The Wild Tchoupitoulas are the Mardi Gras Indian Band you’ve heard of because of their association with the Neville Brothers, but the Wild Magnolias were the realer deal, and their 1974 album in association with funk soul brother Willie T is relentlessly funky from start to finish. Herb anthem “Smoke My Peace Pipe” is joined here by their incredibly cooking deconstruction of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” And while Timmy Thomas and Donna Summer are known quantities, their contributions aren’t. Divine Donna’s bit of swampy burp is from her excellent if under-heard final album Crayons (perhaps undone by the title—especially following on the heels of I’m a Rainbow).

Many of these cuts are as obscure as the darkest recesses of the Okefenokee. Blackie Guidry is a hunk of Cajun spiciness whose lone vanity-release album is unremarkable except for the cover pictures of Blackie as prime gator bait and the final cut that lets roll the bon temps ala discotheque. Ron Steele’s contribution is also from a vanity pressing, although because he’s a top record producer and a session ace, his cut sounds like a million bucks even though it lacks true dancefloor sizzle. The Dr. Exx band is so far off the grid, it doesn’t even merit a discogs entry. Nothing is known about Venus either; their (her? his? its?) only known track—the glorious “Toke Monster”—is from a radio station comp of local bands, although you don’t get far into the song before you realize it would have never made it on air in ’78. Hot Posse’s “Ride It”—an adaptation of their take on “Apache”—was never really officially released other than to deejays.

Speaking of Native Americans, Ban Deeto’s somewhat un-PC reworking of already un-PC “Keem-O-Sabe” is the flip of an utterly un-PC track called “Cisco’s Disco.” Ron Steele wins this one hands down. And while some might also be taken aback by Orlando Riva (he of “Moonboots” fame) Sound’s wack-ass disco take on “Indian Reservation” (who comes up with these ideas?), I find its oppressive sense of doom serves this telling of the trail of tears far better that Paul Revere and the Raiders hit cover ever did.

Night People – Allen Toussaint ’78 ۵ Soul Hoe Down – Bad Bascomb ’73 ۵ Dudley Doright – Timmy Thomas ’77۵ Cisco Disco – Ron Steele ’76۵ Southern Nights – Glen Campbell ’77۵ Disco Dobro – The Bottom Line ’76 ۵ Swamp Rap – Tony Joe White ’80۵ The Toke Monster – Venus ’78 ۵ Smoke My Peace Pipe (Smoke It Right) – The Wild Magnolias ’74 ۵ Mountain Funk – Dr. Exx Band ’78 ۵ I Will Survive – Billie Jo Spears ’79 ۵ Slide Over Backwards – Donna Summer ’08 ۵ Ride It – Hot Posse ’80 ۵ Kem-O-Sabe – Ban Deeto ’78 ۵ Indian Reservation – Orlando Riva Sound ’79 ۵ Nashville Express – Travis Biggs ’79 ۵ Why Have You Left the One You Left Me For – Crystal Gayle ’78 ۵ Saints – The Wild Magnolias ’74 ۵ Sanford & Son – Boots Randolph ’78 ۵ Disco on the Bayou – Blackie Guidry ’7?