Pick Up on This! is an album by the American musician Beau Jocque, released in 1994.[1][2] He is credited with his band, the Zydeco Hi-Rollers.[3] Beau Jocque supported the album with North American and United Kingdom tours.[4][5]
Production
Recorded in October 1993, the album was produced by Scott Billington; Billington later called Beau Jocque among the producer's most exciting finds.[6][7] "Hucklebuck" is a version of the dance tune.[8] "Zydeco Boogie Woogie" is an interpretation of John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen'".[9] "Give It to Me" uses scratches by a New Orleans turntablist.[6]Pick Up on This! ends with an interpolation of War's "Low Rider".[10]
The Baltimore Sun wrote that when the Rollers "get into a groove, they stay there until the song is over... That's one reason why Pick Up on This! makes for such great party music."[15] The Austin American-Statesman said that the album "reconfirms the band's dancefloor dynamism, though the derivativeness of the material makes it more conducive to quick stepping than close listening."[12]The Washington Post praised Beau Jocque's "eerie Howlin' Wolf-like baritone."[16]
The Philadelphia Inquirer concluded that, "unlike many zydeco artists, whose recordings are stiff, Jocque and the Hi-Rollers sound as loose as they do in performance."[17]Rolling Stone likened the album to "a shotgun wedding of Clifton Chenier and ZZ Top officiated by John Lee Hooker."[18] The Times Colonist stated that the "zydeco is grounded in the band's grinding, funk-inspired back beat."[19]Spin deemed the album "the hottest zydeco ever: a mixture of Cajun, funk, rock 'n' roll, and blues."[20]
AllMusic wrote that "the key is in the groove—there might not be much variety on the album, but [Beau Jocque] keeps the zesty zydeco rhythms pumping throughout."[11]
