1997
Produced by: Chris Strachwitz and Michael Doucet
Recorded at: various recording sessions
Special guests: none
Track Listing:
1. Parlez-Nous a Boire
2. Tous les deux pour la meme
3. J'ai ete au Zydeco
4. Voyage au mariage
5. Courtableau
6. La valse des jonglemonts
7. Mecredi soire passe
8. Grand mallet
9. Bee's blues
10. Shoo, black
11. Leger's chase
13. Valse de grand meche
14. Joe Pitre's so bad
15. Creole french blues
16. Chanson D'Acadie
17. Le Bozo two-step
18. Si J'Aurais de alies
19. Chez Varise Connor
20. La chanson de cinquante sous
21. La valse du vacher
22. Hot Chili Mama
Also, any "best of" collection will always be subjective (although I'm pretty sure that Michael himself helped pick these songs out for the album). My best of is listed here. There is no doubt, though, that every one of these songs is great. They range from the most traditional cajun waltz to some of Beausoleil's more adventurous hits (one you might recognize is #22 Hot Chili Mama, which was used in a Maalox commerical). Beausoleil's trademark humor is used throughout, although many songs are only funny when you read the translations (provided in the liner notes).
Those of us, including me, who know Beausoleil mostly from their VERY adventurous albums in the 1990's will be surprised by these earlier songs. Even when they're being innovative, the music is much more traditional than what they're playing now (see Cajunization). This is not the music Beausoleil plays to gain new listeners. Rather, it is the stuff they played when it was just a hobby for them.
This album is heavy on the waltzes and ballads. Although they are a little slower than the bayou rockin' songs that made the group popular, these songs are of a high quality. If any question came up as to whether Beausoleil can actually play good traditional cajun, these songs would be the definitive answer. Michael's fiddling talents are highlighted with many of these slower songs. He can obviously play the waltzes and slower numbers as good as he can play the two steps.
When listening to some of these songs, the suggested atmosphere (for me, anyway) is that of a group of musical friends gathered around a campfire, singing the songs of their ancestors. Of the slower songs, my favorites are numbers 11, 16, 19 and 21 (look at the top of this page for the names of these songs). #11 is Leger's chase, otherwise known as the Mardi Gras song. I must say that I was surprised that the Mardi Gras song is slower than one would expect. But we must keep in mind that the cajun Mardi Gras tradition is different than the New Orleans party we know as Mardi Gras. #21, La Valse du Vacher (the Cowboy song) does indeed sound like a song one would hear "on the range." I doubt the cowboys would sing it in french, but the western theme is still pretty apparant.
Some of the songs are very high-spirited and enjoyable to listen to. Very few of them are in the current Beausoleil style, but they are still fun nonetheless. My favorites of these type are numbers 1, 3, 5, 8, 12, 17, 20 and 22. 1, 5 and 22 are especially good, I think. #5, Courtableau, features some great fiddling, and I'm always a sucker for great fiddling. Also, David sings pretty fast, making the song sound humorous.
Two songs, numbers 9 and 15, are accordian songs by Michael. I didn't know he could play the accordian, but apparantly he can. These are two great, oldtime-sounding songs from the creole tradition.
Overall, I think this is a great album. It is not my favorite BeauSoleil album, but I think it's a great introduction to the cajun music tradition. A quick listen to some of these songs, as well as others, performed in the 20's and 30's would highlight the drastic differences between BeauSoleil's updated styles and the more traditional styles. Even though these are older songs, Michael and the gang play them with a fresh, open-minded approach. I wouldn't call this album the best of their career, but I do think it illustrates the diversity of their talents. Instead of the hit songs, what we get here is a collection of songs that probably best define their early career in terms of musical diversity and theory. If you want to know what kinds of songs they did in their formative era, this is the album to buy.