Bayou Ruler is an album by the American band Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, released in 1998.[2][3] A couple of its English-language songs were regional hits, although they proved controversial to some Cajun traditionalists.[4][5] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[6] "Let Me Know" was promoted to radio stations all over the United States, a rarity for a Cajun single.[7]
Production
The album was produced by C.C. Adcock and Tarka Cordell.[8] The band continued to incorporate into their sound rock and blues styles; in their spare time the band listened more to rock than Louisiana music.[9][10] "Mama Told Papa" is a cover of the Clifton Chenier song.[11] "My True Love (Voyage d'amour)" is a cover of the Dewey Balfa tune; "je suis pas un couillon" is a cover of the Belton Richard song.[12][13] Jimmy Domengeaux played guitar on the album, his last with the band; he died in a motorcycle accident in January 1999.[14]
The Los Angeles Times called Bayou Ruler "a scattered-sounding, misdirected album that Riley describes as 'swamp pop'... Its layers of brass, electric guitar, pedal steel guitar, Hammond B3 organ and other pop-friendly devices are murky indeed."[16] The Star Tribune opined that "'Tough Get Going' is a particularly anemic rocker, and the swamp pop stuff just needs to be greasier."[12]
The Washington Post praised the "convincing" Cajun-rock fusion, writing that "one has to go back to the swamp-pop glory days of Tommy McClain and Cleveland Crochet to find such a convincing hybrid."[17]The Province determined that the title track possessed a "Foreigner-goes-Cajun sound."[18] The Albuquerque Journal noted that the album "expands the group's horizons with a mixture of rock 'n' roll, R&B, and zydeco."[19]
AllMusic wrote that the band, "purveyors of traditional Cajun music, range far out of the bayous to incorporate most all the musical styles of Southern Louisiana."[15]
Track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Bayou Ruler"
2.
"Laisse-moi connaître"
3.
"My True Love (Voyage d'amour)"
4.
"Tough Get Going"
5.
"King Zydeco"
6.
"La rosée"
7.
"All for the Better"
8.
"j'ai été-z-au bal"
9.
"Chez personne"
10.
"Clin d'oeil (The Wink)"
11.
"je suis pas un couillon"
12.
"Mama Told Papa"
13.
"Let Me Know"
References
^Guarino, Mark (10 July 1998). "Go Southern tonight with bayou dancing or classic Austin blues". Time Out. Daily Herald. Arlington Heights. p. 4.
