Jazz Fest 2024

Give Us A Sign: A Portrait of The Dixie Cups

by Kellie Talbot

HISTORY 

Each year since the Jazz Fest Poster Project debuted in 1975, we choose a subject to represent our culture. Easy back then: A few grand marshals, a big band, a bit of gospel, zydeco and intimate music scenes.  

Lightning struck in 1989 when we began depicting artists who bent American culture to their will starting with Fats Domino through to Jon Batiste in 2022. Last year we honored the place they all passed through. Michalopoulos’ portrait of the French Quarter nailed the spirit that propelled it all; the caldron of soul, surrender and joy that thrust us onto the world stage. What had we missed those 49 years? Oh Lord, give us a sign for the half-century capstone of New Orleans’ visual jazz. 

DESTINY 

That sign came in the form of a memory triggered by a song heard on WWOZ, recalling a typically loud lunch at Mother’s in 1974 when the juke box blared as we conjured that first poster on that corner of Poydras that was then more local than tourist. The song was Chapel of Love, sung by three teenagers from New Orleans. They’d come in second in St. Augustine’s talent contest but were so good they were whisked off to New York’s Brill Building, then the center of song writing and production.  

Sisters Barbara & Rosa Hawkins, along with cousin Joan Johnson found themselves in a room with the greatest writer / producers of the American pop catalog. They were given the song for an audition before the hit-making duo of Leiber and Stoller. Phil Spector claimed co-writing credit for the song, and had recorded a version with Darlene Love that he didn’t like. If you don’t recognize these names, look them up. Their work remains the backbone of our sound track to this day.  

The as-yet-unnamed Dixie Cups felt the writers had the song all wrong. They excused themselves, huddled in a corner for a bit and came back with their version. Infused with the soul of New Orleans, Leiber & Stoller recorded the girls’ arrangement, releasing Chapel of Love as the premier single on their Red Bird label. Bam! A million copies sold and a gold record out of the gate.  

Chapel of Love knocked the Beatles out of the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in June, 1964 & held that spot for three weeks. (Fun Fact: Louis Armstrong upended the Beatles the month before.) In the studio between takes for their album, they entertained themselves by jamming with sticks on chairs, ashtrays and a Coke bottle. Fortunately, the tape was rolling. With added backing tracks, this impromptu session brought the Mardi Gras Indian chants their grandmas sang from the street of New Orleans to the world for the first time. Iko Iko spent 10 weeks on the Billboard Top 100 upon its release as a single the following year. If you’re not from New Orleans and know Iko Iko, it’s thanks to Barbara Hawkins, Rosa Hawkins and Joan Johnson - The Dixie Cups.   

Going on 50 years, we missed the biggest breakout hit from New Orleans since Fats Domino and Louis Armstrong? The sign was there for 60 years! We went looking for someone to give us that sign. 

THE PRINT 

Kellie Talbot is a sign painter of a different sort, and a perfect pairing for The Dixie Cups. Her photorealistic style depicts American icons that defined the mid-century American landscape, embodied in the exuberant and once ubiquitous neon signs that beckoned us with vivid colors from every street corner. They’re mostly gone now, but like The Dixie Cups with only Barbara still with us, who glowed sonically on vinyl, Talbot relights this pioneering girl group with a period-perfect mid-century sign. 

For the 2024 Poster – marking the mid-century of the series – Talbot  imagines a neon sign hanging under a French Quarter balcony for six decades - since The Dixie Cups first stormed the national stage in 1964 - proudly wearing years of patina and radiant in its endurance.  

The Signed, ReMarqued & C-Marqued editions bear an added artist’s imprint of Jazz Fest’s grand marshal dancing inside a crescent moon and lettering augmented with an outline in gold ink. 

Our prayers were answered; we have a glorious sign. 

THE ARTIST 

Talbot made her first trip to New Orleans a quarter century ago, beginning 3-month residencies in New Orleans three years after that original foray. On road trips between here and her then-home in Seattle, she photographed surviving neon signs to preserve and interpret on canvas. Over the years, her photorealistic painting portfolio grew larger as her stays in town grew longer until she and her husband bought a house here in 2018.  

Talbot is represented in New Orleans by Cole Pratt Gallery. Her recent sign paintings will be on display there April 6th—April 27th, with an opening reception for the artist on April 6th. The original painting that became the 50th Poster and the sketches and studies leading up to it will be unveiled on April 24, staying up through May 6. 

EDITIONS 

10,000 Numbered prints on archival paper, 22" x 33”, $89 

2,500 Artist Signed & Numbered prints with Artist’s imprint & enhanced lettering on 100% rag paper, 22" x 33”, $249 

750 Remarques Artist Signed & Numbered, Subject-signed / estate stamped prints with Artist’s imprint & enhanced lettering plus unique hand embellishment by the Artist on 100% rag paper, 24" x 36”, $599  

350 C-Marques Artist Overpainted, Signed & Numbered, Subject-signed / estate stamped with Artist’s imprint & enhanced lettering plus paint embellishments, on canvas suitable for stretching; unstretched size 26" x 36”, $999. 

FRAMING* 

Our frames are crafted from archival materials finished in beautiful satin black. The framed paper prints use a 1.25" profile frame. The C-Marque stretched canvas is surrounded by a frame with a .875 front profile and an elegant 1.25” depth. The float-mounted edition showcases the full archival print in a gallery format on an oversized pH neutral matte around the presentation. Matted prints feature a white neutral pH matte appropriate to the edition. Although Art4Now's inks are archival, our glass-clear acrylic adds additional protection, blocking 87% of UV rays. All framed prints come fully assembled and ready to hang! Art4Now only provides framing for the current year’s print for a limited period ending shortly after Jazz Fest. Framing is available for shipment in the continental U.S.

* Frames with prints shown are digital simulations. Sizes are approximate. 

Poster specifications & digital image may vary slightly from actual prints. 

©2024 art4now inc. Poster ©2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Foundation, Inc.