New Orleans has had its share of major piano players over the years – Professor Longhair, James Booker, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint – just to name a few. Marcia Ball has studied them all, and scholars can certainly point to specific licks influenced by specific originators. But the most important lesson Ball has learned is one of the keys to New Orleans music in general – you’ve got to keep the party going.
Ball made a couple of records in the 1970s, but her career really took off in the mid-1980s (when she was in her mid-30s). Her albums for Rounder Records established a pattern which only solidified when she switched to Alligator ten years ago – Ball writes and plays in a variety of New Orleans R&B and blues styles, and she engages her material with a consistently soulful and pleasurable style. Without innovating, Ball has still established her own voice as a singer and as a pianist.
Marcia Ball's Roadside Attractions
Roadside Attractions is a typical collection of Ball originals. The album kicks off with “That’s How It Goes,” a rollicking number celebrating the best things life has to offer. Reese Wynans underscores Ball’s pumping piano with some energetic and dynamic Hammond B-3 organ, making the cut even more vigorous. Ball sings, “I’m gonna let a little secret slip /It’s not the destination, it’s the trip /It’s the moss you gather while you roll /So you know that’s how it goes.”
The theme of embracing life’s pleasures continues with the title track. Ostensibly a song about wanting to get off the road and spend time with her man, the lists of “Roadside Attractions” sound worthy of more than passing attention: “I’ve seen the Corn Palace, the fair in Dallas /Drive through Redwood trees /A giant strawberry, that tower in Paree /And a two-ton ball of string.” That’s sharp writing, wedded to a strong New Orleans shuffle fueled by the blending of Ball’s piano and Colin Linden’s guitar.
This Used To Be Paradise
While Ball is primarily a blues and R&B artist, she did once record an album with noted genre jumpers Tracy Nelson and Irma Thomas. “Between Here And Kingdom Come” would take only minor tweaking to contend as a country hit; heck, it already has a mandolin. “I Heard It All” is a sordid tale of woe on which she plays electric piano. It’s a little bluesy, but could work as a rock ballad. The lyrics tell of a woman checking into a motel room for her regular tryst with a lover only to hear him in the next room telling his wife that “she means nothing to me.” Ouch.
Texas accordion virtuoso Joel Guzman lends an elegiac feel to “This Used To Be Paradise,” a lament for the changes in Louisiana since the oil companies bought up all the good land. Ball sings this one beautifully, perfectly expressing the song’s pathos and loss.
New Orleans Rhythms
New Orleans dance rhythms are well represented here, too. “Everybody’s Looking For the Same Thing” is a classic slab of funk that contradicts itself. Oh, sure, she sings that the thing everybody wants is love, but it sure feels like raw, unabashed sex. “We Fell Hard,” featuring a sharp horn section, harkens back to the classic struts of Professor Longhair. Ball plays a lot of piano on this cut, and saxophonist Thad Scott almost steals the whole show. The lyrics tell of a pair of young lovers who refuse to listen to advice from older people who thought they knew how things were going to turn out. Spoiler alert: things turn out just fine.
“Mule Headed Man” is a slow blues with Ball pounding the piano especially hard and nasty. It tells the tale of a stubborn man who “likes his whiskey even though it’s killing him /You can’t make him quit it, he’d rather have his whiskey than live.” Ball’s vocal sounds especially convincing here, especially on the final verse, in which she explains exactly why she loves him despite this major flaw.
Look Before You Leap
“Look Before You Leap” is a basic blues shuffle about life lessons learned and retained. Ball’s vocals hug the tight pocket, and the horn section swings hard. “Sugar Boogie” is a Texas swing number that delivers all the pleasures of that particular sound. Ball’s vocals are perfect for this type of groove, and her piano, Scott’s sax, and the guitar of Mike Schermer trade deliciously understated licks.
The album ends with “The Party’s Still Going On,” an irresistible blues anthem driven by Ball’s powerful left hand chords and some furious drumming by Damien Llanes, who seems to be tapping into the spirit of the late great Earl Palmer here. As long as music like this exists, there are likely to be people wanting to keep on dancing, and thus the party will continue. Ball understands this secret to retaining her audience.
Steve's Bottom Line
Marcia Ball shows no signs of slowing down. If anything, after all these years, she continues to get subtly better as a singer, songwriter, and piano player. Roadside Attractions is another terrific recording in a long series of thoroughly enjoyable albums from this New Orleans mainstay. (Alligator Records, released March 29, 2011)
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