Feelin' Right Saturday Night: The Ric & Ron Anthology

1958年から1962年のたった4年間ながらニューオリンズで大人気を博したRIC & RON レーベルのアンソロジーがリリース!ニューオリンズのユニークなR&Bの数々、50年代のDave Bartholomew (Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis) やAllen Toussaintの楽曲などを収録!

Ric & Ron were a pair of twin record labels run by New Orleans R&B impresario Joe Ruffino between 1958 and 1962. During their brief lifespan, Ric & Ron recorded many of the greatest artists in the Crescent City, names that would soon become legends: Professor Longhair, Eddie Bo, Chris Kenner, Robert Parker, Tommy Ridgley, and, for the first time anywhere, Irma Thomas and Johnny Adams. Apart from "You Talk Too Much," a smiling shuffle by Joe Jones which went all the way to number three on Billboard in 1960, none of these singles made waves nationally, but they became ingrained in the lore of New Orleans. As record producer Scott Billington points out in his liner notes, Ric & Ron existed in the brief period between two celebrated eras in New Orleans R&B: the Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew reign of the '50s and Allen Toussaint's imperial phase of the '60s. Ruffino hired Harold Battiste, Edgar Blanchard, and Mac Rebennack (later known as Dr. John) to give Ric & Ron a looser, grittier feel that contrasted with the house bands led by such other producers as Cosimo Matassa. Listening to Feelin' Right Saturday Night: The Ric & Ron Anthology -- a generous 28-track anthology released by Craft Records -- this distinction is immediately apparent. While nearly every track is recognizably New Orleans, there are a great variety of sounds, ranging from Adams' silken touch to Mercy Baby's wild, careening "My Party." Most of these cuts exist in a middle ground between these two extremes, boasting finesse in the writing and singing but a kinetic kick in the instrumentation. To seasoned record collectors, a lot of these songs will be familiar -- there are two previously unreleased cuts, Eddie Bo's "Good Enough for Me" and a demo version of Professor Longhair's standard "Tipitina"; almost everything else can be found on Ace's two-volume You Talk Too Much: The Ric & Ron Story -- but it's a blessing to have a concise single-disc collection of Ric & Ron's best. Not only does it provide an excellent introduction to these seminal R&B labels, it provides a never-ending party. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine