Victory Mixture

Origins of Victory Mixture

In 1988, Willy DeVille relocated from New York to New Orleans. He told Leap in the Dark: "I was tired of being 'Willy DeVille,' walking out of my building and having to be the guy who was up on stage all the time, even when I wasn't performing. I wanted to get away from that. So I got down there (to New Orleans) and it was as if this famous guy had come to town, and I didn't want that. So I decided to do an album with a bunch of the musicians from down there, the music of New Orleans."

DeVille told Sheila Rene about the beginnings of Victory Mixture:

A friend of mine (Carlo Ditta) who owns Orleans Records here in New Orleans approached me with the idea of working with him on a Delta record, a blues record where you just play acoustic and do what you want to do. There's so much good material here in New Orleans from the early 50s and 60s, and he still had a box of 45s. We went through them, and there were all these hit records that weren't hit records; maybe regional hits by artists from New Orleans. I picked out the stuff that worked with my voice. I got all the original guys to come back in, like Earl King, Dr. John and Eddie Bo. Allen Toussaint played side piano. I brought in the rhythm section of The Meters on a couple of cuts. We call it the "little" record. It's funny, because I was just trying to get them money, the writers of the songs, 'cause they all got ripped off in the 50s and 60s. They were all fascinated, and Dr. John convinced them that they wouldn't get ripped off by this northern white boy. That's when I crossed over to being a local here in New Orleans. We were all pleased with it. It's recorded the way it was originally done back then. It's live with no overdubs anywhere, no digital, no editing. We played the song several times and just picked the best take...the one that was the most natural.

Producer Carlo Ditta described the birth of the album this way:

Back in New Orleans I got the word that Willy DeVille was living in town and asking after me. I showed up with my latest CDs, including my Guitar Slim, Jr. Grammy nomination, and convinced him that I needed to produce a reverse-crossover roots record on him. I played him a bunch of my old New Orleans R&B 45s, including sides by Ernie K-Doe, Earl King, Irma Thomas, Huey Smith and the Pitter Pats, Oliver Morgan, and Champion Jack Dupree, and with the help of Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Leo Nocentelli, George Porter, Kerry Brown and a host of other local talent, we crafted an album at Sea Saint Studios titled Victory Mixture. I licensed it to my old friend, Phillippe LeBras, and he put it out in France on his new label, Sky Ranch. It sold over 100,000 units in Europe very quickly—our first gold disc.

"New Orleans Revue" Tour

In the summer of 1992, DeVille toured Europe with Dr John, Johnny Adams, Zachary Richard, and The Wild Magnolias as part of his "New Orleans Revue" tour. He told Leap in the Dark, "The travel, buses, and planes and the accommodations had to be some of the worst I've ever experienced, but the shows themselves were great. At the end of each show we'd throw Mardi Gras rows out to the audience, you know strands of purple and gold beads, and they'd never seen anything like it and they loved it.”

Other information

Victory Mixture was produced by Carlo Ditta, the founder of Orleans Records. Ditta met DeVille in 1980 when DeVille was touring with Mink DeVille, and Ditta joined the band in an after-hours jam session at the Beat Exchange, a New Orleans punk rock hangout.

This album was the first time DeVille recorded with guitarist Freddy Koëlla (credited on this album as Frèdèrick Koella), who would record and tour with DeVille for many years to come. The two were introduced by guitarmaker James Trussart. Said DeVille, "I adore (Trussart). He made my guitar and introduced me to my guitarist, Fred. A fabulous guitarist. He can play like Ry Cooder, he can play the Spanish style... He knows it all, his play is very subtle, very sophisticated. On stage I always have to tell him to play louder; he's afraid of stepping on me. That's a good guitarist. I'd like to play more the guitar, the slide particularly, but when I listen to him I stay paralyzed." Koella played in Bob Dylan's backup band in 2003 and 2004.

Victory Mixture was also the first time DeVille sang with background vocalists Dorene and Yadonna Wise, who would tour with DeVille in The Mink DeVille band in years to come. Allen Toussaint introduced the Wise sisters to DeVille.

The songs "Teasing You," "Beating Like a Tom-Tom," and ”Who Shot the La-La” can also be heard on DeVille's Big Easy Fantasy album (1995). The songs have slightly different horn and background-vocal arrangements.

Track listing

1. “Hello My Lover” (Clarence Toussaint) - 3:33
2. “It Do Me Good” (Huey Smith, Brenda Brandon) - 3:06
3. ”Key to My Heart” (Edwin Bocage) - 3:38
4. ”Beating Like a Tom-Tom” (Ernest Kador) - 4:21
5. ”Every Dog Has Its Day” (Edwin Bocage) - 2:38
6. ”Big Blue Diamonds” (Earl "Kit" Carson) - 2:51
7. ”Teasin' You” (Earl King) - 3:07
8. ”Ruler of My Heart” (Naomi Neville) - 2:42
9. ”Who Shot the La-La” (D. Burmak, Edwin Bocage, Theresa Terry) - 2:57
10. ”Junker's Blues” (Willie Hall) - 3:19

Personnel

Wayne Bennett – guitar

Samuel Berfect – Hammond organ

Eddie Bo – piano

Isaac Bolden - piano

Ross Brady – background vocals

Kerry Brown – drums

Rene Coman – bass guitar, upright bass

Brian "Breeze" Coyolle - tenor sax, baritone sax

Willy DeVille - guitar, vocals

Keith Fazarde – vibraphone

Barbara George – background vocals

Bill Gregory - guitar

Porgy Jones - trumpet

Frèdèrick Koella - guitar

Allison Miner – background vocals

Leo Nocentelli - guitar

George Porter, Jr. - bass guitar

Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) - piano

Allen Toussaint - piano

Johnny Vidacovich - drums

Dorene Wise - background vocals

YaDonna Wise – background vocals

Production

Roger Branch – engineer

Carlo Ditta – producer

Mark Hewitt - engineer

Barry Kaiser - photography

Owen Murphy - photography

Hank Waring – digital remastering