Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. & The Wild Magnolias: Mardi Gras Indians Meet Memphis Soul On ‘Chip Off the Old Block’
photo: Michael Weintrob
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“All year long, my dad was either sewing or he was on the road. He might be out for months at a time, but as soon as he got back, he’d pick up a patch and start sewing,” Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. remembers of growing up with his father, Big Chief Bo Dollis Sr. “I knew that my dad was an entertainer, but it wasn’t until I got older and started learning about the culture of the Mardi Gras Indians that I really appreciated what it meant not only to my neighborhood but also to the city of New Orleans and the world as a whole.”
The Mardi Gras Indian tradition can be tracked back to the 19th century in the Crescent City, where Black residents formed local associations to celebrate their culture and identity. They created ornate handcrafted ceremonial costumes, which they donned during parades at Carnival and on Saint Joseph’s Day. The processions also featured percussion-laden call-and response musical accompaniment, which later incorporated elements of blues and funk, as represented on studio albums, such as 1974’s pioneering The Wild Magnolias from Bo Dollis Sr. and his tribe.
Bo Dollis Jr. recalls watching his father create a new suit every year and, at age 9, made an initial attempt himself, appropriating a beaded purse owned by his mom, who responded with a light rebuke while enlisting more direct supervision. Eventually, he became adept at the process and explains, “These days, with the headpiece, I’m walking around with a couple hundred pounds, although we don’t feel all that until we take it off.”
He made his first appearance with The Wild Magnolias at Jazz Fest as a pre-teen. “I was like 10-11 years old, and my dad told me, ‘Do not peek your head outside of the gate,’” he recollects. “I said, ‘OK,’ but me being hardheaded, I peeked my head outside the gate and I got so nervous I started throwing up. When my dad saw me, he was like, ‘Just stay back in the trailer. You don’t have to get on stage.’ But nothing was going to stop me. Once I started dancing, no one could tell that it was my first time ever being on stage. Then I really started traveling with him a couple years later, and that was the fire under me.”
As his trajectory continued, Dollis Jr. notes, “My first gig on my own was at Tipitina’s. I opened up for somebody else and the show sold out. My dad was sitting upstairs and, when I looked at him, he was like, ‘Take your time and go have fun.’ I asked him, ‘You want to come sing a song?’ He was like, ‘Nope, not today. It’s all you today.’ He let me do the whole set by myself and it just went from there.’”
Bo Dollis Sr. passed away in 2015 and his son soon became Big Chief. As Dollis Jr. explains, “He was building me for this, but I never wanted or expected to take over The Wild Magnolias. I’ll admit, that came with some bumps and bruises. There were times when I wanted to quit because people weren’t giving me the reaction I thought they should give me or they weren’t booking me because they were looking for my dad. But once I started making my own footsteps and my own sound, things got easier. Don’t get me wrong, I still dedicate some songs to him because I wouldn’t be here without him. There are a lot of songs people are looking for, but I still add a little twist of myself into it and make it my own.”
Indeed, the music on the new Bo Dollis Jr. and The Wild Magnolias album, Chip Off the Old Block, affirms the vitality of the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, while also infusing it with Memphis soul. When Dollis and his group were touring with the Take Me to the River project, which presented tributes to both regions, they were joined on stage by the illustrious Hi Rhythm Section, which had backed artists such as Al Green and Ann Peebles while serving as house band at Boo Mitchell’s Royal Studios. Mitchell took a creative role in Take Me to the River as well and later invited the expanded collective to record at Royal, sharing production duties with TMTTR’s Martin Shore and Cody Dickinson.
Dollis wrote three songs for the record with Dickinson, who also appears on guitar. “Cody had me come out to Tipitina’s one night and play with the North Mississippi Allstars,” Dollis says. “They were like, ‘Oh, we’ll do one song,’ and it was on after that.”
Chip Off the Old Block presents canonical compositions like “Indian Red” and “Indians Here Dey Come,” along with new tunes like “Young Time Indians” that evoke the classics. The Dollis-Dickinson compositions “Dance With Me” and “Shake” prove to be vibrant, complementary offerings. Memphis is well-represented via a version of Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle” that recasts Galactic’s Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph on vocals, as well as two soulful selections by songwriting legend William Bell (“Chip Off the Old Block” and “You Let a Good Thing Go Bad”).
Dollis notes that when performing this material with the Wild Magnolias, “I try to keep it original, but it’s also important to change with the times. If I sing a traditional song, like ‘Indian Red,’ ‘Peace Pipe,’ ‘New Suit’ or even ‘Hey Pocky A-Way,’ those will stay the same. But with other things, I try to keep it different and lively. Don’t get me wrong, my dad’s music was hella funky with the musicians he had back then, but now I’m more into the up-tempo rock feel. If somebody comes to one my shows, then they’re not going to keep still. But it’ll also be traditional.”
This approach reflects the varied roles Dollis assumes in his local community, including environmental advocacy. He acknowledges, “Being a Big Chief is more than just putting on an Indian suit and walking the streets on Mardi Gras so that spectators can look at you. Sometimes you have to be an extra parent or a marriage counselor. I also believe that climate justice and cultural preservation are connected— we need to live in balance with nature to help maintain our traditions.
“Of course, I’m also an entertainer but even that requires discipline and focus, which is something I try to teach the kids in my neighborhood. It takes time to make a suit and I’m already sewing for next year.”
