooves go on a little too long and that "Dance Dance Dance" is pretty slight, but why quibble? If you like classic New Orleans R&B but figured it had long ago reached a creative dead end, Shoot from the Root is one helluva delightful surprise. - Don Snowden / AMG 4.5 out of 5 Stars!!!!

Eddie Bo's Funky Funky New Orleans LP Rip

A1     Chuck Carbo –     Can I Be Your Main Squeeze     2:31    
A2     Chuck Carbo –     Take Care Of Your Homework, Friend     2:21    
A3     Explosions* –     Hip Drop (Part 1 & 2)     5:16    
A4     Walter Washington* –     Mary Jane     2:59    
A5     Walter Washington* –     Goody Man     2:53    
A6     Eddie Bo –     Can You Handle It     2:43    
B1     Eddie Bo –     Showdown     2:45    
B2     Mary Jane Hooper –     Harper Valley PTA     3:24    
B3     Vibrettes* –     Humpty Bump (Part 1 & 2)     4:50    
B4     Curley Moore –     Back In Mother's Arms     2:27    
B5     Mary Jane Hooper & Richie Matta –     Stolen Moments     2:49    

Yes Chubbs...it is more Eddie Bo! Much like one of the sets I offered earlier, this focuses mainly on work done producing singles for others. It manages to have only two overlap tracks, the first track and #3 but this version of Hip Drop is the full 5 minute version, so really only one overlap.

Remembering Eddie Bo (expanded)

This is numba three of my July re-run requests. The request was from my home-boy pmac and he will be happy to know that the request resulted in my reworking my Edwin Bocage files and expanding this post to 56 tracks of music from this unique and pioneering funk master. There are now two collections of Eddie' s music here. The first set were all released in Eddie's name but you will see that on the second set the songs aren't always in his name; he recorded under numerous alias' and also produced and played with many other artists. His signature sound, however, is always in clear evidence on all of these tracks. Neither of these sets completely corresponds to these covers, there is much more here than that and many tracks have been replaced with better copies than those used on the released discs!

original post: On March 18th New Orleans lost another of our treasures as R & B pioneer, Funk originator and New Orleans piano giant Mr. Eddie Bo passed away. Eddie was a sweet man whom I had the good fortune to get to know when his girl friend and then infant daughter used to be my neighbors. Eddie was always good-natured and friendly and would stop to chat when I was on the porch. I last saw him on the Fairgrounds for Jazz Fest and he made a point of stopping to say hello and impressing the hell out of my friends; always a gentleman was Eddie.

The following is quoted with permission from the very hip site 'Funky 16 Corners'.

"Eddie Bo (Edwin Bocage to his mama) is one of the most important – and least known – of the great funksters of the 60’s and 70’s. His recording career, stretching from the mid-50’s on started out in New Orleans R&B like ‘Twinkle Toes’ and ‘Check Mr. Popeye’ and moved on, in the mid-60’s to some of the grooviest soul and funk made in New Orleans, or anywhere else for that matter. While he made plenty of his own records – among them the mighty and legendary ‘Hook & Sling Pts 1&2" which was a minor national hit in 1969 – he was also a major producer, arranger and collaborator on scores of other records. His importance to the New Orleans scene can not be overestimated. The fact that he wasn’t better known nationally is a crime, and probably due in large part to the fact that most of his records were made for small independent labels like Scram, Seven B, and Bo Sound. Some of his best stuff did see national distribution but with the exception of ‘Hook & Sling" and "Check Your Bucket" not many got anywhere near the charts outside of the Big Easy. To put it in perspective, where James Brown is the Charlie Parker of funk, , Eddie Bo is the music’s Thelonious Monk, working with a strange, sometimes unfamiliar palette of sounds and rhythms, which reveal their beauty and complexity a little more with every listen. Much of this palette is common to New Orleans funk and soul: the drums of the Wild Indian tribes and the "second line", the soulful piano of players like Professor Longhair, James Booker, Huey Piano Smith, Fats Domino and Bo himself, and the spice of the wild and unique mix of cultures that has been in New Orleans for hundreds of years. It doesn’t hurt that Bo had drummers like James Black and Smokey Johnson creating the beats on his records." (from Funky 16 Corners with permission, thank you Laurence)