These reviews originally appeared in the June 1978 Buffalo Jazz Report (Issue 52). I do not recall if I purchased these or received review copies.
There is a plethora of other new albums out. How can one miss with Little Walter, Blue and Lonesome (Le Roi du Blues 33.2007). This record contains unissued sides, alternate takes and sides only reissued overseas by the master of blues harmonica. Leonard Chess calls Walter, Little 'Motherfucker' Walter on the longer version of the title track than the released take. Sidemen include Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, the Aces and Robert Lockwood and do I have to tell you the other titles. Great stuff, which might be the only Walter currently in print.
Clifton Chenier has not exactly been under recorded. His new Arhoolie album And His Red Hot Louisiana Band (1078) is typically fine even if it breaks no new ground. John Hart plays great tenor. Clifton wails on accordion and guitarist Paul Senegal gets more than usual solo space. This album is bluesier than Clifton's more recent recordings and especially nice is "Hungry Man Blues" with its Muddy Waters touches and the closing "Highway Blues". A typically solid album that may be overlooked if you are well-stocked with him, but if you don't have any of Clifton's Arhoolie albums, what are you waiting for.
Little Walter's recordings (including those that were on Blue and Lonesome) are available on a number of other reissues. This specific Clifton Chenier recording may be available used. There is plenty of Clifton Chenier on Arhoolie Records available from Smithsonian Folkways. You can visit folkways.si.edu and search for Clifton Chenier. Here Clifton performs "I'm a Hog For You."
This edition of Take 5 brings us a short playlist of Clifton Chenier, The King of Zydeco who left us so many years ago. Zydeco is the music of the Black Creole French Speaking People of Southwest Louisiana and Southeast Texas. A musical cousin of Louisiana Cajun music, zydeco's roots also included blues and Caribbean influences. The accordion is the lead instrument. Unlike cajun music where a button accordion is used, Zydeco accordion players vary in the type of accordion they play. In the case of Chenier, he played a piano accordion and often came off sounding liking like a one-man big band. The Louisiana born Chenier was based in Texas Cities like Port Arthur and Houston as bayou communities like Lake Charles and Lafayette.
His first recordings were made for the small Elko label, but in the mid-50s he recorded for Specialty and with Specialty had his first hit record, "Ay Tete Fee," with a band that included guitarists Lonesome Sundown and Phillip Walker.
Clifton had an up and down musical career until Lightnin' Hopkins took Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records to see Hopkins' cousin, Clifton Chenier at a Houston bar. It would lead Strachwitz to record Chenier which began a long-standing relationship. Also, bu this time Clifton had reunited with his brother Cleveland who would play the frottoir, a fabricated aluminum rubboard that Clifton invented that replaced the washboard as a percussion instrument. For Arhoolie, Clifton recorded some of the rhythm and blues he performed and Strachwitz got him to record half of the album, "Louisiana Blues and Zydeco" in French. Here is "Louisiana Blues" sung in French.
There are so many recordings I could highlight by Chenier, but one of my favorites is his rendition of Big Joe Williams' "Baby Please Don't Go," with his uncle Morris Chenier on the gut-bucket fiddle.
Just with a drummer or his brother on frottoir, Clifton could fill a ballroom up with dancers. There are many two-steps and other hot numbers. Here he revives a big band number associated with Glenn Miller, "In the Mood."
Finally, we close with the bluesy slow dance, "I'm Coming Home."
There is so much more Clifton Chenier one could choose. He still remains one of my favorites.
Various Artists Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969 Third Man Records
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the legendary Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1969, Third Man Records has issued a both LP and CD releases. They collect 24 songs by such blues legends as Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, B.B. King, James Cotton, Son House, Magic Sam, T-Bone Walker, Junior Wells, Big Mama Thornton, Clifton Chenier, Son House, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Lightnin' Hopkins, Pinetop Perkins, J. B. Hutto & His Hawks, Roosevelt Sykes, Luther Allison, Otis Rush, Big Joe Williams, Charlie Musselwhite and more. This release is the first-ever release of music recorded live at this landmark event, except the Magic Sam track that was issued on Delmark.
John Fishel recorded the Festival except for Son House's performance which Jeff Todd Titon did. In the accompanying book to the deluxe LP edition (I am not sure what is included with the CDs), it is stated "These recordings were stored in Jim Fishel's basement and have remained largely unheard for 50 years. In preparing this compilation, we treated the original tapes to an all-analog restoration process – including speed correction and equalization – prior to digitization. However, these are field recordings in the literal sense of the term: audience chatter is audible and there are some technical problems that proved difficult to fix. Every effort has been made to improve the sound without sacrificing the integrity of the performances." In other words, these may not be the highest fidelity, but as good as one is likely to be able to get. Listening through headphones may be the best way to enjoy this music.
The two Ann Arbor Blues Festivals (the second one held in 1970) were signature events. All the succeeding blues festivals pale in comparison to these line-ups full of artists who are in the Blues Hall of Fame in Memphis. There is a broad range of blues performances presented although there is a strong Chicago blues focus. The Chicago blues focus includes Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, James Cotton, Magic Sam, Junior Wells, Pinetop Perkins, J. B. Hutto & His Hawks, Roosevelt Sykes, Luther Allison, Otis Rush, and Charlie Musselwhite. Freddie King is not included at the request of the estate. At the request of the family, the Otis Rush performance is from a preview of the 1970 Festival. There are down-home performances from Roosevelt Sykes, Lightnin' Hopkins, Son House, Arthur Crudup, Big Joe Williams, and Shirley Griffith. Sleepy John Estes and Yank Rachell performed, but the tape for it was lost. Clifton Chenier is accompanied solely by his accordion.
Despite any audio blemishes, the music here is often spectacular starting with Roosevelt Sykes opening with "Dirty Mother For You." He humorously wondered how he got by the censors when Decca issued the original 78. Sykes was in great form here. Arthur Crudup sounded fine singing "So Glad You're Mine," It was followed by the blistering slide guitar of J.B. Hutto on "Too Much Alcohol," and then Jimmy Dawkins' driving rendition "I Wonder Why." With Lefty Dizz on guitar, Junior Wells does a rousing "Help Me (A Tribute To Sonny Boy Williamson)." B.B. King (with Onzy Matthews on organ and Sonny Freeman on drums) is terrific on "I've Got A Mind To Give Up Living." B.B. King requested Mississippi Fred McDowell play "John Henry," resulting in a terrific performance in McDowell's rhythmically charged style.
Pinetop Perkins had recently joined Muddy Waters' band when he performed a rousing rendition of "Pinetop's Boogie Woogie." Members of Muddy's band backed him. Luther Allison may have been the most significant discovery of Ann Arbor, and his medley of "Everybody Must Suffer/Stone Crazy," is outstanding. I had a chance to see Luther at an Ann Arbor Blues Festival benefit concert a few months later, and it was a revelation. On "Tu m' as promis l'amour (You Promised Me Love)," Clifton Chenier shows he does not need backing musician in delivering a superb blues in French. Howlin' Wolf's rendition of "Hard Luck Blues," is an extended performance with Hubert Sumlin playing brilliant guitar. Wolf's band included Lucky Lopez on guitar, Bobby Fields on sax, and Calvin' Fuzz' Jones on bass. Otis Rush tears through "So Many Roads, So Many Trains," with Ernest Gatewood on bass and Sam Lay on drums. These performances are on Vol. 1, which is also split into two LPs.
Muddy Waters was impressive with "Long Distance Call" with its fattening frogs for snakes ending. This was a typical set opener for him at the time and opens Vol. 2 (also on 2 LPs). His band included Paul Oscher on harmonica, Pinetop Perkins on piano, Sammy Lawhown and Pee Wee Madison on guitars, Sonny Wimberly on bass and Willie' Big Eyes' Smith on drums. Charlie Musselwhite follows with a terrific instrumental, "Movin' and Groovin'," which also includes some spectacular lap steel guitar from Freddie Roulette, and piano from Skip Rose on piano. His band also included Louis Myers on guitar, Dave Myers on bass and Fred Below on drums. It is followed by Magic Sam's "I Feel So Good (I Wanna Boogie)." Shirley Griffith reworked the Billy Eckstine-Earl Hines classic "Jelly Jelly Blues" into a solo blues.
Mojo Elem may be best known as Luther Allison's bass player. Here he delivers a rollicking rendition of J.B. Lenoir's "Mojo Boogie," with Luther Allison playing some boogie chords while Elem sings in a high tenor. T-Bone Walker, with Luther Allison's band, follows with a terrific lengthy, "Call It Stormy Monday." Allison trades guitar licks with Walker plus sings a line or two as well. Walker also plays guitar on Big Mama Thornton's terrific "Ball and Chain." After Big Joe Williams' propulsive delta blues "Juanita," Sam Lay does a solid "Key To The Highway," with Luther Tucker on guitar and Jeff Carp on harmonica.
Lay's band also backs Lightnin' Hopkins who complains about folks at the Festival messing around with mojos before launching into a rollicking "Mojo Hand." While titled "Off the Wall," James Cotton's energizing instrumental is the same song he recorded as "The Creeper," It displays his fabulous harmonica and showmanship. Son House's "Death Letter" is the closing performance. I believe Freddie King may have closed the Festival, but one wonders how anyone (even King) could follow the baring of the soul in Son's riveting performance.
John Fishel recollects in the book, "Shortly after the Festival, I started college at the University of Miami. As luck would have it, James Cotton came to town a few months later for a performance, and I was assigned to interview him for the local underground newspaper. I asked him what he thought about what had happened in Ann Arbor: 'Oh man, I think that's the best festival I ever went to in my life! Everybody was just ready for it." After 50 years, I can still say that's the case for me. I hope you're ready for it too and that these performances prove as revelatory today, inspiring a new generation of blues listeners, musicians, scholars, and fans. That's the legacy of the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival." That legacy is handsomely documented here.
I mentioned there is an accompanying book and the packaging includes many photos, an appreciation of the Festival and the story of the Festival, performer biographies with suggested further listening, and information on the artists and their accompanying musicians. One would be hard-pressed to think of a more significant historical blues release than this one. Get a copy for yourself and then get another as a gift for the blues lover in your holiday gift list.
I received a download to review from a publicist. This historic package is being released today, the 50th Anniversary of the Ann Arbor Blues Festival. For more information visit https://thirdmanstore.com/records. Here is a promo video for this package.
Todd Mouton
Way Down in Louisiana: Clifton Chenier, Cajun, Zydeco and Swamp Pop Music
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Just released is Todd Mouton's excellent new book on Louisiana Music "Way Down in Louisiana." The book is centered on the great Clifton Chenier, but in addition to Mouton's biography of the great zydeco legend, he weaves in portraits on a number of Louisiana acts including Chenier alumni Buckwheat Zydeco, Sonny Landreth, and Lil, Buck Sinegal along with other acts, many who have been touched in some way by Chenier's influence including Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet, Filé, Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys; Zachary Richard, Couteau, Lil Band O' Gold, Bonsoir Catin, and Roddie Romero & the Hub City All-Stars. Many of the portraits appear to have been previously published (likely in "OffBeat"), but have been updated from original publication. It is the four chapters devoted to Chenier that make this book essential as Mouton traces his life and his music's evolution along with his many extensive recordings with recollections of Buckwheat Zydeco, Chris Strachwitz, Lil Buck, Landreth, son C.J. Chenier, the late John Hart and others helping flesh out this gentleman who saxophonist and visual artist Dickie Landry recalled first hearing Chenier and thinking it "sounded like surf music from Jupiter." In addition to Mouton's narrative, this book is wonderfully illustrated with photos (many rare) and album covers and includes recommended listening for each chapter. Anybody who has listened to Chenier's music or some of the artists will love this book.
Released at the same time as this volume is a documentary DVD produced by Carl Colby, "Clifton
Chenier" (The Phoenix Learning Group) that captures Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band at a dance in Louisiana in the mid-1970s. This video captures Chenier, brother Cleveland with arguably his best that included Lil Buck, Buckwheat Zydeco on keyboards and the great John Hart on saxophone. Mixed in with performances from a dance at The Kingfish in Baton Rouge is video from a performance from Jay's Lounge and Cockpit in Cankton, Louisiana, and a brief clip showing a cock fight (some cajun and zydeco lounges at the time also had a cock pit). This may be unsettling but fortunately brief and the bulk of the video is nothing but some of the best Chenier on video this writer has seen with one of the greatest roots music bands of all time doing 15 numbers including some of his most famous numbers such as "Bon Ton Roulet," "Party Down," "Calinda," "Zydeco Est Pas Salé," and "Black Gal," along with covers of Fats Domino's "Hello Josephine and a stone cold rendition of Lowell Fulson's "Black Nights." This is modestly packaged, but the performance is spellbinding and gives a sense of why Chenier was (and still is) so loved. And the magnificent tenor sax of Blind John Hart is such a bonus.
I was a supporter of the Kickstarter campaign to help get the book published and received the DVD in addition as a premium. Information on this book and the DVD is available on the website, http://waydowninlouisiana.com/. The DVD cover on the website differs from the one I received (the cover above). Not only is there links to buy the book and DVD, but there is a free downloadable sample and a performance from the DVD which I have also included below.
This is my blues column from the December 1976 Buffalo Jazz Report which
had Dexter Gordon on the cover to promote his appearance at the
Tralfamadore Cafe in November. As I noted the first 58 issues of Buffalo Jazz Report (now Jazz & Blues Report) have been digitized and can be downloaded from the University of Buffalo Library system. The website for these archived issues is: http://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/BuffJazz.
Clifton Chenier is the undisputed master of zydeco music,
a hybrid form which mixes the· cajun music of the French
speaking population of Southwest Louisiana with blues. His
latest album on Arhoolie, Bogalusa Boogie (1076), is his
seventh for the label. It is as usual a thoroughly ingratiating
set as Clifton's mastery of the accordion, his warm good-humored vocals (most of which are in cajun French) and a
tight band, which features his brother Cleveland ori rubboard
and 'the honking r'n'b tenor saxophone of John Hart, brew a
musical gumbo that is one of his best sets. Highlights include Je Me Reveiller Ce Matin, a French version of B.B. King's Woke Up This Morning,
with Clifton's accordian playing King's guitar part, One Step
at a Time, where Clifton adds Jimmy Reedish harmonica and
the stomping instrumental Ride 'Em Cowboy. Clifton is about
to have a double album set released on Utopia and I can't wait
for it. One warning about this music - exposure to Clifton's
good time music can be addicting and his output for Arhoolie is uniformly high though this set is especially fine.
Arhoolie is one of the finest labels of blues and folk music.
J.C. Burris' One of These Mornings (1075) features the bluesy
vocals and harmonica of Sonny Terry's nephew whose music
is the dominant influence. This is a warm set which includes
a couple of pieces where J.C. plays the bones. A highlight on
this album, which was recorded live, is Inflation Blues. J.C. is unaccompanied.
Blues Classics is subsidiary of Arhoolie and has a catalog of excellent reissues. The latest release When Women Sang
the Blues is a valuable reissue of women singing down-home,
or rural, blues, as opposed to the vaudevile blues of Bessie
Smith, Ida Cox and others. Excellent performances by Lillian
Glenn: Chippie Hill (with excellent accompaniment from Georgia
Tom Dorsey and Tampa Red), Memphis Minnie and Willie B.
Huff are included. There are also two excellent collections of
Memphis Minnie on the Blues Classics.
Nighthawk Records is a new label that apparently will be
specializing in reissues of rare postwar blues records. Their initial release of four albums are of a uniformly high standard and produce many cases of the rural flavor city blues so popular among enthusiasts. As they all are fine releases, I will simply describe their contents and mention some of the performers heard. Windy City Blues: The Transistion (101) features one side of pre-World War 2 recordings including Pinetop Sparks' Everyday I Have The Blues (the first recording of the song) Washboard Sam, Sonny Boy Williamson
and Robert Jr. Lockwood. The second side includes Lockwood, Tampa Red, and Tony Hollins in post-war recordings.
Chicago Slickers: 1948-1953 (102) features more classic
Chicago postwar blues including Johnny Shines' classic Ramblin', and rare performances by Little Walter, Floyd Jones
and Homesick James among others. These two Chicago antho-logies nicely complement Chicago Blues, The Early 50s (Blues
Classics BC 8) and On the Road Again (Muskadine 100), two classic anthologies of Chicago Blues. Lowdown Memphis Harmonica Jam (103) features Hot Shot Love's wild Harmonica Jam, six tunes by the great one-man
band Joe Hill Louis, Walter Horton and Willie Nix (with a young
James Cotton) that boogie up a storm. Detroit Ghetto Blues
(104) includes Louisiana Red (as Playboy Fuller and Rocky
Fuller). Baby Boy Warren (whose Hello Stranger is a remake
of Sonny Boy Williamson 1's Mattie Mae and has Sonny Boy
2 on harmonica) Walter Mitchell, L. C. Green and other generally obscure names in a set of blues that reflects the influence
of Sonny Boy 1 in the reworking of his songs, and in the various
harmonica players who appear on these sides. Albums on the
Blues Classics label incidentally complement these issues also.
The English Ace label has just issued one of a series of anthologies of recordings from legendary Louisiana record producers J.D. Miller and Eddie Shuler, Bluesin' By The Bayou. Half of the 28 selections previously were not released and the remainder were issued on small Louisiana labels like Rocko, Zynn, and Folk Star as well as Flyright LPs from the 1970s.
There is a fair amount of what is now known as "Swamp Blues" along with several selections of zydeco. The performers range from the more famous swamp blues performers such as Slim Harpo, Lightnin' Slim, Lazy Lester, Lonesome Sundown, Silas Hogan and Whispering Smith as well as zydeco legends Clifton Chenier and Boozoo Chavis to obscure artists such as lies Boy Dorsey, Thaddeus Declouret, Talbot Miller and Joe Rich.
There are some exception blues here including Lightnin' Slim's doomy, Stranger In Your Town, Lazy Lester's moody Late in The Evening, Silas Hogan's Sitting Here Wondering Jimmy Anderson's channelling of Jimmy Reed on I Want You, I Need You. There is an alternate of Slim Harpo's Excello recording That's Alright, as well as Clifton Chenier's Worried Life Blues, with somewhat chaotic backing.
As usual with Ace reissues there are copious liner notes in the wonderfully illustrated accompanying booklet, with an overview and comments on the various performances by Ian Saddler. It does have one incredible gaffe in the comments. He mentions that he thought that Big Fat Woman was previously unissued gem by Lightnin' Slim, but in fact had been issued on a Flyright vinyl LP as I'm Him. One minor point is that the vocal is clearly not that of Lightnin' Slim as it bears no relate ship to the voice on the two other tracks credited to him. Probably the singer on this tracks was Schoolboy Cleve.
The music on Bluesin' By The Bayou is at never less entertaining and there are, as indicated above, a number of exceptional examples of swamp blues that is readily recommended to anyone who loves fifties and sixties, southern down-home blues.
Rhino has issued Zydeco Dynamite, The Clifton Chenier Anthology, which is a two compact disc, 40 track retrospective of Clifton Chenier’s recording career (thirty two tracks on two cassettes). Compiler Greg Durst observes, “If these scorchers don’t make you move like an alligator in a pond of hot sauce, you’d better consult a physician,...…Clifton Chenier will always be the one who makes the Bon Ton Roulet.”
And the good times sure roll on here from Louisiana Stomp, Clifton’s first record for the Elko label, through some of his Specialty recordings that rocked almost as hard as the hottest Little Richard numbers (although Clifton was more down in the alley, and less flamboyant), his lengthy association with Arhoolie Records (from which about half of the recordings are derived), to rarities made for a variety of labels including I’m a Zydeco Man, the title track of his Grammy Award winning album.
One cannot underestimate the importance of Clifton Chenier. He is to zydeco what Bill Monroe is to bluegrass. His french recasting of blues, and rock and roll songs, mixed with adaptations of cajun and creole themes, made the language barrier less imposing. Like Fats Domino, his creole accent, and the total sincerity manifest in his vocals, gave his songs a certain irresistible appeal for those exposed to them. He was a first rate blues singer as well as a person that could get the house rocking for a marathon zydeco live dance.
The compilation opens with a good helping of his rare recordings for Specialty, Chess (the Argo and Checker subsidiaries) and Zynn (one of Jay Miller’s labels), and with the exception of Eh Petite Fille, many of these early recordings are hot rock and roll songs not far removed from the recordings of Fats Domino and Little Richard. Ay Ai Ai is the first of the many Arhoolie recordings represented. Others include Bon Ton Roulet (his French reworking of Louis Jordan’s Let the Good Times Roll), I Am Coming Home, an adaptation of a Charles Brown recording that was Clifton’s favorite recording, the hot live Zydeco Cha Cha where brother Cleveland and drummer Robert St. Judy take a somewhat irresistible percussion break, and I’m on the Wonder, from a session with Elvin Bishop.
Bogalusa Boogie, which many consider Clifton’s finest album, is represented by four selections. One thing that set these recordings apart is the saxophone of John Hart, probably the greatest blues saxophonist since J.T. Brown. Hart is also present from on a number of other selections including Easy, Easy, Baby from an album that also included Stanley Dural (Buckwheat Zydeco) on keyboards and several selections albums on Floyd Soileau’s Maison de Soul label including Hot Tamale Baby.
There is a wealth of material here although there are some gems that were omitted like You Used to Call Me, a bluesy waltz, Ma Negresse, with uncle Morris Chenier contributing alley fiddle, and the country blues flavor of Black Snake Blues. With compiler Durst’s cogent discussion of the man and his music, this is a fine reissue.
For those wanting more Clifton Chenier, Arhoolie has issued Clifton Sings the Blues. It includes 12 recordings that Roy Ames produced in 1969 that have appeared on several labels including Prophesy, Home Cooking and Arhoolie, along with seven cuts from the album Clifton Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band, an album with John Hart and Stanley ‘Buckwheat ‘ Dural. Easy Easy Baby appears to be the only duplication with the Rhino collection. Other songs include Ain’t No Need of Crying, a song Clifton sang in French on Arhoolie as Louisiana Blues; a rocking version of Fats Domino’s Rosemary; Be My Chauffeur which is derived from Memphis Minnie; the standard Trouble in Mind; Worried Life Blues, and a rocking version of Boozoo Chavis’ Paper in My Shoe. Outstanding cuts from The Red Hot Louisiana Band include Hungry Man Blues, which uses the Hootchie Kootchie Man melody, and Grand Prix, a wonderful bilingual tune with Clifton’s lament about the price he paid for loving his woman.
By all means get the Rhino, but don’t stop there. Clifton was one of the true greats of the blues, not simply zydeco, and even with 40 cuts, Rhino merely skims the surface of his musical legacy. With his music, the good times continue to roll.
This review originally appeared in the July/August 1993 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 183) and I have made some stylistic edits. I likely received review copies from the record label or a publicist. Both are available as used (with the Rhino apparently being easier to find). The Arhoolie is also available as digital downloads. Here is the King of Zydeco singing I'm A Hog for You.
While some of today’s zydeco sounds not far removed from hip hop and rap, it is a joy to find artists who music is still inspired and shaped by the creole music’s roots and traditions. Not to say that they simply recreate old recordings, but rather they bring their youth and passion to the more traditionally oriented songs perhaps, but they play with a zest that makes the music sound as fresh as any ‘contemporary’ zydeco.
One such artist is Jeffery Broussard, whose late father Delton led the Lawtell Playboys. Broussard and his band, The Creole Cowboys, have a terrific new release on Maison de Soul, Return of the Creole, that reaches back into zydeco roots for a throughly entertaining and lively recording. Broussard is quite an accordion player, playing the button or diatonic accordion while supported a solid backing band that includes Classie Ballou Jr. on bass.
The recording has quite a varied repertoire with interpretations of songs associated with Clifton Chenier and Boozoo Chavis, cajun classics and originals including one instrumental on which he plays fiddle. The set opens with a nice take on a Clifton Chenier waltz, Tante Nana, taken at a nice tempo and sung wonderfully. It is followed by a spicy rendition of Allons a Lafayette, with a solid creole rhythm replacing a cajun band’s less syncopated attack. Baton Rouge bluesman, Tabby Thomas is the source of the bluesy zydeco shuffle I Love Big Fat Women, as he celebrates the meat shaking on their bones.
The title track is an instrumental old-style waltz that morphs into a hot two-step whose melody evokes Clifton Chenier’s Zydeco Cha Cha. Another original, the mid-tempo lament, Tu Connaitre Ça Fait Mal (Oh You Know It Hurt), follows after which a lovely instrumental Pinky’s Heavenly Waltz, follows with some nice guitar from Scott Ardoin. A lively Boozoo Chavis rocker Prier Pour Moi (Pray For Me), is followed by a feature for Broussard’s old-fashioned sounding zydeco fiddle on Canray Fontenot’s Old Carpenter’s Waltz.
Madeleine is a lively updating of Adam Hebert’s cajun recording and followed by covers of Boozoo Chavis and Buckwheat Zydeco (Hard to Stop is a nice rocker) before his driving original, Ole Blue, an adaptation of Nathan Abshire’s Pinegrove Blues. The disc closes on a bluesy note as he provides a strong zydeco twist on Sam Cooke’s Bring it On Home to Me. It is a solid end of the 15 strong performances contained here. I don’t believe I have had the pleasure of seeing Jeffery Broussard perform, but this is a terrific recording to appeal to fans of zydeco everywhere. His website is http://www.jefferybroussard.com/.
This was a purchase. Image of Jeffery Broussard courtesy of his website.
There is a myth that there was very little new blues of note recorded in the 1970s. The fact is labels like Alligator, Delmark and Blind Pig produced fine albums, and labels like Stax and Jewel produced strong modern urban blues. Also, there were a number of recordings released in Europe, usually by touring American musicians, on labels like Isabel and Black & Blue. Three reissues from Barclay’s Maison de Blues series caught my attention when issued three decades ago, and these new CD releases allow me to replace my worn vinyl LPs.
Memphis Slim & Buddy Guy, Southside Reunion, was recorded when Buddy Guy and Junior Wells were touring Europe in September 1970. This 35 year old session brought together the expatriate Slim with the Buddy Guy-Junior Wells Band for what was a terrific session mixing Slim’s rolling barrelhouse piano, urbane singing and the tough sound Guy and Wells put together with one of the great blues bands of all time. Guy and Wells had Phil Guy on rhythm guitar, Ernest Johnson on bass, A.C. reed and Jim Conley on sax and Roosevelt ‘Snake’ Shaw on drums. When Slim kicks off a duet with Buddy on the opening When Buddy Comes to Town, the music takes off on a cooking shuffle that I doubt Buddy could come close to matching today with his more hard rock approach, and how many modern rhythm sections could handle the shuffle groove or settle in so able behind Slim on Leroy Carr’s classic, How Long Blues? Guy also handles the vocal on You’re the One while Wells ably supports on harp throughout. An alternate take of You’re the One, and Jamming at the Castle are bonus tracks and come across as worthy companions for a really magnificent reissue.
Professor Longhair was at the beginning of his re-emergence as a performer when he recorded the 1974 release Rock’n’Roll Gumbo, which was reissued on George Winston’s Dancing Cat label in 1985 with horns added to the reworking of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The Maison de Blues reissue is musically the same as the Dancing Cat and had Fess pared with Gatemouth Brown on guitar (and fiddle for Jambalaya,) with a rhythm section of Julius Farmer on bass, drummer Sheba Kimbrough, who recently (October 2005) passed away, and Alfred ‘Uganda Roberts on congas. The music is marvelous as the empathy between Brown and Fess is obvious throughout whether on remaking Hey Now Baby and Tipitina or bringing a fresh take to Junco Partner, Ray Charles’ Mess Around, Stag-O-Lee, and Mean Ol’ World. After the mix of funk and blues grooves, the album closes with just Fess at the piano taking care of business on (They Call Me) Dr. Professor Longhair. This is perhaps my favorite Longhair album, and interestingly Rhino took seven songs from this when they did their two-CD Professor Longhair anthology.
The third reissue is Clifton Chenier’s Frenchin’ the Boogie, recorded at a time when Stanley ‘Buckwheat’ Duval was part of the band on keyboards. The Frenchin’ in the title refers to the fact that Chenier sings a number of blues and rhythm and blues classics in Creole French. There are several nods to Louis Jordan, Caledonia, Choo-Choo Ch’Boogie, and Laissez Les Bon Tons Roulet (a retitled Let the Good Times Roll) along with versions of Shake Rattle and Roll and Going Down Slow mixed with a waltz. Chenier was in peak form for this 1976 session, singing ebulliently and soulfully, putting as much soul in his piano accordion as Jimmy Smith on the organ and the Red Hot Louisiana Band rocking as hard as any band ever did. Like the other two releases, this is spectacular stuff.
The above was a relatively recent (March-April 2006) review from Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 280) of some reissues of blues recordings from Europe. They are still available (although perhaps easier to get as downloads than hard physical copies). I likely received review copies from Jazz & Blues Report.
If you are looking for a holiday present for the blues and/or zydeco fan, then the superb, Texas Zydeco is a book that should be considered. It combines authoritative writing with some beautiful photography.
Texas Zydeco by Roger Wood & James Fraher (photographer) University of Texas 2006
Zydeco music is usually associated with Louisiana, but historically Texas, and especially the city of Houston has been central to the growth and development of the idiom from the more traditional la la music of the creole population that is concentrated in southwestern Louisiana and neighboring portions of Texas that include House. The place of Texas in the rise and evolution of zydeco is the subject of Texas Zydeco, the latest collaboration between writer Roger Woof and photographer James Fraher, who previously collaborated in Down in Houston: Blues in Bayou City, the superb book on Houston’s blues scene.
Like the previous volume on Houston Blues, Wood does more than simply provide sketches of the history of the music. He takes us into the world of the zydeco as his first chapter introduces us to the various venues for zydeco and the audience and musicians there ranging from the clubs and church dances to the all day festivals at a rodeo arena. The history of the music as it was transformed from la la to zydeco and some of the pioneering figures and recordings are presented and the fact that some of the recordings were made in Houston including a rare Lightnin’ Hopkins recording on organ, Zologo. Folklorist Mack McCormick was responsible for the spelling of zydeco, but it was not until a Clifton Chenier recording used that spelling, that this spelling received the credibility until it became the established way to spell the term
A chapter is devoted to Chenier and his influence. Chenier’s mix of traditional creole music with rhythm and blues as well as his use of the piano accordion led to the emergence of zydeco as a musical genre and through interviews with some of Clifton’s contemporaries as well as some of the musicians who played with him, including his son C.J, and guitarists Philip Walker and Sherman Washington who recall their experiences with Clifton and how he was a mentor to them which they recognize even today the value of his lessons for them. Clifton was a remarkable person. Chenier invented the frottoir (rubboard) which replaced the washboards that had been used previously, having the first frottoirs fabricated and Wood spends some pages with the individuals that crafted these instruments for use.
Another chapter discusses some of the post-Chenier performers in the world of Texas zydeco, noting that many, but not all, have adopted the button accordion as opposed to the chromatic piano accordion, and provides an overview of these new breed performers including Corey Ledet, Dora and the Zydeco Bad Boyz, J. Paul and Skip Riteau, and in showing their individual maturation as artists how Texas remains a fertile ground for zydeco to continue to evolve.
James Fraher, certainly one of the most outstanding blues photographers alive, contributes some stunning photography. It is unfortunate that Wood and Fraher did not include some actual photographs of Chenier and other masters that Fraher never was able to document, as a photograph of a old Zodico poster for Chenier is not quite the same thing. But this is only a quibble as this book brings the world of zydeco, not simply reciting the lives of major figures, and joins Down in Houston as an important and engrossing book on African-American vernacular music traditions.
This review originally appeared in the November/December 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (issue 288). I likely received a review copy from the publisher.
One of the sons of the late Rocking Dopsie (Alton Rubin), Dwayne ‘Dopsie’ Rubin is one of several sons that followed their legendary father into zydeco music and has in the years since his father’s passing has established himself as one of zydeco’s relative young guns. This writer had the pleasure of seeing him at a Blues Festival some years ago in Maryland and was impressed then. He has continued to grow and stylistically his brand of zydeco strikes this listener as more in the vein of Clifton Chenier, Buckwheat Zydeco and Nathan Williams with his heavy rocking blues and R&B styled sound in contrast to the music of the late Beau Jocque or Boozoo Chavis with more focus on vamping on a chord or two, although numbers like “Better Go Get It” on his new Sounds of New Orleans release “Up in Flames,” show he and his band hit a groove and really rock it hard.
Ben Sandmel, in his liner notes, compares Dopsie’s singing to Howlin’ Wolf as well as Beau Jocque. there is a raspiness in his voice that evokes their vocal styles, but Dopsie is a striking singer on his own. His band consists of Alex McDonald on rubboard; Shelton Sonnier; Dion Pierre on bass on bass; Calvin Sam on drums; and Carl Landry on saxophone and with Dopsie’s strong accordion and vocals, they kick butt. Rhythmically they are tight and in addition to Dopsie’s accordion playing, saxophonist may be as good as sax player in an zydeco band I have heard since Blind John Hart was with Clifton Chenier and Rockin’ Dopsie.
“Up in Flames” has a wonderfully diverse set of tunes starting with the opening “I’m Gonna Walk,” with its hint of “Don’t Mess With My Tu Tu.” It is followed by another hard rocking number, “Feel So Good,” whose melody is similar to the classic R&B number “You Can’t Sit Down.” On “I’m a Fool For You,” the band comes off like the Red Hot Louisiana Band on a blues that conjures up classic Clifton Chenier from three decades ago. This is simply great stuff and continues with the hot “Don’t Listen,” taken at an fiery tempo, yet the band is so tight and the performances don’t become frenzied and uncontrolled. “Back in the Woods,” is a more traditionally oriented zydeco number akin to Clifton doing “Zydeco De Pas Sale” with just his brother and drummer.
These recordings certainly make this writer wish he would have the opportunity to see Dwayne Dopsie again. I will miss him at jazzFest this year (he plays the first weekend, then will be in Europe the next weekend). This is available from his website http://www.dwaynedopsie.com. He has some CDs available on cdbaby.com, but this one is not available. It should be available from the Louisiana Music Factory. Dwayen Dopsie has a regular French Quarter gig and you can check his performance schedule on his website.
For those (including the FTC) who care about such things, i purchased this recording.
There was Ann Arbor Blues Festival. Musically, it was an event the likes of which we will never see again. Here is a story from an Ann Arbor paper recalling this event, the likes of which we will never see today. This is the one festival I wish I had been at. Make sure you read the comments because that is where the line-up is given. And one can think of other great acts that were not at this festival that could have been there as well. The two Ann Arbor Blues Festivals was the high point of blues festivals. A decade later and some of these pioneers were no longer with us. A few that played in Ann Arbor are still alive, but alas we will never see such great blues again.
Posts
