February 06, 2005

Those "Hey Pocky A-Way" horns and more.....

...from Dwight, drummer for Chocolate Milk. Yeah, I was hoping he would have this info for us, frankly; and he came through in the comments once again, with at least a partial list. So, I'm feeding this to the main page for more to see, as he always gives a little glimpse of what it was like to be at Sea-Saint Studio back in the 1970's. Check the comments thread on this track for more discussion from others.

"Dwight here (choc milk). Dan , of course that was two of my bandmates on horns ;Amadee and Joe. I don't remember who the other horns were. Wardell did the arrangements. also talking about that drumbeat, yes everybody played that. It was a parade beat! Zig is one of my good friends and mentors. my Mom still tells stories of the way Zig would talk when he would call the house looking for me. She would ask "who's calling" zig always answered "This is Zig baby!". The Meters were good friends and mentors to us during that time. We were just out of high school. during the years I spent recording at Sea Saint on any given night some of the regulars you might find there included; Earl King(always had wild stories), James Booker(a supreme character), Irma Thomas(singing background), the Meters, Chocolate Milk, Dr. John various Nevilles,Lee Dorsey, Ernie K Doe, Allen Toussaint, visiting artists , large amounts of soul food, spirits and what not! It was the most wonderful time of my life (and remember, I travelled the world). That whole period was pure magic!"

For those of you not quite as intimate with the scene as Mr. Dwight Richards, the horn players he refers to from the Chocolate Milk band are Amadee Castenell (sax) and Joe Foxx (trumpet). [I later talked with Dwight and he recalled that Gary Brown also played sax on the sessions and John Longo was on trumpet, too.] The arranger was Wardell Quezergue (he did the next song to be posted, too), an under appreciated giant of the New Orleans music scene for over 40 years. Man, what I would have given to have hung out for one night at that studio back then, let alone daily. Dwight, cherish those memories and stories, write 'em down, start a blog. Thanks for letting us in on a few. Always a pleasure to hear from you.

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