The Wild Tchoupitoulas (album)

The Wild Tchoupitoulas is a 1976 album by the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian tribe the Wild Tchoupitoulas. While not a commercial success, the effort was well received critically and the experience recording it encouraged the four Neville brothers to perform together for the first time as a group.

Background
The word Tchoupitoulas is derived from the name of an Indian tribe and is believed to mean "those who live at the river". According to Library of Congress, "Since the 19th century, bands of African-Americans in New Orleans have masqueraded as American Indians during Mardi Gras. They wear elaborate, homemade costumes planned and constructed throughout the year preceding the celebration, and take to the streets chanting merry boasts about their tribes. Their music is one of the many rich strands of New Orleans music, and Indians themselves are celebrated in many songs originating in the city."

Music and lyrics
The album features the "call-and-response" style chants typical of Mardi Gras Indians. Vocals were provided by George Landry, as "Big Chief Jolly", as well as other members of his Mardi Gras tribe. Instrumentation was provided in part by members of the New Orleans band the Meters. The album also notably features Landry's nephews, the Neville Brothers, providing harmonies and some of the instrumentation. Meaningful of the geographic location of New Orleans as a Caribbean city, "Meet de Boys on the Battlefront" is based on the melody and rhythm of Trinidadian calypso artist Lord Invader's 1943 "Rum and Coca Cola" made famous in the U.S. by the Andrews Sisters in 1944.

Critical reception
In 2012, the album was added to the U.S. Library of Congress' National Registry, a designation of "cultural, artistic and historic importance to the nation's aural legacy."

Reviewing in AllMusic, Stephen Erlewine ranked the album among New Orleans greats and wrote: the group "locks into an extraordinary hybrid that marries several indigenous New Orleans musics, with swampy, dirty funk taking its place in the forefront. There are only eight songs, and they are all strung together as if they're variations on the same themes and rhythms. That's a compliment, by the way, since the organic, flowing groove is the key to the album's success."

Robert Christgau placed the album on his top six New Orleans classics list. He called the music "ecstatic" and "celebratory". Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide (1981), he wrote: "Here we have eight songs about dressing up in Indian costume on Mardi Gras; many of them are also about fighting with other Indians. You've probably heard the [ Louisiana Creole ] before, and maybe the irresistible melodic elements, too, although I can't tell any more, because I've played this 'repetitive' record so many times it sounds like where they all started (which it may be). For a while, I believed side two inferior, but eventually a longing for 'Big Chief Got a Golden Crown' set in and now I prefer it for listening. Side one is the best non- (or anti-) disco dance music in years."

Track listing
All tracks composed by George Landry, except as noted.

Personnel
Credits adapted from AllMusic, Discogs and Louisiana Music Factory.


 * Composition and arrangement
 * George Landry – composer
 * Art Neville – arrangement
 * Charles Neville – arrangement
 * Vocals and tribe roles
 * Big Chief Jolly – George Landry
 * Second Chief – Norman Bell
 * Trail Chief – Booker T. Washington
 * Flag Boy – Candy Hemphill "Carl" Christmas
 * Spy Boy – Amos Landry
 * Performance
 * Art Neville – keyboards, background vocals, producer, composer (track 4)
 * Charles Neville – percussion, background vocals, producer
 * Cyril Neville – congas, background vocals, composer (tracks 1, 8)
 * Aaron Neville – piano, background vocals
 * Ziggy Modeliste – drums, composer (track 4)
 * Leo Nocentelli – guitar, composer (track 4)
 * George Porter Jr. – bass, composer (track 4)
 * Teddy Royal – guitar
 * Willie Harper – background vocals
 * Production
 * Allen Toussaint – producer
 * Marshall Sehorn – producer
 * Roberta Grace – engineer
 * Ken Laxton – engineer, remastering, remixing
 * Paul A. Howrilla – album jacket design and photography
 * Carleatis – artwork
 * Photographique Studios – design
 * Ruth Kaplan – CD art adaptation