After spending a year and half out firmly planted in psychedelia, The Beatles returned to Earth at the beginning of 1968 with "Lady Madonna," a Paul-penned tune that pays tribute to the strength of women, a topic he mines throughout his career. The song also serves an homage to New Orleans' piano legend and rock and roll trail blazer Fats Domino, and marks maybe the first time the band created their own intentional throwback to the early rock and roll of their youth. It's a grooving song with a fantastic shuffle from Ringo, some great faux-horn vocals from George and Paul. It always feels like a little slice of home to me, perhaps because New Orleans music is at the root of the song.
To talk about New Orleans piano music, there are few better than Davis Rogan. Davis is known internationally as a master of the artform, and one of New Orleans' classic larger than life personalities. That personality is so big, it spawned a main character on HBO's popular Treme series. He's worked in radio, worked as a music teacher, been at the forefront of the hybrid of brass music, funk and hip-hop with his band All That. We chat with Davis about reapproaching the Beatles music after music education, Fats Domino, synthesizing New Orleans music, Alex Chilton, and much more! Check out Davis at davisrogan.com and Facebook.com/DavisRoganMusic to see if he's coming to your neck of the woods!
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