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"Iko Iko" is a Much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two "tribes" of Mardi Gras Indians . The lyrics are derived from Indian chants and popular catchphrases. The song, under the original title "'''Jock-A-Mo'''", was written in 1954 by James "Sugar Boy" Crawford in New Orleans , but has spread so widely that many people take it to be a much older Folk Song . The song is closely identified as a Mardi Gras song, but it is equally known as a Top 40 hit and a Grateful Dead song. The story tells of a "spy boy" or lookout for one band of Indians encountering the "flag boy" or guidon carrier for another band. He threatens to set the flag on fire. The lyrics of the song are based on Louisiana Creole French . The phrase ''Iko Iko'' may have been derived from one or more of the languages of Gambia , possibly from the phrase ''Ago!'', meaning "listen!" or "attention!". The line from the chorus, ''Yock-a-mo feen-o and-dan-day'' echoes the original title amidst Creole palaver. The song was popularised by The Dixie Cups in 1965 whose version, arranged and produced by Wardell Quezergue , was included in '' The Big Easy '' Film Soundtrack , and is used extensively in '' The Skeleton Key ''. The Dixie Cups version came about by accident. They were in a New York City studio for a recording session when they began an impromptu version of "Iko Iko", accompanied only by drumsticks on a glass ashtray. The tape happened to be running and Session Producers Leiber And Stoller added bass and drums and released it. {Link without Title} The Dixie Cups knew little about the origin of the song and the original authorship credit went to the members, Barbara Ann Hawkins, her sister Rosa Lee Hawkins, and their cousin Joan Marie Johnson. Later a credit to Crawford was added. The song is regularly performed by various artists from New Orleans such as the Neville Brothers , Larry Williams , Dr. John , The Radiators and Buckwheat Zydeco, Zachary Richard , and can often be heard on the streets and in the bars of New Orleans, especially during Mardi Gras. It has also been covered by ''. Eurodance act Captain Jack re-popularized the tune in Germany in 2001. The song proved most successful on the UK charts by singer Natasha England who took it into the top 10 in 1982. Her version, released the same week as The Belle Stars, charted higher and significantly outsold their rival version. This highly infectious recording featured the production talents of Tom Newman ("Tubular Bells"), and featured Mel Collins on sax, Graham Broad on drums and Brad Lang on bass. DR. JOHN'S STORY Following is the "Iko Iko" story, as told by Dr. John in the liner notes to his 1972 Album , '' Dr. John's Gumbo '', in which he covers New Orleans R&B classics: :"The song was written and recorded back in the early 1950s by a New Orleans singer named James Crawford who worked under the name of Sugar Boy & the Cane Cutters. It was recorded in the 1960s by the Dixie Cups for Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller's Red Bird Records , but the format we're following here is Sugar Boy's original. Also in the group were Professor Longhair on piano, Jake Myles, Big Boy Myles, Irv Bannister on guitar, and Eugene 'Bones' Jones on drums. The group was also known as the Chipaka Shaweez. The song was originally called 'Jockamo,' and it has a lot of Creole patois in it. Jockamo means 'jester' in the old myth. It is Mardi Gras music, and the Shaweez was one of many Mardi Gras groups who dressed up in far out Indian costumes and came on as Indian tribes. The tribes used to hang out on Claiborne Avenue and used to get juiced up there getting ready to perform and 'second line' in their own special style during Mardi Gras. That's dead and gone because there's a freeway where those grounds used to be. The tribes were like social clubs who lived all year for Mardi Gras, getting their costumes together. Many of them were musicians, gamblers, hustlers and pimps." SUGAR BOY CRAWFORD'S STORY Here's what the song's author, James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, had to say in a 2002 interview with '' OffBeat Magazine '' : :Interviewer: How did you construct 'Jock-A-Mo?' :Crawford: It came from two Indian chants that I put music to. “Iko Iko” was like a victory chant that the Indians would shout. “Jock-A-Mo” was a chant that was called when the Indians went into battle. I just put them together and made a song out of them. Really it was just like “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” That was a phrase everybody in New Orleans used. Lloyd Price just added music to it and it became a hit. I was just trying to write a catchy song.... :Interviewer: Listeners wonder what 'Jock-A-Mo' means. Some music scholars say it translates in Mardi Gras Indian lingo as 'Kiss my ass,' and I’ve read where some think Jock-A-Mo was a court jester. What does it mean? :Crawford: I really don't know. (laughs) The reference to a court jester possibly relates to the 1956 film "The Court Jester," in which the humble Hawkins (Danny Kaye) impersonates the great "Giacomo (pronounced jock-a-mo), the king of jesters and jester to the king." REFERENCES |
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