Our magazine was chatting to Wily Bo recently with a feature on his upcoming album. During that interview another ongoing project came up in discussion, a piece of “musical theatre” called “The Rattlin Bone Theatre Show.” Wily Bo said at the time,
“During Covid it was postponed. We had the theatre booked, and it was a lot to get everybody involved. We had the lockdown in 2020, so we had everything in 2019, and we were getting ready to put it on, and there was a small London theatre. I played the songs live with a fourteen-piece band about ten years ago; it has this New Orleans kind of vibe, and the songs went down really well. It’s something I’m still working on, and it will get finished at some point. It is there in the pot, and you will see in the not too distant future a few singles coming from that project. I am starting to release material from it, and I have another artist commissioned to do the artwork. It is all ongoing. It is like an alter-ego for me for that project; it has that Louis Armstrong vibe, and I think it shows the fun those guys had with the performance.”
And here is the first single from that project (hooray)!
It is called, “Such a Night- He Got the Girl this Time.”
Now Wily Bo Walker is known for putting his music together with real attention to detail, everything is done with such a high level of care, and the cover for this single sets the mood perfectly. And as for the single, if this is indicative of the album, we are in for a real treat.
No need for pusillanimity here: I absolutely loved all elements of this song. It took me to VoodooVille—alright, it transported me to this late Victorian circus show, where the blues man/storyteller plies his craft.
The press release tells us about this one, “‘Such a Night (He Got the Girl This Time)’ with a version of the Dr John classic taken from the forthcoming ‘The Rattlin Bone Theatre Show’ soundtrack album Wily Bo Walker’s ‘The Rattlin Bone Theatre Show.’ It is a production with a New Orleans vibe, mixing some choice covers with originals. The soundtrack album will highlight the swamp blues, voodoo burlesque, circus jazz, and ‘sing and stomp-along’ aspects of the show… Welcome to VoodooVille!”
The link to download it is here
So why is it good? Well, it has these fantastic blues vocals, a touch of Chester Arthur Burnett (aka Howlin Wolf), and yet it swings along with the style of a Dean Martin! It has a sense of romance, for sure, and “it’s sweet confusion under the moonlight!”
As a sampler for what is to come, it has fired my appetite for more, and if the whole musical theatre idea gets to the stage, I would say we are in for a treat.
For those of us getting excited about the project, the full ‘The Rattlin Bone Theatre Show’ soundtrack album won’t be released until late 2024. However, in the meantime, there will be tracks released every 6 weeks or so to build up promotion
‘Such a Night (He Got the Girl This Time)’ which was released on Friday, June 30th, and is the first promotional single release from the show
The second track release will be in 6 weeks, on August 11, 2023 and is ‘Who Do You Love (Dontcha Love Me Baby)’
Our magazine will continue to follow matters!
By Lorraine Foley
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