youtube link to "Louisiana Been Callin' Me" just cut and paste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeopEBoKt-w
This album started out to be a CD of all New Orleans R&B--as does sometimes happen, it did not end up that way. It's "mostly" New Orleans music! Once we came up with a couple of our own songs (like a "Blues-Tango") that were not in that style, and borrowed a great Rock 'n Roll song from a friend of ours, it sort of became what all the other Tom Principato CD's have been---an eclectic mix of American Roots music---a "Gumbo" of styles; which is perfect, because that's exactly what Gumbo is-- whatever you can find in the fridge or supermarket that day.
I was first exposed to New Orleans R&B way back in 1963 during the "Twist" era. I had already been discovering Rhythm & Blues by listening to great singers like Sam Cooke, and I was just beginning to learn how to play guitar. Then one day I went up to my nearest shopping Center and for 29cents I bought at Woolworths a 45 rpm record "Popeye/Scald Dog" by Huey Smith and His Clowns on Ace Records. It has always been one of my favorites. Also in those days when AM radio was king we were always hearing records by other great New Orleans R&B singers like Little Richard and Fats Domino.
Fast forward to the 1970's. I'm at a Yard Sale in my Hometown of Falls Church, Va. and came across a Red label Imperial 45 by Smiley Lewis "Jailbird". Smiley Lewis was not a name that I was familiar with, but I bought the record on a whim and grew to love it so much that we starting performing it in my group Powerhouse and included it in our "Night Life" LP. That song has one of those great rhythmic grooves that is special only to New Orleans music. A little later in the 70's as I began to get more interested in Cooking, I answered an ad on the back of a Trappey's Hot Sauce bottle that for 10cents I could recieve some recipes for "Creole Cooking". Now I was starting to get hooked---great Music, great FOOD---"I wonder what New Orleans is like?" And so began a series of trips of discovery to New Orleans which I always jokingly refer to as "that ever-important field research" for Food, Drink and Music that still continues to this day. If you love those things New Orleans does not disappoint. What a great city! Then I had to discover Jazzfest. One of the really important things I learned in New Orleans during Jazzfest time is just how long you can go without sleep, how much you can drink and still stay conscious, how many oysters you can consume at Acme Oyster House, and of course how much great music you can see in one city in one week and still go away wanting more.I've spent many a long night at Tipitinas watching and enjoying a lot of my favorites like Snooks Eaglin. I've tried to absorb everything that I've learned about and in New Orleans, and cook it up here for you. So here we dish up to you our "Gumbo" that includes as ingredients our love for New Orleans and it's people, food, and music; my love for playing the guitar, and celebrating our lives through music together.
Bon Appetite! Tom Principato July 2005
GUITAR GUMBO PRESS QUOTES
One of America’s Most Gifted Guitarists
Long-time Tom Principato fans (yours truly included) will not be disappointed with Guitar Gumbo, his latest Powerhouse Records release. This CD is an Americana exploration and experimental Telecaster proving ground. In other words, a real "gumbo" of musical styles and tastes. Horns stamp their impression on "Drinkin' Wine" and the TP original "Helping Hand," and of course, Hank Williams' "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" and Roy Byrd's "Hey Now Baby" fit the overall Big Easy flavor. The requisite instrumentals that all Pato fans look forward to "ReturnOf The Voodoo Thing," "Tango'd Up In The Blues," and "Tipsy," sequence brilliantly as Tom quite frankly, tears it a new one. Nobody imposes his will over the wild Telecaster quite like Tom Principato. After over 20 records, either solo or band projects, Tom Principato remains one of America's most gifted guitarists and a member of my top ten of all time. Be careful, or he could easily topple one of your current guitar heroes from their lofty pedestal. Beardo Blueswax E-zine
Recorded long before Hurricane Katrina tore up the Gulf Coast, "Guitar Gumbo" is Tom Principato's love song to Louisiana, a multi-track celebration of it's culture, mystique, and allure. As always, Principato's Fender-charged fretwork generates lots of Stratocaster sparks and Telecaster twang, along with some fiendishly syncopated runs on Professor Longhair's "Hey Now Baby" and other tracks. The self-penned instrumental "Return Of The Voodoo Thing" quickly stands out on the album, as does "Louisiana (Been Callin' Me)," which features Tommy Lepson on Hammond organ and the Nighthawk's Mark Wenner on harmonica. As the albums title suggests, though, not all the tunes evoke Louisiana sounds. "Tango'd Up In The Blues", is one of Principato's most sensuous and atmospheric compositions and David Kitchen's "If Love Is Blind" introduces a roots-rock, boogie-woogie powered diversion. Mike Joyce The Washington Post