Special Beau Jocque & The Zydeco Hi-Rollers Live - Give Him Cornbread, Live (1993, 2000) / Git It, Beau Jocque! (1995

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Fast and furious

The hottest and funkiest Zydeco you can hear ! Irresistible beat, shouts and yells (huu ! shoo ! bouge-bouge !), amazing (hard) rock-solid powerful rhythm section. These two highly rejoicing live recordings are just incredible ! The best medication against depression !

The volcanic Beau Jocque burst on the Zydeco circuit with his Hi-Rollers in 1991 and instantly became the public's favorite along with Boozoo Chavis, B.J.'s main influence and future rival. Andrus Espré aka Beau Jocque ("Big Guy” in Louisiana Creole) had listen to many successful Zydeco artists, studied every detail of their style and every reaction of the audience, and came up with a synthesis of the most efficient points he had identified, mixing varied genres, rock, blues, r&b, funk, reggae, with his strong crush for boogie. Himself not an very outstanding accordionist, he compensated with his unique energy, his gruff voice and his impressive physical stature (1,98 m, 120 kg), and with his gift as a band leader.

His modern Zydeco style incorporating for the first time rock guitar solos rapidly seduced the dance-halls, clubs and trail rides younger audiences. After a first release on cassette titled “My Name Is Beau Jocque” in 1992 (re-issued on CD in 1994), the band put out their first real album in 1993 : “Beau Jocque Boogie”. Five more albums followed until BJ's fatal heart attack in September 1999, and two more later, among which the still unreleased “Give Him Cornbread, Live”, though it was recorded in 1993.

➡ Git It, Beau Jocque! (1995)

This first official Beau Jocque & The Zydeco Hi-Rollers live album, recorded in Louisiana at Harry's Lounge in Breaux Bridge & at Slim's Y-Ki-Ki Lounge in Opelousas in September 1994, delivers so much energy that it's exhausting. Lyrics as such are almost nonexistent, replaced by screams and shouts, making it a kind of instrumental album. Pure dancing music for week-end nights in the clubs and outdoors concerts, originally throughout Louisiana.

“Motor Dude Special” opens in the joyful mess of a false start before running in the hard way, followed by the nasty “Git It, Beau Jocque!” The incredible “Beau Jocque Boogie” delivers 11 minutes of jubilating dancing groove featuring killing solos successively by bassist Chuck Bush and guitarists Ray Johnson & Joseph 'Cookie' Chavis. Both of them reiterate on the following “Sack O' Woe”. On “Beau Jocque Run”, BJ's hoarse lumberjack voice screams more that sings repetitive phrases.

The only track sung in Creole French, “Couché Dehors Hier Au Soir”, is followed by the announcement of the wining raffle ticket numbers (“0394413”) played in Zydeco style, before the hilarious intro to the second big piece of the album, the 12-minute “Shaggy Dog Two Step” : Jocque is barking rather than singing while the musicians answer him, and Joseph 'Cookie' Chavis is again at work for the better,

After “This Night Is For You”, a happy birthday song for somebody in the audience, and another musical announcement, “Move Your Car!”, destined to a driver whose vehicle is blocking the car park, Jocque seems decided to play accordion more seriously on the band's muscular over 8-minute version of the Neville Brothers' “Yellow Moon”, the third long track of the album, The breathless show closes on another iconic BJ's number, “Give Him Cornbread”.

➡ Give Him Cornbread, Live (2000, rec. 1993)

This second live album is in fact the first one : it was recorded in 1993 at the renowned Habibi Temple in Lake Charles, LA, but never released until 2000, 11 months after BJ's death in 1999. Coincidentally it starts exactly where the preceding album finished : with “Give Him Cornbread” in a longer version reminding the 1995 “Beau Jocque Boogie” with bass and guitar solos.

Altogether, the two albums are in the same vein, even if this one is maybe a bit less wild than the 1995 one but with BJ's singing and accordion more clearly present. Guitarist Joseph 'Cookie' Chavis hadn't joined the Zydeco Hi-Rollers yet but 6-string master Ray Johnson is managing greatly by himself.

One finds a shorter version of the iconic “Beau Jocque Boogie” again, but the other tracks are different though as rhythmically devastating, featuring hot dancing titles, quite a few from the first 1993 album “Beau Jocque Boogie”, like “Bad Bad Woman”, “Grand Marais”, “Damballah”, the superb “Brownskin Woman” mid-tempo blues with a great Ray Johnson on guitar, “Do It All Night”, and Zydeco versions of “Baby Please Don't Go” and “Boogie Chillen”. The shorter tracks (“'Gardez Donc!”, “Nonc Adam”, “I Went To The Dance Last Night”) are equally filled with groovy rhythm.

Breathless dance music taking you in the dance-halls of Louisiana with amazing energy. Really something to hear ! ☻

Docs

■ BJ's talking about himself on CBS “Sunday Morning”, 1993 : https://youtu.be/tbUZO7lY0yY

■ "Beau Jocque Boogie", from the Robert Mugge documentary "True Believers: The Musical Family of Rounder Records” : https://youtu.be/Hy_gsd7jlnY

■ Live at Gilton's, from the movie "Louisiana Blues" from French documentary film makers Jean-Pierre Bruneau and Jose Reynes : https://youtu.be/hFyPUDpxZ4g

Live videos (unfortunately not many are available, an often with poor image/sound)

■ "Bernadette" before being known as Beau Jocque : https://youtu.be/EIwmaJ53m-c

■ "Give Him Cornbread", first appearance at the Liberty Theater in Eunice, 1993 : https://youtu.be/NX8nW8MUlK4

■ Circa 1995 :

→ “Give Him Cornbread” : https://youtu.be/koUDni7aOP0

→ “Motor Dude Special” : https://youtu.be/4H6mkH9wFXk

→ “Marann” : https://youtu.be/-a0H6uexly4

→ “I'm Comin' Home” : https://youtu.be/apKKIgi0gZw?t=27

→ “It's So Easy When You're Breezin'” : https://youtu.be/-f0e3wOTRQ0

→ “Get Down” : https://youtu.be/RUl6BW-F0qA

→ “Beau Jocque Boogie” : https://youtu.be/zYxuDp0FeDs

■ “One Kiss”, Australia, 1998 : https://youtu.be/xgkAhZ3pRMw

■ “Downtown”, TV appearance, Australia, 1998 : https://youtu.be/-zO0Xig3q-Y

■ Piedmont Park, September 6, 1999, just 4 days before his death : https://youtu.be/G4R93c4T2Hk

■ Wink : “Beau's Cajun Two Step”, an instrumental written by Beau Jocque, performed by friend drummer River City Slim & his band The Zydeco Hogs at Musikfest 2015 : https://youtu.be/ZZb4h_0EzpY

Beau Jocque, 1953-1999