Consumer Guide Album

The Wild Magnolias: The Wild Magnolias [Polydor, 1974]
Produced by Willie Tee, with Snooks Eaglin letting you know he's on guitar and semi-amateurs "Bo" Dollis and "Monk" Boudreaux shouting the vocals, here's some Mardi Gras music a little louder and jammier than we expect from Tee's Crescent City rival Allen Toussaint. In fact, it's the most boisterous recorded party I know, two sides of dancing fun that wears down only slightly as it slips into "Saints." This is not only what I always wanted the polyrhythm kids on the bandstand and benches of Tompkins Square Park to sound like, it's also what I always wanted Osibisa and the Ohio Players and maybe even the Meters to sound like. A-