Papa Legba, Come On And Open The Gate…

talking heads

Even today, while traveling in and around the Mississippi Delta, you’ll still hear fabled tales of the old bluesmen selling their souls at the crossroads in exchange for supernatural musical gifts. Whereas the Robert Johnson tale has become the most widely known, it is in fact more of a composite story derived from old African American folk traditions that found their way to the Americas centuries ago embedding itself into our cultural fabric.

Stateside, these themes morphed, and the sale of one’s soul at the “crossroads”, due to Christianity’s influence, was to be made with Satan, or the devil. If traced back to its roots though you’ll find it more likely that such a deal – if there was one to be made – would have been conducted with Papa Legba, the spiritual intermediary between our world and the next. Known by many a name in Voodoo, Voudou, Santeria, etc, Legba was a gatekeeper said to grant access to the spirit world.

All Hoodoo aside, Papa Legba” also happens to be a track from one of the more underrated Talking Heads albums, True Stories, itself the audio counterpart to the 1986 David Byrne film of the same name. If you’ve only heard the Heads version, you must check out the swampy Pops Staples cover of the track from the film (mp3 below). Also, Widespread Panic used to do a very cool live version of Legba that’s absolutely worth hunting down if you’re at all interested in a southern fried re-imagining of the track. Trust.

Download:
MP3: Talking Heads :: Papa Legba
MP3: Talking Heads :: Papa Legba (Pops Staples Vocal Version)
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5 thoughts on “Papa Legba, Come On And Open The Gate…

  1. widespread STILL does this song and its a good one. wasn’t aware of the pops staples version (another big widespread influence, they have put “hope in a hopeless world” and “none of us are free” on studio albums).

    i’m sorry, the talking heads’ influence on modern rock grows everyday. does another band from that era sound nearly as fresh and modern?

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    Gram Parsons-WLIA NY ’73
    Robert Pollard-Finest Joke (demo)
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    Jerry Jeff Walker-London Homesick Blues
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    Bob Dylan-Freewheelin’ Outtakes
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    Dream Syndicate-When You Smile (demo)
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    Drive-By Truckers-Puttin’ People On The Moon (Rehearsal)
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  3. Ha … as I was reading down the page, I was wondering if you were going to slide a little props to ye olde Panic.

  4. if you want to stream a panic version of legba from new orleans 1999, then go here:

    http://www.panicstream.com/vault.htm

    then click the ’99 link at top of page

    then go to 10-31-99

    legba is the second track after todd read us some david byrne “true stories”

    sound quality is meh in UNO, but i always loved legba as a show opener in dirty orleans

    while you are on that stream, check out jojo’s work on “won’t get fooled again”

    just skip tracks ahead to it.

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