Soul Masters: Ernie K-Doe

Filing Ernie K-Doe among the myriad one-hit-wonders littering the rock & roll landscape is an enormous disservice to artist and listener alike — consider K-Doe's scorching, self-titled Janus LP, a deeply funky effort produced by Allen Toussaint that remains a lost classic of New Orleans R&B. Toussaint's soulful, infectious arrangements wonderfully complement K-Doe's eccentric vocals, guiding the singer through the twisted narrative of Southern soul from the mud-baked Memphis sound of Stax ("Who Ever's Thrilling You Is Killing Me") to the Crescent City funk of the Meters ("Lawdy Mama") and beyond. What K-Doe lacks as a traditional vocalist he more than compensates for as a pure entertainer, and it's impossible to imagine cuts like the sex-crazed "Here Come the Girls" achieving such libidinous transcendence in the hands of a more conventional performer.