Zydecajun, Wayne Toups - Blast From The Bayou (1988)

Tracklist

01. Sweet Joline
02. Tell It Like It Is
03. Johnnie Can't Dance (Johnnie Peut Pas Dancer)
04. Tupelo Honey
05. Zydecajun Train
06. Two-Step Mamou
07. Let's Fall in Love (All over Again)
08. Sugar Bee
09. A Secret Love
10. Going Back to Big Mamou

Wayne Toups aspires to a sound that combines the two traditions of Louisiana French music, as is indicated by the name of his band. And indeed, it is a fusion of the more tradional Cajun style and the more African-American, rhythm & blues-oriented zydeco sound. The band uses a Hammond B3 organ in addition to the accordion (like Buckwheat Zydeco and the Ils Sont Partis band.) The songs are mostly sung in English, with a smattering of French to keep the disc authentic. But Wayne Toups is definitely reaching out to a broader audience than most zydeco or Cajun artists. Toups attempts a couple of covers--a version of "Tell It Like It Is," and Van Morrison's "Tupelo Honey." He gives these a new spin, and they are quite successful versions. A fun "Johnny Ne Peut Pas Danser"-or, more familiarly, "Johnny Can't Dance," written by Wayne Toups and Michael Doucet, gives an example of this band's unique sound.

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