The ninth release in the “…By The Bayou” series brings you some hot rockers from South Louisiana and Southeast Texas, an area where Cajun culture has had a strong influence over its music – and never more so than in the heyday of real rock’n’roll, the 1950s. Rock’n’roll was a hybrid of C&W and R&B right across the USA, but in Cajun country the influences were more specific; the country music was from Texas, the R&B from New Orleans, and into this mix went rockabilly from Memphis via Shreveport and Cajun music. In this exciting compilation you will find all of those influences to varying degrees.
Procol Harum's debut album is amazingly engaging, considering that it was rushed out to capitalize on the hit title track. The material was all already written (before the hit, in fact), but the group recorded the LP in just two days, simply to get a long-player out, and came up with one of the more pleasingly straightforward releases in their history. The range of sounds here is the widest ever heard on one of the group's albums – "A Christmas Camel" isn't that far from the old Paramounts, the group tackling a sound inspired by Bob Dylan (and derived specifically from his "Ballad of a Thin Man"), while "Salad Days" and "Kaleidoscope" are hard-driven psychedelic rockers, stripped down to the basics, with no pretensions.
Long before Booka Shade became one of the most successful international dance music acts of the last 10 years, Arno Kammermeier & Walter Merziger formed a new wave pop band in the early 90s, signed a record deal in 1992 and released 2 albums under the name Planet Claire. GALVANY STREET marks the return to their pop roots in collaboration with former Archive singer Craig Walker and a few additional guests like Urdur (GusGus), Australian Yates and Daniel Spencer from London. "As a singer it's a real pleasure to work with Booka Shade as the music they presented to me was so rich and full of melody. The rhythms and melody are always top level and make the job of writing toplines and lyrics a very enjoyable one. I really love the combination of all our influences - 80's synth pop, 90's Manchester and right up to more current stuff like The Weeknd - it's all in there and it makes for a very interesting sound." (Craig Walker)
Procol Harum's debut album is amazingly engaging, considering that it was rushed out to capitalize on the hit title track. The material was all already written (before the hit, in fact), but the group recorded the LP in just two days, simply to get a long-player out, and came up with one of the more pleasingly straightforward releases in their history. The range of sounds here is the widest ever heard on one of the group's albums – "A Christmas Camel" isn't that far from the old Paramounts, the group tackling a sound inspired by Bob Dylan (and derived specifically from his "Ballad of a Thin Man"), while "Salad Days" and "Kaleidoscope" are hard-driven psychedelic rockers, stripped down to the basics, with no pretensions.
This album was originally released in June 1975 as a precursor to the Stones' 1975 American tour. It covers the choice cut from the bands first four albums of the seventies – Sticky Fingers, Exile On Main St., Goats Head Soup and It's Only Rock 'N' Roll. It has only been available briefly on CD in the mid Eighties and is long sought after by collectors. EMI. 2005. –amazon.com
Alex Bugnon exhibits a high level of creativity and playfulness throughout this work, plenty of suggestive and smooth pieces, but signed with a very personal style. 107 in the shade, for instance, initiates with an exotic melody played in accordion. His French roots are shown in the first two tracks. Elegance and brightness would be the most appropriate terms to describe this notorious CD. Generally more substantial than most of the other albums that smooth jazz stations play, the uneven, erratic 107 in the Shade is far from a gem, but has its moments. Bugnon gets into a pleasant, Joe Sample-ish groove on "Paris and May" and "When I Think About Home," whereas the much too brief "Fly, Spirit, Fly" hints at Pat Metheny. It was obvious that Sample was a major influence on Bugnon, although there were also traces of Ahmad Jamal in his playing.
itiates with an exotic melody played in accordion. His French roots are shown in the first two tracks. Elegance and brightness would be the most appropriate terms to describe this notorious CD. Generally more substantial than most of the other albums that smooth jazz stations play, the uneven, erratic 107 in the Shade is far from a gem, but has its moments. Bugnon gets into a pleasant, Joe Sample-ish groove on "Paris and May" and "When I Think About Home," whereas the much too brief "Fly, Spirit, Fly" hints at Pat Metheny. It was obvious that Sample was a major influence on Bugnon, although there were also traces of Ahmad Jamal in his playing.
Pokey LaFargeʼs 7th studio solo album, In the Blossom of Their Shade, showcases the positivity of coming out of the darkness and into the light. When the 2020 global pandemic hit, LaFargeʼs rigorous work ethic powered him through the potentially challenging creative period. As days became a couple months, songs blossomed from embryonic ideas into full-formed ones and he was ready to move on, which typified his mindset as a working artist. With this record LaFarge captures the thematic notion of being the perfect summer afternoon soundtrack…the type of music you want to listen to while having a cocktail with your significant other. It makes sense musically as well — LaFarge intentionally crafted songs that created space and have melodies that can glide throughout a composition thatʼs a far cry from the swing and blues-infused songs of his earlier work. LaFarge is an artist who refuses to rest on his laurels and compromise. Heʼs always motivated and ready to create. With In the Blossom of Their Shade the album is one of LaFargeʼs strongest and most mature efforts to date.