Jimmy Fallon, the guy who has dueted with Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Eddie Vedder, President Obama and anyone else he wanted, chose Buckwheat Zydeco to kick off Friday’s final Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show. Fallon takes over “The Tonight Show” from Jay Leno on February 17.
Playing “On a Night Like This” from Buckwheat Zydeco’s first Island Records album of the same name, super fan Jimmy Fallon performed alongside Buckwheat Zydeco and The Roots. The show opened “cold” without any announcement except a tight close-up of “Buckwheat” spelled out in jeweled letters on Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural’s accordion. Buckwheat and Jimmy traded vocals on Buckwheat Zydeco’s cover of this little known Bob Dylan tune. Jimmy rocked out on a red guitar, and the two played out the song with a rousing instrumental throw down.
Jimmy said he wanted Buckwheat Zydeco’s appearance on his last show to be a surprise. He introduced and thanked Buckwheat from his desk after the performance, and displayed the band’s latest, Grammy-winning Alligator Records album, “Lay Your Burden Down”.
“Man we had a blast,” said Dural. “It was such an honor to be a part of this. It’s history! And Jimmy and The Roots couldn’t have been nicer. It felt like our home away from home.”