Clifton Chenier Bayou Blues (1970)

Clifton Chenier was to zydeco what Elvis Presley was to rockabilly, only more so - the genre's founding father and tireless ambassador. Rhino has done an admirable job of collecting the accordionist's important work for this two-disc, 40-track set, harking back to a wonderfully chaotic "Louisiana Stomp" that he waxed in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1954 for J.R. Fullbright's tiny Elko label. Whether you're in the market for one zydeco collection to summarize the entire genre or ready to delve deeply into the legacy of the idiom's pioneer, this is precisely where to begin.

Thanks to the Arhoolie label, fans of zydeco legend Clifton Chenier have another chance to hear Clifton Sings the Blues. Recorded in Houston on April 1, 1969 (tracks 1-12), Chenier's accordion and vocal prowess were more relaxed on these tracks than most zydeco fans would expect. The set features sturdy assistance from Cleveland Chenier, Clifton's brother, on rub-board, drummer Robert Peter, bassist Joe Morris, and guitarist Cleveland Keyes, and Chenier's love of laid-back Texas blues is evident on tracks like "Ain't No Need of Cryin' (Every Day Is the Same)," "Brown Skinned Woman," and "Trouble in Mind." While the pace of these tunes flows between slow to midtempo shuffles, the three exceptions, "Rosemary," "Me and My Chauffeur Blues," and "Paper in My Shoe," are first rate uptempo dance tracks.

Thanks to the Arhoolie label, fans of zydeco legend Clifton Chenier have another chance to hear Clifton Sings the Blues. Recorded in Houston on April 1, 1969 (tracks 1-12), Chenier's accordion and vocal prowess were more relaxed on these tracks than most zydeco fans would expect. The set features sturdy assistance from Cleveland Chenier, Clifton's brother, on rub-board, drummer Robert Peter, bassist Joe Morris, and guitarist Cleveland Keyes, and Chenier's love of laid-back Texas blues is evident on tracks like "Ain't No Need of Cryin' (Every Day Is the Same)," "Brown Skinned Woman," and "Trouble in Mind." While the pace of these tunes flows between slow to midtempo shuffles, the three exceptions, "Rosemary," "Me and My Chauffeur Blues," and "Paper in My Shoe," are first rate uptempo dance tracks.

A relatively standard release from Clifton Chenier, the then reigning king of zydeco. The music bumps and grooves in all the ways it's supposed to. One of the songs dates the album a bit ("Zydeco Disco"), but aside from that one, the rest of the album is pretty much straightforward zydeco and blues. In spots it delves a little into jazz, but only in spots. In and of itself, delving into jazz wouldn't be such a bad thing, but this band's form of the genre tends to be a bit sloppy. When it comes to zydeco, there's no stopping them, but elsewhere they're more stoppable.

The origins of zydeco are traceable to one man: Clifton Chenier, who started blending Cajun music with blues and R&B back in the '50s. He recorded for the Arhoolie label over a nearly 30-year span, and The Best of Clifton Chenier is (yet another) collection of his music culled from his Arhoolie sides.
People familiar with the sound of contemporary zydeco may be surprised at how prevalent the blues influences are on some of these tunes. Tracks like "Brown Skin Woman," "It's Hard," and "Why Did You Go Last Night" are quite bluesy, while "Ay, Ai, Ai" sounds like what is called zydeco today (and it's the oldest cut on the set)…

The origins of zydeco are traceable to one man: Clifton Chenier, who started blending Cajun music with blues and R&B back in the '50s. He recorded for the Arhoolie label over a nearly 30-year span, and The Best of Clifton Chenier is (yet another) collection of his music culled from his Arhoolie sides.
People familiar with the sound of contemporary zydeco may be surprised at how prevalent the blues influences are on some of these tunes. Tracks like "Brown Skin Woman," "It's Hard," and "Why Did You Go Last Night" are quite bluesy, while "Ay, Ai, Ai" sounds like what is called zydeco today (and it's the oldest cut on the set)…

Tab Benoit's funky, ragged blend of Louisiana swamp blues and East Texas guitar, with hints of funk, soul, and country thrown in to give the gumbo just the right spice, has served him well since he burst on the scene in the early '90s. Since Benoit hasn't essentially changed his sound since, this collection of sides made up largely from his early releases for Houston-based Justice Records (all of Benoit's Justice albums have been reissued by Vanguard Records in recent years) makes an ideal introduction to what this guy is all about, and although Best of the Bayou Blues covers a five-year span from 1992 to 1997, the tracks all fall together in a completely coherent sequence. Opening with the Benoit original "Voodoo on the Bayou" from 1992's Nice & Warm and running through several originals and some interesting covers (including country-funk takes on Hank Williams' "Jambalaya" and Willie Nelson's "Rainy Day Blues"), this set spotlights Benoit's southern Louisiana take on contemporary blues.

Canned Heat - Future Blues (1970) {Iconoclassic Records ICON1046 rel 2016}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 306 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 119 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 113 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1970, 2016 Iconoclassic Records / Capitol / Universal | ICON 1046
Rock / Blues Rock / Boogie Rock / Modern Electric Blues

The final Canned Heat album to feature co-founder Alan Wilson, Future Blues was also one of their best, surprisingly restrained as a studio creation by the band, the whole thing clocking in at under 36 minutes, as long as some single jams on their live discs. It was also one of their most stylistically diverse efforts. Most of what's here is very concise and accessible, even the one group-composed jam – Alan Wilson's "Shake It and Break It" and his prophetically titled "My Time Ain't Long" (he would be dead the year this record was issued), which also sounds a lot like a follow-up to "Going up the Country" until its final, very heavy, and up-close guitar coda.

Rare 1970 album produced by Johnny Otis featuring the stinging guitar of his son Shuggie – with two previously unissued bonus tracks Bluesman Slim Green made very few records in a career that started in 1948 and ended with this LP in 1970. Born Norman G. Green in Bryant, Texas in 1920, he grew up in Oklahoma and played guitar in Las Vegas before settling in Los Angeles in the late 1940s. He made his first records in 1948 for local labels. Listening to them suggests a player full of country influences, updating them for a modern urban audience. He reappeared a decade later in a group called the Cats From Fresno, who made two singles for Johnny Otis’ Dig label, a contact he renewed in the late 60s. Johnny Otis, a pioneer of post-war R&B, had scored hits as a producer and recording artist as well as being a renowned talent-spotter. Having dropped out of sight for much of the 1960s, he returned to the studio in the latter part of the decade and released a series of records for the Kent label, distinguished by the guitar playing of his teenage son Shuggie.