Photo: Knitting Factory Records
Nona Hendryx emerged in the 60s alongside Patti LaBelle and Sarah Dash in The Bluebelles, later renamed Labelle. The group had a massive hit with the song 'Lady Marmalade' ("Voulez-vous couchez avec moi, ce soir?...") in 1974 at a time when they had a funk-rock sound influenced by New Orleans producer Allen Toussaint.
That single was written by Kenny Nolan and Bob Crewe, but Hendryx established herself as the prime songwriter for the group before they split in 1976.
She went solo in 1977 and has released a modest seven albums over 40 years. But she's written theme songs for Jamie Lee Curtis and Eddie Murphy movies and has sung alongside artists from Talking Heads to Yoko Ono. In 2012, she released Mutatis Mutandis, an extraordinary album hitting hard at political targets like the Tea Party and Rush Limbaugh.
Now with guitarist Gary Lucas, she's released perhaps one of the least-expected albums ever for a funk/R&B diva - a collection of covers of the anarchic Captain Beefheart, with the rather prosaic title The World of Captain Beefheart.
Music Details
'Song title' (Composer) – Performers
Album title
(Label)
'Lady Marmalade' (Nolan/Crewe) – Labelle
Nightbirds
(Epic)
'I Sold My Heart to the Junkman' (Rene/Rene) – Patti Labelle and the Bluebelles
The Early Hits
(Charly)
'A Man in a Trenchcoat' (Hendryx) – Labelle
Chameleon
(Epic)
'Everybody Wants to be Somebody' (Hendryx) – Nona Hendryx
Nona Hendryx
(Epic)
'Strange Fruit' (Holiday) – Nona Hendryx
Mutatis Mutandis
(Righteous Babe)
'The Floppy Boot Stomp' (Van Vliet) – Captain Beefheart
Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)
(Virgin/EMI)
'Bills Corpse' (Van Vliet) – Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
Trout Mask Replica
(Reprise)
'Sun Zoom Spark' (Van Vliet) – Nona Hendryx and Gary Lucas
The World of Captain Beefheart
(Knitting Factory)
'My Head is My Only House Unless it Rains' (Van Vliet) – Nona Hendryx and Gary Lucas
The World of Captain Beefheart
(Knitting Factory)
'Lick My Decals Off, Baby' (Van Vliet) – Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
The Dust Blows Forward
(Rhino)
'The Smithsonian Institute Blues' (Van Vliet) – Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
The Dust Blows Forward
(Rhino)
'The Smithsonian Institute Blues' (Van Vliet) – Nona Hendryx and Gary Lucas
The World of Captain Beefheart
(Knitting Factory)
'I'm Glad' (Van Vliet) – Nona Hendryx and Gary Lucas
The World of Captain Beefheart
(Knitting Factory)
