The Witch Queen of New Orleans

For the album of the same name, see Message from a Drum.
"The Witch Queen of New Orleans"
Single by Redbone
from the album Message from a Drum
B-side Chant: 13th Hour
Released 1971
Format 7" single
Genre
Length 2:45
Label Epic
Writer(s)
  • Lolly Vegas
  • Pat Vegas
Producer(s)
  • Lolly Vegas
  • Pat Vegas [2]

"The Witch Queen of New Orleans" is a song from 1971 by Redbone. The single was released from Redbone's third album Message from a Drum,[3] which is also titled The Witch Queen of New Orleans in its European release.[4] The song peaked at No. 2 in the United Kingdom and No. 21 in the United States.

Background

The song is about a 19th century practitioner of voodoo from New Orleans named Marie Laveau,[5][6] referred to in the song lyrics as "Marie la Voodoo veau".[7] The song was written by the two Native American brothers of the group Redbone, Lolly Vegas and Pat Vegas. It is a rock song that shows influences from New Orleans's R&B and Louisiana's Swamp Pop.[8]

The song was released in 1971 with "Chant: 13th Hour" as the B side in the US. It debuted in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in November 1971 in the US where it reach a peak of No. 21 in 1972 (chart date February 19, 1972).[9][10] The song reached No. 2 in the UK single chart in October 1971 where it stayed for three weeks.[11]

Charts

Chart (1971 – 1972) Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12] 1
Germany (Official German Charts)[13] 13
Ireland (IRMA)[14] 7
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] 5
Norway (VG-lista)[16] 6
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[17] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[18] 21

Cover versions

"Witch Queen"
Single by Chantoozies
from the album Chantoozies (album)
B-side The Chantoozie Shuffle [19]
Released January 1987 [20]
Format 7" single, 12" single [21]
Recorded November 1986
Platinum Studios, Melbourne [20]
Genre Synth-pop [21]
Length 4:09
Label Mushroom
Writer(s)
  • Lolly Vegas
  • Pat Vegas
Producer(s) David Courtney [20]

The song has been covered by a number of artists, including Tom Jones and P. J. Proby.[22][23] The Australian group Chantoozies released a version of the song in late 1986 as "Witch Queen" which reached No. 4 on the Australian chart in 1987.[24]

References

  1. ↑ "The Witch Queen of New Orleans / Chant : 13th Hour". Rate Your Music.
  2. ↑ "Redbone – The Witch Queen Of New Orleans". Discogs.
  3. ↑ Corbet Rutzer (October 30, 2014). "Dig Dug: Redbone The Witch Queen of New Orleans". Frank151.
  4. ↑ The Witch Queen of New Orleans at AllMusic
  5. ↑ Bob Curran (2009). Encyclopedia of the Undead: A Field Guide to Creatures That Cannot Rest in Peace. ReadHowYouWant. ISBN 978-1442959118.
  6. ↑ S. T. Joshi. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural. ABC-CLIO. p. 703. ISBN 9780313081002.
  7. ↑ y Dave Thompson. Bayou Underground: Tracing the Mythical Roots of American Popular Music. ISBN 9781554906826.
  8. ↑ Harris, Craig. Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow: American Indian Music. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 178. ISBN 9780806154695.
  9. ↑ Brian Wright-McLeod (2015). The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet. ECW Press,Canada. p. 158. ISBN 978-0816524488.
  10. ↑ Billboard Magazine. February 19, 1972.
  11. ↑ "The Witch Queen Of New Orleans – Redbone". October 20, 2011.
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Redbone – The Witch Queen of New Orleans" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  13. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Redbone – The Witch Queen of New Orleans". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  14. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Witch Queen of New Orleans". Irish Singles Chart.
  15. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Redbone – The Witch Queen of New Orleans" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  16. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Redbone – The Witch Queen of New Orleans". VG-lista.
  17. ↑ "Redbone: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
  18. ↑ "Redbone – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Redbone.
  19. ↑ "The Chantoozies - Witch Queen". Discogs.
  20. 1 2 3 "45cat - The Chantoozies - Witch Queen / The Chantoozies Shuffle - Mushroom - Australia - K-208". 45cat.
  21. 1 2 "The Chantoozies - Witch Queen". Discogs.
  22. ↑ "Tom Jones – Witch Queen Of New Orleans / Kiss An Angel Good Morning". Discogs.
  23. ↑ "P.J. Proby – Witch Queen Of New Orleans". Discogs.
  24. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

External links

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