Another year, another Mardi Gras, another new Mardi Gras album or—in this case—two new Mardi Gras albums. The first, by a West Bank group called Glitter N’ Gold, features nine original compositions by “Mr. Gold,” lead vocalist/keyboardist Frank A. Jones, accompanied by singer/wife, Miki Jones (“Ms. Glitter”) and two other musicians. This album runs the full stylistic gamut from A to A—from abysmal to awful. Jones sings like he has phlegm permanently lodged in his throat and the songs’ lyrics are downright trite (e.g. “heaven on earth,” hair “as black as night,” etc.) or just plain idiotic (“If that ain’t a fact according to Hoyle, I’ll kiss your ass on Canal and Royal”).The music sounds too synthesized and too artificial, and someone with at least minimal proofreading skills should have read the liner notes before they were published. In the lyrics for “Voodoo Woman,” for instance, it reads, [she will] “put a cure on you” instead of a “curse.” And, for God’s sake, if you’re going to sing “Laissez le bon temps rouler,” at least spell it correctly.
Not so for the other CD in this review, Super Mardi Gras. Even though Glitter N’ Gold’s Frank Jones’ original composition, “King Cake” finds its way into this collection, Big Al Carson’s rendition is a hundred times better. Also worthy of mention in this collection are the late Beau Jocque’s version of “The Second Line,” Rockin’ Dopsie Jr.’s rendition of “They All Asked (Aksed) for You” and three great six-minute numbers by the Magnificent 7ths Brass Band, all with that distinctive Mardi Gras brass band flavor. Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and the Mambo Boys do their take on Perez Prado’s “Mambo #5,” adding a uniquely New Orleans Carnival twist to Lou Bega’s “A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That” lyrics, then the Mambo Boys do an instrumental version of the same song. Other tunes on the album are performed by the Nobles, the Gumbo Kings and Davell Crawford. The Flaming Arrows Mardi Gras Indians describe the work that goes into their resplendent costumes in “Sew Sew Sew” and Carson wraps things up with every reveler’s lament—It’s time to “Take Your Drunken Ass Home.” This collection is a good random sampling of the rhythm and beat of Mardi Gras and is consistent with other releases on the same label. It’s a worthwhile buy and a nice addition to the Mardi Gras Records catalog. Generations from now, this is the music we hope will still be celebrating Carnival and keeping the party spirit alive for posterity.
