Forty years later, 'Bogalusa Boogie' Still Making Waves
Clifton Chenier's Album A Blue Print For Impromtu Jam Session
October 30, 2015
by Herman Fusilier
The Advertiser
In south Louisiana — our music-crazed corner of the world — jam bands can become Grammy winners. In 2012, Cajun musicians Wayne Toups, Steve Riley and Wilson Savoy had an alcohol-fueled jam to celebrate Savoy’s birthday.
A year or so later, Toups was in Los Angeles accepting a Grammy for the trio’s self-titled, acoustic CD, The Band Courtbouillon.
Perhaps Clifton Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band cast the mold for impromptu, historic music in the 1970s. The King of Zydeco and his explosive entourage of musicians were no jam band when they into the Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana. (Platinum albums by Kansas, Jimmy Buffet and the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack have roots in the studio.)
Chenier’s recording session basically amounted to a jam. He and his powerhouse musicians raced through each song in one take.
The results, Chenier’s “Bogalusa Boogie” album, received a five-star rating from Rolling Stone Record Guide. In 2011, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, an honor placed on recordings of historical significance.
Oct. 27 marks the 40th anniversary of that landmark recording. The album includes French and English songs, and much-covered tunes, like “Ti Na Na,” “Je Me Reveillier Le Matin (I Woke Up This Morning”) and “M’Appel Fou (They Call Me Crazy).” It remains one of the most celebrated in all of folk music and beyond.
“Bogalusa Boogie” is still the only zydeco album to receive a five-star rating from Rolling Stone. The publication described it as “Indispensable: a record that must be included in any comprehensive collection.”
Producer Christ Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records said the recording sessions was a rare event “where everything went just right.”
“It was pure joy from start to finish,” Strachwitz wrote in 1990, when the album was released on CD. “The band ripped through one number after another without second takes as if they were playing a hot dance and were enjoying every moment of it.”
Decades later, “Bogalusa Boogie” was part of a 2011 Grammy Hall of Fame class that also included the Beatles, the Jackson 5, Willie Nelson, Prince, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington and other music icons.
In a press release regarding the class, Neil Portnow, president of The Recording Academy, said “These musical treasures have brought us timeless recordings, and each of them deserves to be memorialized. These recordings are living evidence that music remains an indelible part of our culture.”
Worldwide praise for the album can still be found. Allmusic.com said “the good-natured and easy groove the band sets up should be instructive to any musicians interested in learning how to get people to dance.”
Clifton Chenier's Album A Blue Print For Impromtu Jam Session
October 30, 2015
by Herman Fusilier
The Advertiser
 |
| "Bogalusa Boogie" was recorded in 1975 and is regarded as one of the most significant Zydeco music and music recordings of all time. "Bogalusa Boogie" was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2011. Clifton Chenier was awarded the GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. |
A year or so later, Toups was in Los Angeles accepting a Grammy for the trio’s self-titled, acoustic CD, The Band Courtbouillon.
Perhaps Clifton Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band cast the mold for impromptu, historic music in the 1970s. The King of Zydeco and his explosive entourage of musicians were no jam band when they into the Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, Louisiana. (Platinum albums by Kansas, Jimmy Buffet and the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack have roots in the studio.)
Chenier’s recording session basically amounted to a jam. He and his powerhouse musicians raced through each song in one take.
The results, Chenier’s “Bogalusa Boogie” album, received a five-star rating from Rolling Stone Record Guide. In 2011, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, an honor placed on recordings of historical significance.
Oct. 27 marks the 40th anniversary of that landmark recording. The album includes French and English songs, and much-covered tunes, like “Ti Na Na,” “Je Me Reveillier Le Matin (I Woke Up This Morning”) and “M’Appel Fou (They Call Me Crazy).” It remains one of the most celebrated in all of folk music and beyond.
“Bogalusa Boogie” is still the only zydeco album to receive a five-star rating from Rolling Stone. The publication described it as “Indispensable: a record that must be included in any comprehensive collection.”
Producer Christ Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records said the recording sessions was a rare event “where everything went just right.”
“It was pure joy from start to finish,” Strachwitz wrote in 1990, when the album was released on CD. “The band ripped through one number after another without second takes as if they were playing a hot dance and were enjoying every moment of it.”
Decades later, “Bogalusa Boogie” was part of a 2011 Grammy Hall of Fame class that also included the Beatles, the Jackson 5, Willie Nelson, Prince, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington and other music icons.
In a press release regarding the class, Neil Portnow, president of The Recording Academy, said “These musical treasures have brought us timeless recordings, and each of them deserves to be memorialized. These recordings are living evidence that music remains an indelible part of our culture.”
Worldwide praise for the album can still be found. Allmusic.com said “the good-natured and easy groove the band sets up should be instructive to any musicians interested in learning how to get people to dance.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment