I have a question: I am deep in love with "Knockin' On My Front Door". What style is that an example of?

You mean "At My Front Door"?

Sort of a mutant version of New Orleans style, piano led rock and roll. Which would be a good genre to fall in love with since there's a very deep well of it. Though you might be liking the slightly skewed Nilsson take on it which is less replicable.

I also recommend Nilsson's first two records Pandemonium Shadow Show and Aerial Ballet.

Which would be a good genre to fall in love with since there's a very deep well of it.

Recommendations?

Here's an AMG overview:

Primarily a piano- and horn-driven style, New Orleans R&B is the next step over from its more bluesier practitioners. There's a cheerful good-naturedness to the style that infuses the music with a good-time feel, no matter how somber the lyrical text. The music itself uses a distinctively "lazy" feel, with all of its somewhat complex rhythms falling just a hair behind the beat, making for what is known as "the sway." The vocals can run the full emotional gamut, from laid-back crooning to full-throated gospel shouting, while the horn lines provide a perfect droning backdrop. Enlivened by Caribbean rhythms, an unrelenting party atmosphere, and the distinctive "second-line" strut of the Dixieland music so indigenous to the area, there's nothing quite as intoxicating as the sound of Crescent City R&B. — Cub Koda

I particularly like Huey "Piano" Smith and The Clowns.

Rhino has two volumes of New Orleans party classics which has a nice range of rollicking New Orleans R&B including Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Huey "Piano" Smith and some later (somewhat funkier) tunes. But it's a good way to check out a variety of musicians in that style.

You might also like James Booker, who I wrote about for the book. I'd recommend Resurrection of the Bayou Maharajah. You can listen to song samples at that site. Check out "Tico Tico/Papa Was A Rascal."

I bet Mr. Boucher would have some recs as well.

Maybe early Neville Brothers?

Ohh. I have tons of that. Lemme flip through iTunes.

Maybe early Neville Brothers?

There's some of that on the New Orleans party comp - under the name The Hawks. Later Nevilles is quite a bit more funky than I think what Betsy's looking for.

Allen Toussaint, Bo Dollis and The Wild Magnolia, Galactic, Irma Thomas, Johnny Adams, The Meters, Neville Brothers, Professor Longhair all turn up on NO+R&B

Allen Toussaint, Bo Dollis and The Wild Magnolia, Galactic, Irma Thomas, Johnny Adams, The Meters, Neville Brothers, Professor Longhair all turn up on NO+R&B

Most of those are more New Orleans funk. At least that's how I'd categorize Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolia, and Galactic (jam band funk). Irma Thoms is fantastic, but that's going to be more R&B ballads. Same with Johnny Adams. Meters are very funky too.

All great music, however. And recommended, but not the rolling N'awlins R&B I think Betsy's digging. She'd probably like some Dr. John too, especially his stuff away from the Nightripper vibe (which I love, but...). This recent Dr. John looks like it might be worth a listen.

Just using NO+Blues I get, Champion Jack Dupree, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Clifton Chenier, Corey Harris & Henry Butler, Deacon John's Jump Blues, Dr. John, Earl King, Fats Domino, Huey "Piano" Smith, Jon Cleary And The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Marcia Ball, Professor Longhair and the album Louisiana Piano Rhythms

Here's my earlier NOLA primer. Hard to go wrong with a Fats Domino or Professor Longhair greatest hits set. There's a reason it's an obvious choice: great music and huge influence. Huey Smith is great, too, as David pointed out, and I will point out that probably all of the Frankie Ford hits you're likely to encounter are Clowns' tracks with Ford's vocals plopped on top (which is not a shot; they're great records.) Allen Toussaint is the key post-Domino figure, esp. in the sixties, but also through the mid-70s ("Right Place, Wrong Time", "Lady Marmalade", "Southern Nights") he either wrote, produced, or played on seemingly every national hit out of New Orleans. And he wrote the horn charts for the live Band album "Rock of Ages"! He's also the direct link between classic r&b of Domino/Fess and the classic funk of the Meters (even more than Art Neville.) Dr. John's Gumbo is a fun overview, too. Love the funky drumming on "Junko Partner".

"Lady Madonna" is pretty much a love letter from Paul McCartney to Fats Domino. Little Feat were steeped in New Orleans music, Dixie Chicken especially, although other than the title track I'd trade the rest of it for Sailin' Shoes w/o a microsecond of regret. The Faces had a lot of New Orleans in their approach (loose sometimes to the point of sloppiness, liberal use of alcohol), the prominence of Ron Wood's guitar notwithstanding. And as a left field choice I'll throw in The Rolling Stones, Now! and "Down Home Girl". I can't leave out "Wrong 'Em Boyo" from London Calling, either, on which the Clash pay tribute to Elvis and Dylan (the false intro comes from the former's "Milk Cow Blues" and the latter's "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream), New Orleans (the horns are copped from "Sea Cruise"), and reggae ("Wrong 'Em Boyo") all in one song that they also manage to make completely their own.