King Lee (featuring Quintron) / Tire Shop

Goner

Some might have known King Lee (R.I.P.) from one of his late-night appearances at the Spellcaster Lodge in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. Or from his back-up vocals on the 2006 Quintron slow jam "Dream Captains." Or he may have fixed your tire at the St. Claude Tire Shop. If you are an old-school cop, he might have fixed it at Danny's Service Station way back in the day. This single is a late-night ode to the St. Claude Tire Shop, recorded by Quintron and King Lee just blocks away at the Spellcaster. Familiar with much-talked-about blurry connection between Caribbean rhythms and inner-city New Orleans? It's all over this incredibly slow drum-machine / echo-organ jam. All the extra clanky sounds are samples from the actual tire shop. Lee's vocal is comprised solely of him going off on all his friends and relatives who work at the shop. The list of nicknames is impressive, to say the least--so much so that the song can't be contained on one side! The original take was about fifteen minutes, and it was edited down to the essential three-and-a-half minutes per side. This 45 is truly the sound of the streets without drama and gunfire--a tire-shop army of love and beer and tires and air compressors and echo and organs and tires! A note on the St. Claude Tire shop: This is the only Orleans Parish business that did not close during the you-know-what. They fixed tires for the National Guard, Presidential limos, road warrior bike punks, everyone. The owner, Joe Pete, who Lee references several times in the song, sits on an actual throne of tires to keep an eye on his employees every day. Oh, and check that sign on the cover real close....

• SHARE

  •  Twitter
  •  Stumbleupon
  •  Digg
  •  del.icio.us
  •  Facebook
  •  Mixx