If your concept of boogie woogie piano only extends to hearing Jools Holland tinkling the ivories, no matter who he’s playing with on the telly, then prepare to have your boundaries expanded by Glasgow’s Daniel Meade on his latest album. While Meade is a versatile character, as seen on previous albums, a rocker, a balladeer, a country singer at times, Hip Hip Hooray! is a straightforward celebration of the piano tradition in rock’n’roll which of course encompasses Jerry Lee Lewis but here he pays special emphasis on the grand roll call of New Orleans players including Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, James Booker and Dr. John.
Whether the inspiration for the album was due to the acquisition of a new set of keyboards as laid out by Meade on the most immediate song here, Got A New Piano, is moot. What matters is that the song is a rip roaring barrel house trip with Meade announcing that he’s back in town with a brand new piano that won’t let you down. Fat horns adorn the rolling rhythm while the piano solos just trip and rip from the speakers while the chorus is tailor made for audience participation.
The album opens with the very brief shot which is The World Is On Fire, just a minute long but it sets the scene for what is to follow. There’s a brief respite halfway through but aside from that there’s little breathing space allowed as the album thrashes from start to end. There’s the aforementioned Got A New Piano which is then followed by the darkly humorous Carry Your Own Coffin, another rollicking horn blown boogie woogie which serves to remind us that Meade is a master of catchy choruses as he basically tells an estranged father to fuck off. Come Back To Me is a Fats Domino like ramble with a slight zydeco influence while I’m An Addict (I Can’t Help It) skelps along with percussive handclaps bolstering the barrel house blues piano which drives the song. Meade’s talent for grabbing a headline title and chorus comes to the fore again on Crackpot Jackpot, a song which was probably recorded in Meade’s front room but sounds as if it were zooming in from Memphis’ Sun Studios. It also allows Lloyd Reid, Meade’s long time guitar foil, to unleash a solo. Reid gets another opportunity to shine on the closing song, Like Your Boogie Woogie, where he lets rip in between the verses as the song builds to a tumultuous climax.
We mentioned a possible chance to let our breath out amidst the album’s infectious onslaught and it’s to be found on the fifth song, Sinking Stone. Here, Meade harks back to the country tinged songs of Keep Right Away and his piano and organ cleave more to the likes of The Band as opposed to the New Orleans players which abound elsewhere. It’s a gorgeous song which just goes to demonstrate how versatile Meade is.