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-inch single
Length 2:45
Label Epic
Writer(s)
  • Lolly Vegas
  • Pat Vegas
Producer(s)
  • Lolly Vegas
  • Pat Vegas[1]

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

Background

"The Witch Queen of New Orleans" is about a 19th-century practitioner of voodoo from New Orleans named Marie Laveau,[4][5] referred to in the song lyrics as "Marie la Voodoo veau".[6] The song was written by the two Native American brothers of the group Redbone, Lolly Vegas and Pat Vegas. It shows influences from New Orleans R&B and swamp pop.[7]

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).[8][9] The song reached No. 2 in the UK single chart in October 1971 where it stayed for three weeks.[10][11]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1971–1972) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 17
Australia (Go-Set National Top 40)[13] 14
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] 1
Canada (CHUM)[15] 10
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[16] 15
France (IFOP)[17] 23
Germany (Official German Charts)[18] 13
Ireland (IRMA)[19] 7
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[20] 7
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 5
Norway (VG-lista)[22] 6
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[8] 21
US Cash Box[23] 19

Year-end charts

Chart (1971) Rank
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[24] 37
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[25] 41
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[26] 34
Chart (1972) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)[27] 95
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[28] 96
US Billboard Hot 100[29] 81

Cover versions

""Witch Queen""
Single by Chantoozies
from the album Chantoozies
B-side "The Chantoozie Shuffle"
Released 1986[30]
Format 7-inch single, 12-inch single
Recorded November 1986
Platinum Studios, Melbourne[30]
Length 4:09
Label Mushroom
Producer(s) David Courtney[30]

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.[12]

Artist Howard Arkley produced a series of sketches in the early 1970s referencing popular songs, one of which is titled "Which Queen" as a reference to this song.[31]

The song is commonly played during Halloween in the United States.[32]

References

  1. ↑ The Witch Queen of New Orleans (credits). Redbone. Epic. 1971. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  2. ↑ Rutzer, Corbet (October 30, 2014). "Dig Dug: Redbone The Witch Queen of New Orleans". Frank151.
  3. ↑ "Redbone – The Witch Queen of New Orleans". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  4. ↑ Curran, Bob (2006). Encyclopedia of the Undead: A Field Guide to Creatures That Cannot Rest in Peace. New Page Books. p. 243. ISBN 1-56414-841-6.
  5. ↑ Bosky, Bernadette Lynn (2007). "The Witch". In Joshi, S. T. Icons of Horror and the Supernatural. 2. Greenwood Press. p. 703. ISBN 0-313-33782-9.
  6. ↑ Thompson, Dave (2010). "Track Three: "The Witch Queen of New Orleans" by Redbone from the LP Witch Queen of New Orleans (Epic) 1971". Bayou Underground: Tracing the Mythical Roots of American Popular Music. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-55490-682-6.
  7. ↑ Harris, Craig (2016). Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow: American Indian Music. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-8061-5168-7.
  8. 1 2 "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. February 19, 1972. p. 56. ISSN 0006-2510.
  9. ↑ Wright-McLeod, Brian (2005). "Redbone". The Encyclopedia of Native Music: More Than a Century of Recordings from Wax Cylinder to the Internet. University of Arizona Press. p. 158. ISBN 0-8165-2448-3.
  10. 1 2 "Archive Chart: 1971-10-17" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Redbone". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  12. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ↑ "11 March 1972". Go-Set. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Redbone – The Witch Queen Of New Orleans" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  15. ↑ CHART NUMBER 780 – Saturday, January 01, 1972 at the Wayback Machine (archived February 11, 2006). CHUM.
  16. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 7509." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Le Détail par Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Redbone" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Redbone – The Witch Queen Of New Orleans". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  19. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Witch Queen of New Orleans". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Redbone - The Witch Queen Of New Orleans search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Redbone – The Witch Queen Of New Orleans" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Redbone – The Witch Queen Of New Orleans". VG-lista. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  23. ↑ CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending FEBRUARY 19, 1972 at the Wayback Machine (archived September 8, 2012). Cash Box magazine.
  24. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1971" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  25. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1971" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1971" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  27. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1970s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1972" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Top 100 Hits for 1972". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  30. 1 2 3 Witch Queen (credits). The Chantoozies. Mushroom. 1986. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  31. ↑ McAuliffe, Chris (November 17, 2015). "Howard Arkley: how Talking Heads, Ramones, Blondie and punk shaped his art". The Australian. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
  32. ↑ Lee Cooper, B. (2013). "Halloween and Horror Recordings". In Edmondson, Jacqueline. Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories That Shaped Our Culture. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-39347-1.
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