Arriving at the 11th volume in their ongoing
By the Bayou
series,
Ace
still finds some treasures in the vaults of
J.D. Miller
,
Eddie Shuler
, and
Floyd Soileau
-- these are the record men who provided the discoveries in the rest of the series -- but also dips into the discographies of
Big Howdy
and
Big B
, two imprints run by
Hack Kennedy
, as well as finding room for selections from the Louisiana indies
Richland
Sho-Biz
. This expanded scope suggests how
Boppin' by the Bayou: Rock Me Mama!
spans the length of the bayou, never resting at just zydeco, Cajun, blues, or rockabilly. It flits back and forth between these sounds, opening with the raving "Switch Blade Sam" --
Jeff Daniels
yowls about Charlie Brown and Lucy in the opening line and it just gets better from there -- and spends a bit of time in pure rock & roll before
Warren Storm
slides this into blue-eyed R&B and by the middle of this, there are covers of
Hank Williams
lying only a few cuts away from accordion-fueled boogie. Most of this could be grouped under a rock & roll bucket -- rock & roll encompassed all these swampy sounds in the late '50s and very early '60s, when all of these sides were recorded -- but the flow of the disc helps emphasize the stylistic differences while also having the momentum of a party. As usual, this disc is pretty much nothing but rarities --
Nathan Abshire
Jivin' Gene
Storm
show up, but that's it -- and that only serves to emphasize what a hotbed of creativity Louisiana was in the years after rock & roll. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine