Various Artists - Boppin' by the Bayou

The “Boppin’ By The Bayou” series which will focus on music from the swamps of Louisiana: Cajun, Swamp Pop, Rockabilly and melting pots with French heritage. The music developed fast in the wake of Elvis Presley's success. Small independent record companies sprang up to record this rural music. The most prominent of these new record companies were Goldband and Folk-Star founded by Eddie Shuler, and the Fais-Do-Do and Feature banners of J.D. Miller (the concept of this series has been given added depth by a deal struck with the family of the late J.D. Miller, which allowed to include previously unreleased material). These were joined by the Khoury’s and Lyric labels of George Khoury. They all started out as vehicles for Cajun and hillbilly music but soon added blues and R&B artists to their rosters.

thanks to my blues buddy for sending all these great CD's.

Album: Boppin' by the Bayou
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2012
Styles: R&B;R&R;Rockabilly;Early Pop
Time: 65:08
Size: 150,9 MB
Covers: Full (16 page booklet)

(2:12) 1. Tommy Todd - Tag Along
(2:02) 2. Al Ferrier - Kiss Me Baby
(2:03) 3. Johnny Jano - She's Mine
(2:17) 4. Rod Bernard & the Twisters - Linda Gail
(2:45) 5. Gil Giroy - Laura Lee
(1:51) 6. Jivin' Gene - My Need for Love
(2:12) 7. Blue Notes - Watch My Smoke
(2:10) 8. Bonnie Fussell & Jives - Too High Class
(2:21) 9. Al Ferrier - Indian Rock 'N' Roll
(1:57) 10. Hunter Watts & His Southern Pals - Wild Man Rock
(2:49) 11. Lawrence Walker & His Wandering Aces - Keep Your Hands Off It
(1:56) 12. Nathan Abshire & the Pinegrove Boys - That's All Right Mama
(2:55) 13. Neches Valley Boys - Feel So Good
(2:41) 14. Arnold Broussard - Some Other Time
(2:04) 15. Ronnie Bennett - Just You Wait and See
(2:33) 16. Rod Bernard & the Twisters - All Night in Jail
(2:18) 17. Warren Storm - Kansas City
(2:16) 18. Nathan & the Sparks - Don't Say No
(2:11) 19. Tommy Todd - I Got a Great Big Love
(2:19) 20. Long Shots - Big Cloud, Pt. 1
(2:16) 21. Rocket Morgan - Release Me
(2:04) 22. Rusty a Doug - Rattlesnake
(3:10) 23. Johnny Jano - I'd Made a Good Man for You
(1:31) 24. Jivin' Gene - I'm in Love with You
(2:34) 25. Rod Bernard & the Twisters - Little Bitty Mama
(2:23) 26. Tommy Todd - I'll Be There
(2:56) 27. The Playboys - Boogie Children/Walking with Frankie
(2:12) 28. Rocket Morgan - Tag Along

The Cajun people of the plains and swamps of South Louisiana are steeped in music with a raw edge. Prior to World War II the music of the bayous was Cajun, but the war changed a lot. The thousands of Cajun men who served, many of them musicians, were exposed to other music forms; the influences – most notably blues and rhythm, as it was then called, and hillbilly – crept into their songs. As the 1940s progressed into the 50s, small independent record sprang up to record this rural music, which was largely being ignored by major labels. Local radio stations started to play it and the jukebox became a major entertainment in bars and diners. Dance music had always been the backbone of the Cajun way of life. As traditional bands added heavier rhythms, string basses and drums, their tunes became all the more exciting. The music produced here, whether categorised as rockabilly, swamp pop or Cajun bop, has an added element in coming from this area. Rock’n’roll was already an amalgam of earlier styles; the Louisiana melting pot added its own spice to the gumbo.

Pop music changed forever after Elvis Presley emerged as a huge star in the 1950s, and rock & roll suddenly found itself on the map as a vibrant and commercially viable music style. Already a blend of blues, country, jump blues, and R&B, rock & roll took on even more spice in the state of Louisiana, which naturally tossed in a distinctive bayou flavor. This set collects rare '50s rock & roll sides from several Louisiana labels, including the Zynn, Rocko, Flyright, Jin, Hilton, Hammond, Swallow, Speedy, Goldband, and Jewel imprints, among others, along with several distinctive Jay D. Miller productions, many of which appear on disc here for the first time. -- Allmusic.

Boppin' by the Bayou
Boppin' by the Bayou artwork

---

Album: Boppin' by the Bayou Again
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2013
Styles: R&B;R&R;Rockabilly;Early Pop
Time: 64:03
Size: 148,6 MB
Covers: Full (16 page booklet)

(2:15) 1 Rocket Morgan - You're Humbuggin' Me
(2:09) 2 Pee Wee Trahan - Bop and Rock Tonight
(2:17) 3 Orange Playboys, The/Perry LaPointe - B.O. Rock
(2:17) 4 Vince Anthony - Too Hot to Handle
(2:20) 5 Gene Terry - Fine Fine Fine
(2:02) 6 Mickey Gilley - I Ain't Goin' Home
(2:17) 7 Milton Allen - Loving Hugging Kissing My Baby
(2:14) 8 Jay Chevalier & the Long Shots/Jay Chevalier - Big Cloud, Pt. 2
(2:13) 9 Jim Oertling & the Bayou Boys/Jim Oertling - Old Moss Back
(2:21) 10 Cajun Joe - Going Back to Cocodrille
(2:27) 11 Al Ferrier - Honey Baby [Slow Version]
(2:00) 12 Pee Wee Trahan - I'm Gonna Learn
(2:02) 13 Tony Perreau - Kissin' Kin
(2:48) 14 Kings of Swing, The/J.C. Politz - Crazy Feeling
(2:28) 15 Jay Chevalier - Billy Cannon
(2:39) 16 Glen Owens - Got a Right to Cry
(2:10) 17 Teen Hearts - Arelia
(2:09) 18 Johnny Jano - Rock and Roll Baby
(2:48) 19 Rusty Kershaw - Carry On
(2:39) 20 Bert Bradley & His Louisiana Cajuns - The Girl in the Tight Blue Jeans
(2:16) 21 Al Ferrier - Send Her Back
(2:09) 22 Rod Bernard - Pardon Mr. Gordon
(2:19) 23 Warren Storm - Oh Nell
(2:08) 24 Jim Oertling - Back Forty
(2:11) 25 Jay Chevalier - Castro Rock
(2:10) 26 Johnny Jano - Rock-A-Me Lulu
(1:44) 27 Wiley Jeffers - She's Coming Back Again
(2:16) 28 Robert Owens/Robert Owens - Whose Baby Are You

A second volume (28 tracks, 12 of which are previously unissued) of the gumbo that was South Louisiana’s take on rock’n’roll in the 50s and early 60s, the spicy mix of rockabilly and Southern rockers, heavily influenced by the sounds of R&B wafting from New Orleans and a lifetime of Cajun music. Most of these artists are Cajun born and bred. They grew up in the world where live music was a release from a tough existence: fishing, farming or toiling in the oil fields. Hence Cajun music was split almost entirely into two genres: raucous good-time dance music or the sentimental, almost wrist-slitting ballads of broken hearts. The advent of rock’n’roll put a modern twist to these themes; the uptempo rockers had the teenagers a-hoppin’ and a-boppin’ and the songs of shattered love were often the basis of swamp pop.

Ace's second collection of swinging rockabilly and Cajun rock & roll from the depths of southern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, Boppin' by the Bayou Again maintains the high standards of its 2012 predecessor. A good chunk of these 28 songs is unreleased -- 12 songs, to be precise, all coming from the vaults of J.D. Miller and Eddie Shuler -- and the rest popped up on such regional imprints as Crazy Cajun, Hilton, Zynn, Hammond, Goldband, and Pel. Apart from Rusty Kershaw and Mickey Gilley (and perhaps Al Ferrier), there are no big names here (some performers remain a mystery to history), nor were any of these songs subjected to popularity through latter-day covers, either. This music was about a specific moment -- specifically, the music made in the wake of Elvis Presley and before the British Invasion -- and the songs live in that specific moment, still capturing that backwoods hillbilly boogie and swing. With their reverb twang still echoing, these sides still sound alive and jumping. Much of this rock & roll and hyper-kinetic Cajun music wound up morphing into stomping swamp pop a few years down the line, and what's appealing about the music on Boppin' by the Bayou Again is its primitive nature. These cats still had one foot in the Cajun woods but were enraptured by rock & roll, and there's a joy to be had hearing the joy they have making noise. -- Allmusic.

Boppin' by the Bayou Again
Boppin' by the Bayou Again artwork

---

Album: Boppin' by the Bayou More Dynamite
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2013
Styles: R&B;R&R;Rockabilly;Early Pop
Time: 64:12
Size: 148,6 MB
Covers: Full (16 page booklet)

(2:18) 1 Peto Marlow & the Rhythm Kings - Rock and Roll Beat
(2:20) 2 Wiley Jeffers - My Love Is True aka My Love Is Just for You
(3:03) 3 Ken Lindsay/Ken Lindsey - Crazy Dreams
(2:08) 4 Vince Anthony & the Blue Notes - Clarabel
(2:04) 5 Bobby Charles - Teenagers
(2:16) 6 Gene Terry & The Downbeats - Cinderella Cinderella
(2:10) 7 Jay Richards - Wiggle Rock
(2:21) 8 Rocket Morgan - Gonna Walk Back Home aka Walkin' Home
(1:43) 9 Johnny Jano - Oh Baby, Where Can My Baby Be
(2:40) 10 Pee Wee Trahan - Store Bought Mama
(2:02) 11 Burnell Martin - Burnell's Boogie
(2:29) 12 Merton Thibodeaux - Big Basile
(2:20) 13 Joe Bonsall/Joe Bonsall - Linda Lee (What You Do to Me)
(2:38) 14 Pee Wee Trahan - I'm a Mojo Man
(1:40) 15 Rick Johnson/Rick Johnson - Eenie Meenie Minie Mo
(2:34) 16 Rocket Morgan - Sweet Love on My Mind/Baby, Let's Play House
(1:45) 17 Dayward Penny - I'm Coming Home
(2:20) 18 Jim Oertling - Louisiana Gambler
(2:09) 19 Tommy Strange - Nervous and Shakin' All Over
(2:28) 20 Doug Charles & the Boogie Kings/Skip Morris - Talk to Your Daughter
(2:08) 21 Warren Storm - Come Back to Me Baby
(1:54) 22 Warren Storm - I'm in Orbit
(2:34) 23 Johnny Jano - You're the Only Girl
(2:15) 24 Al Ferrier - Blues Stop Knockin'
(2:16) 25 Port Arthur Band/Coastaleers, The - Do Baby Do
(2:09) 26 Warren Storm - I'm a Little Boy Looking for Love
(2:10) 27 Johnny Bass - Rockin' and Reelin'
(3:01) 28 Larry Hart - Oh Nellie

Boppin' by the Bayou: More Dynamite, is one of the liveliest of their excavations of the vaults of Louisiana music moguls Eddie Shuler, Charles "Dago" Redlich, J.D. Miller, and Carol Rachou. Once again, this is hardly reliant on recognizable names. There is the New Orleans giant Bobby Charles, rocking & rolling with the previously unreleased "Teenagers," but that's about it. The rest of this is jumping New Orleans R&B and rock & roll recorded during the late '50s and early '60s but sitting unreleased until this 2013 collection. Think Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, anybody associated with Dave Bartholomew and, yes, the sly Charles, and that's the baseline for this collection: cheerful, big-boned swagger accentuated by loose yet precise rhythms and robust vocals. Sometimes, the proceedings swing so hard they get stuck in the murk of the bayou -- there are a few cuts, like Johnny Jano's "Oh Baby, Where Can My Baby Be" that have pure blues power, while Burnell Martin's "Burnell's Boogie" ratchets up the zydeco -- and these keep the album stuck in the bayou, leaving the outright rockabilly lifts by Dayward Penny and Rocket Morgan (as shameless an Elvis imitator as you'll ever hear) as blasts of accent color. But that's the fun of the collection: these are the aftershocks of the first blast of rock & roll, when all manners of bluesman, soul shouters, greasers, and backwood hicks tried their hand at boogie and even if they didn't write a memorable song, they had an appealing sound. -- Allmusic.

Boppin' by the Bayou: More Dynamite
Boppin' by the Bayou: More Dynamite artwork

---

Album: Boppin' by the Bayou Made in the Shade
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Source: LL (from CD)
Released: 2014
Styles: R&B;R&R;Rockabilly;Early Pop
Time: 61:46
Size: 143,3 MB
Covers: Full (16 page booklet)

(1:56) 1 Jivin' Gene & The Jokers - Made in the Shade
(2:16) 2 Gene King & His Mecaton Band - T. V. Show
(2:03) 3 Pee Wee Trahan - Baby Hurry Home
(2:34) 4 Unknown - Can’t Stand This Living Alone
(1:57) 5 Guitar Jeff & The Creoles - Jump and Shout
(2:06) 6 Joe Carl - Too Hot to Handle
(2:30) 7 Jimmy Dart/Jivin' Gene & The Jokers - Please Don’t Doubt My Love
(2:13) 8 Bob Wheeler & His B-Bops/Bobby & The Coastaleers - My Rock and Roll Baby
(2:30) 9 Larry Hart - Freight Train
(1:36) 10 Arnold Broussard - Somebody Knocked at My Door
(2:26) 11 Johnny Bass/Johnny Bass - Don’t Move Too Slow
(2:03) 12 Mickey Gilley - My Baby's Cheatin’ on Me
(2:06) 13 Shelby Martin - This Kind of Livin’
(2:44) 14 Vorris Leblanc/Shorty LeBlanc - Kaw-Liga
(2:11) 15 Gene Rodrigue - Little Cajun Girl
(2:10) 16 Norman Wood - Black Lake Boogie
(2:03) 17 Pee Wee Trahan - Keeping All My Loving
(2:05) 18 Arnold Broussard - Has Anyone Seen Spider?
(2:06) 19 Warren Storm - Hey Ma Ma
(2:18) 20 Peto Marlow & the Rhythm Kings - Girls Girls Girls (Lucy Lucille)
(2:33) 21 Frankie Lowery - Hey Little Girl
(2:24) 22 Rick Johnson - Me and My Baby
(1:53) 23 Unknown - John (Don’t Love Me No More)
(1:56) 24 Erwin Babin - Big Boy Blue
(2:01) 25 Johnny Bass/Johnny Bass - Boppin’ It
(1:46) 26 Jivin' Gene & The Jokers - Because I Love Her
(2:09) 27 Paul Marvin - Cinderella
(2:57) 28 Miller House Band/Warren Storm - Instrumental Jam

Ace continues its deep dive into the vaults of Louisiana independent record labels from the late '50s and early '60s with Boppin' by the Bayou: Made in the Shade," the ninth installment in the label's ever-shifting, ever-evolving By the Bayou series. This one concentrates primarily on rock & roll and high-octane Cajun country, picking highlights from 45s originally released on such imprints as Hitt, Zynn, Rocket, Flyright, Diamond, Goldband, La Louisianne, and Tamm -- a bunch of labels known only to Louisiana mavens, who will also cherish the eight previously unreleased alternate takes here. These aren't the only cuts not released at the time. Some previously excavated sides are scattered throughout -- Larry Hart's "Freight Train" showed up in 1984, Mickey '"My Baby's Cheatin' On My" in 1983, John Bass' "Don't Move Too Slow" in 1981, etc -- but it's not like a single one of these 28 tracks are well-known. The particulars may not be familiar, but the combination of Jerry Lee Lewis boogie, New Orleans funk, and backwoods rockabilly does capture a particular time and place, and these sides illustrate how deep that rock & roll explosion resonated. There aren't any great new discoveries -- many of the artists have popped up on previous By the Bayou installments -- and it'd be hard to argue any of these acts should've had anything more than a regional hit, but their regionalism is what's now appealing about this greasy rock & roll. Buried deep in the Louisiana Bayou were seemingly countless collectives of jumping, rocking Cajuns and hillbillies, pouring so much energy into their performances that the recordings still spark years later. -- Allmusic.

Boppin' by the Bayou: Made in the Shade
Boppin' by the Bayou: Made in the Shade artwork

---