The Big 4 of New Orleans Rock provide a deft representation of the city’s famous gumbo-pot diversity. There’s a sardonic piano-playing storyteller, a metal pioneer, a mystic swamp-rock legend and a too-often-overlooked architect of rock ‘n’ roll.
As one of the country’s historically important port cities, New Orleans has always been defined by its cross-cultural mindset – and that certainly included its music. The city played a central role in the development of jazz and R&B, of course, but also helped define what rock ‘n’ roll could be.
Little Richard completed seminal tracks like “Tutti Fruitti,” “Long Tall Sally” and “Lucille” with a group of locals at Cosimo Matassa’s J&M Studios. He’d hardly be the last to leverage the New Orleans vibe. Fast forward a few generations, and local metalheads would change the genre’s direction all over again.
Discover the Four Most Important New Orleans Rock Stars
Paul McCartney and Wings made a pilgrimage similar to Little Richard’s during sessions 1975’s Venus and Mars at Sea-Saint Studio in New Orleans, co-owned by Allen Toussaint. Toussaint had already written two songs that topped the Billboard Hot 100. The Rolling Stones covered him. Decades later, Elvis Costello recorded with Toussant, too…