''Bayou Ruler'' is an album by the American band

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys are an American Cajun band from southern Louisiana. The band formed in 1988 and has since recorded 10 albums, nine of which are on Rounder Records. The band includes Steve Riley (accordion, b. 1969), David Gre ...

, released in 1998. A couple of its English-language songs were regional hits, although they proved controversial to some Cajun traditionalists. The band supported the album with a North American tour. "Let Me Know" was promoted to radio stations all over the United States, a rarity for a Cajun single.

Production

The album was produced by

C.C. Adcock C. C. Adcock (born Charles Clinton Adcock, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and blues rock musician, noted for his cajun, zydeco, electric blues and swamp pop-influenced sound and for his efforts to preserve and promote swa ...

and

Tarka Cordell Tarka Clay Cordell-Lavarack (28 July 1966 – 28 April 2008) was an English musician, writer, record producer, and model. The son of record producer Denny Cordell, Cordell was born in Westminster, Greater London, and was educated at Harrow School ...

. 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. "Mama Told Papa" is a cover of the

Clifton Chenier Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987), was an American Creole musician known as a pioneer of zydeco, a style of music which arose from Creole music, with rhythm and blues, R&B, blues, and Cajun music, Cajun influences. He sang a ...

song. "My True Love (Voyage d'amour)" is a cover of the

Dewey Balfa Dewey Balfa (March 20, 1927 – June 17, 1992) was an American Cajun fiddler and singer who contributed significantly to the popularity of Cajun music. Balfa was born near Mamou, Louisiana. He is perhaps best known for his 1964 performance at th ...

tune; "je suis pas un couillon" is a cover of the

Belton Richard Belton Richard (October 5, 1939 – June 21, 2017) was an American Cajun accordionist and vocalist known for his baritone vocal range. Biography Richard was born in Rayne, Louisiana, in 1939. He began to play the accordion when he was seven, an ...

song. Jimmy Domengeaux played guitar on the album, his last with the band; he died in a motorcycle accident in January 1999.

Critical reception

The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' 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." The ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' opined that "'Tough Get Going' is a particularly anemic rocker, and the swamp pop stuff just needs to be greasier." ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' 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." ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'' determined that the title track possessed a "Foreigner-goes-Cajun sound." The ''

Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was c ...

'' noted that the album "expands the group's horizons with a mixture of rock 'n' roll, R&B, and zydeco."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

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."

Track listing

References

{{Authority control 1998 albums Rounder Records albums Cajun music albums