The Witch Queen of New Orleans

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"The Witch Queen of New Orleans"
Witch Queen of New Orleans -Redbone.jpg
Single by Redbone
from the album Message from a Drum
B-side "Chant: 13th Hour"
Released1971
Genre Swamp rock
Length2:45
Label Epic
Songwriter(s)
  • Lolly Vegas
  • Pat Vegas
Producer(s)
  • Lolly Vegas
  • Pat Vegas [1]
Redbone singles chronology
"Light as a Feather"
(1971)
"The Witch Queen of New Orleans"
(1971)
"Niji Trance"
(1972)

"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.

Contents

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 behind Rod Stewart's "Maggie May". [10]

Charts

Chantoozies version

"Witch Queen"
Witch Queen by Chantoozies.jpg
7" single cover
Single by Chantoozies
from the album Chantoozies
B-side "The Chantoozie Shuffle"
ReleasedJanuary 12, 1987 [28]
Studio Platinum Studios, Melbourne
Length4:09
Label Mushroom Records
Songwriter(s)
  • Lolly Vegas
  • Pat Vegas
Producer(s) David Courtney
Chantoozies singles chronology
"Witch Queen"
(1987)
"He's Gonna Step on You Again"
(1987)

Australian group Chantoozies released a version of the song in 1987 as their debut single, retitled "Witch Queen". The song peaked at number 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report. [11]

Track listings

7" single (K 208)

12" single ( X 14459)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1987)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [29] 4

Year-end charts

Chart (1987)Position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [30] 49

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]

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References

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