Special Cardell Boyette aka Louisiana “Guitar” Red - Nobody Knows… (1995) / Live At The Blues Bouquet (1997) / Down And Out Blues (2002)

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Boyette's the name
From time to time you discover a relatively obscure but excellent bluesman who released a few albums on minor labels and whose existence you didn't even know about, until a friend (thanks to “Captain” Blue DeVille, to give to Caesar) mention a name : “You should listen to this one, I'm sure you'd appreciate...” You obtain a few albums recorded by the “name” and you get a blow right in the face !

That's what happened to me recently. The name's Cardell Boyette (sometimes spelled Cordell), a patronymic exhaling the nice flavor of his native Louisiana, but he's also known as Louisiana “Guitar” Red (the “Guitar” nickname being essential to distinguish him from Louisiana Red aka Iverson Minter).

Born in Louisiana in 1928, Boyette learned to play piano in his youth before switching later to guitar and moving to Los Angeles in the early 1950s or 1960s (info sources vary). There he entered a top blues school : he played in particular behind Lowell Fulson, T-Bone Walker, Pee Wee Crayton, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Tina Turner, J.D. Nicholson or Ray Agee… He even recorded a single as Louisiana “Guitar” Red with George "Harmonica" Smith in the late 1960s.

Working a regular job on week days for several decades, performing at night and on week-ends in Southern California clubs, he waited until retirement to devote himself full time to music. In 1991, while working in the William Clarke Band, he appeared on “Hard Times  - L.A. Blues Anthology”, produced by the same Clarke, and recorded a six-track EP, “You Crazy Baby” in 1993. Five of the six titles appear on the three “real” albums he released later : the outstanding “Nobody Knows…” (recorded in 1994 and released the following year), “Live At The Blues Bouquet” (1997, recorded in Boise, Idaho, in July 1996), and “Down And Out Blues” (recorded just before his death in 2001 and released posthumously in 2002).

To this point let's mention a few singularities about Boyette, though their veracity is hard to verify : he would have had the reputation of disliking harmonica players, though he worked with two of them, George "Harmonica" Smith and William Clarke ! The fact is that harmonica is totally absent from his albums (but he surely did like organ players : all three albums feature one). Other peculiarity : he's said to have been rather contemptuous of country blues, especially from Mississippi, and of its derived Chicago style.

Novice blues listeners might think Boyette sounds just like any of his electric blues peers. This would be an unfortunate misjudgment ! Boyette's style has something very special difficult to explain simply. I'm gonna try my best though to point out what makes him unique.

What strikes from the very first notes of “Nobody Knows…” (1995) is the global sound texture of Boyette's blues and more specifically of his guitar due to is playing in unusual keys. This particular sound is also enhanced by the unique sound of the organ (Ken Harris ?) enriching most of the tracks he recorded. Unfortunately, impossible to get any information about his sidemen, neither on Discogs nor on AllMusic, or anywhere else, except for the live album !

Anyway, the sound is rich, featuring a horn section, a solid rhythm one and this very special organ. And of course Boyette's very appealing voice : soulful, powerful and funny at times with his “woow” and “look-a-here” punctuating numerous tracks, or like his amazing kind of barking on the outstanding “Dog In Me”.

His guitar playing is much more elaborate that it seems at a first glance (if I may date to use this expression !) : to give an idea, it sounds like a crossover between Lowell Fulson and T-Bone Walker (he credited both as his main influences) with bits of Earl Hooker and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown here and there...

This style is clearly displayed on “Nobody Knows…” and “Down And Out Blues”. Though the main aspects are preserved, it sounds a bit different on “Live At The Blues Bouquet”, probably because the recording of the show was not as good as the studio ones.

“Nobody Knows…” (1995) is, in my modest opinion, the best of the three albums as much by the instrumental treatment of the material and Boyette's soulful vocals as by the quality of his songwriting.

Following the rather slow opening track, the tasty “When The Sun Rose This Morning”, things get more rhythmic and funky on “Whoopin'-Hollerin'”, the tempo accelerates again on the rocking “Louise” driven by a nice guitar riff and enriched by the particular sound of the organ. With its repetitive guitar pattern, very personal vocals and special organ lines, the soulful swampy “Nobody Knows” exhales a sad atmosphere : one of the great tracks of the album.

On “Mind To Ramble”, Boyette delivers a fine piece of guitar. Next comes another outstanding number, the melancholic reggae “My Girl”, played with appealing vocal chorus and nice guitar. It is followed by the mischievous humor of “Poodle Dog” carried by great R'n'B horns lines and the organ again while Boyette puts out an inspired solo. The nice classic “Alabama Blues” is followed by the gem of the album (in my opinion) : the rejoicing final “Dog In Me” and its unique funky sound.

Quite an efficient and exciting album indeed, enough to realize that Boyette is completely under-rated. Enough also to wonder what would have happened if he had been signed by a major label...

“Live At The Blues Bouquet” features of course tracks from his first works (“Louise”, a great version of “Dog In Me”, “Alabama Blues” with an appealing guitar sound, the excellent “Crazy Baby”) and some nice numbers from his live repertoire like the opening “For You My Love”, the standard “Kansas City”, “Lonesome Blues”, “Mail Man Blues” or Milton Campbell's “The Blues Is Alright”. The horn section is absent except for a sax, but fortunately Ken Harris' organ is there. Boyette delivers soulful vocals as usual and great guitar moments.

As mentioned above, it's too bad the sound quality is a bit foggy and doesn't serve Boyette's performance as well as it should. But still it's interesting to hear how Boyette sounds live, even if there's less outstanding numbers than in his two studio works. Note : the recording was “adjusted” afterwards with some overdubs, particularly by Ray Bailey on guitar as mentioned on the CD rear cover.

Again, no information is available as to the line-up of the backing band on “Down And Out Blues”, but Boyette's exciting sound is back and along some excellent titles already present on his two preceding opuses (“Whoopin'-Hollerin'”, “When The Sun Rose This Morning”, “Mind To Ramble” and “Poodle Dog”), the album features some great numbers : “Not Satisfied”, “Down On Me”, “Low Down Blues”, the superb “You Crazy Baby”, the catchy “Down On The Bayou” and “Strawberry”. There's also classic soul-blues like “I Miss You So”, “Late In The Evening” with its driving vocals, “So Close”, and the outstanding “Rail Road Blues” with its unusual melodic line and reggae-tinged rhythm, while tracks like the countrified “Hypocrite Blues” or “Ain't Nobody But Us Chickens” have a “Gatemouth” Brown-like flavor.

These three albums compose a fine collection (all of Boyette's legacy, except his 1991 EP) confirming that he was a very talented, creative and appealing bluesman that would have deserved a national and even international fate, had if he been signed by a big label as already pointed. It's strange indeed that none spotted his potential. But this relative obscurity is of the kind that forges legends... ■

More on Cardell Boyette (Louisiana “Guitar” Red)

► Video
● The only one I found on YT : https://youtu.be/YTMKo3lTrgw
● Boyette also appears in the Robert E. Borge's documentary film "Long live the Blues" along with "Screamin'" James Norton, Allie Tolliver and Melvyn "Deacon" Jones : https://youtu.be/jAoHz4bSraQ

► Audio
● The 1968 single “Bottom Side Up”/ Down Below TexasvBlues”, with George "Harmonica" Smith on... harmonica : https://youtu.be/dI5R1qq9C2E
● “Hard Times  - L.A. Blues Anthology” (featuring text notes on the video) : https://youtu.be/F9BvOU4UODk
● Boyette also appear on track 13 “I Miss You So” on “William Clarke : The Early Years, Vol. 1”, available at the usual place

► The line-up on “Live At The Blues Bouquet” :
● The Hoochie Coochie Men :
→ Ken Harris : keyboards
→ Mike Trail : guitar
→ Bud Gudmundson : bass
→ Barley Southard : drums

→ Phil Garonzik : saxophone

Cardell Boyette, 1928-2001