Roscoe Chenier - Doing Alright Again (1996)

→ Thanks to L.C.

The best kept secret of the Cheniers

How can a small region like South Louisiana produce so many renowned musicians is a mystery. This puzzling phenomenon also concerns other regions like the Mississippi Delta or, farther, a little island named Jamaica (let's not even talk about their athletes).

Many Louisiana family clans take pride in several generations of famous artists. Most of those families (Creole or Cajun) can trace their ancestry way back in the 17th or 18th century, before the “Louisiana purchase” (1803) and bear French names : Arceneaux, Ardoin, Balfa, Fontenot, Broussard, Chavis, Frank, Carrier, Delafosse, Lejeune, Cormier, Ledet, Savoy, Williams, Rubin (aka Dopsie), Neville or… Chenier.

The most famous musician in the Chenier family is of course the legendary “King of Zydeco” Clifton Chenier (and his son C.J. after him). But there were also his cousin, the bluesman Morris “Big” Chenier who recorded for Goldband Records, and another cousin (or uncle), Arthur “Bud” Chenier, a locally popular accordionist who, often accompanied by his cousin, fiddler John Stevens, used to play on week-ends at house parties, “fais do-dos” (dance-halls) and other various festive gatherings.

“Bud” was the father of Roscoe Chenier who didn't play Zydeco (maybe he did in private circumstances), but blues like Morris “Big”.

Roscoe was born in 1941 in Notleyville not far from Opelousas, and was raised in his father's musical environment. A good singer, he was invited in 1958 to join the band Rockin' CD & the Blues Runners, quite popular in the region and whose occasional guitarist was Lonesome Sundown.

The young Roscoe stayed with the band until 1970. He had quickly learned how to play guitar, and in 1962, he recorded for the small Reynaud label a single which was well received locally. As the years went by, it became a collector's item much sought for.

The 1970s were difficult for most blues musicians, challenged by the new musical trends of the time. Gigs were scarce and Chenier jumped on every opportunity to play to earn a living, wandering from band to band, filling in for unavailable musicians, but finally forced to take a regular day job as a truck driver.

The next decade, things got better. He was even able to set up his own band, The Blues Snapp Band, and resumed touring actively on the Louisiana circuit. But still he had to wait the 1990s to record a long awaited first album, which he did in 1993 with the eponymous “Roscoe Chenier” released on Vidrine (and re-issued the following year with a new cover by Avenue Records with whom he had signed in 1994). He was then 52 years old.

“Doing Alright Again” was released in 1996 by Vidrine but honestly I was unable to find any confirmation of when it was actually recorded : before or after the 1993 album ? Anyway his newly acquired reputation allowed him to tour the U.S. and to perform regularly at major European festivals with a new band, The Inner City Blues Band. He even signed with the Dutch label Black & Tan on which he released a few more albums in the late 1990s and in the 2000s.

Chenier died at age 71 in Opelousas in February 2013.

On “Doing Alright Again” Chenier proves he is a really appealing blues artist. He sings with quite an emotional voice, and his guitar sounds fluid, warm and tormented at the same time. He wrote all but one title (“Back Door Lover”, signed by John Ardion), and the songs are rather long : three are over 6-minutes, and more unusual, there's two 11-minute tracks.

His sidemen feature Vic Soileau, keyboardist, producer and sound engineer at Vidrine Records, who also plays bass (maybe with his keyboards, except on “Love Is Like A Hammer” where he's replaced by Chubby Durall), Billy Johnson on rhythm, wah-wah & slide guitar, and Andre Deshotels on sax.

You would expect Chenier to play mostly swamp blues. Well, not really. His repertoire features mainly horn-backed Chicago blues : “Trying To Get Over Me”, “Love Machine”, the 11-minute long “Doing Alright Again”, the foot-stomping jump “Playing The Blues With My Friends”, the soulful “Love Is Like A Hammer” (the second 11-minute track and only one with a vague swampy feel due to the organ), the magnificent “Waiting For My Tomorrow”, and “Good Things Going Wrong”.

Besides, Chenier delivers two rather funky R'n'B, “Confessing The Blues” or the catchy “Back Door Lover”, and a slow soul inspired by Fats Domino, “My Life”.

The album ends with the radio version of the title song “Doing Alright Again” shorten from 11 to… 3 minutes !

I dare affirm without any hesitation that songs like “Love Is Like A Hammer”, and most of all, the beautiful “Waiting For My Tomorrow”, are comparable in intensity with famous titles like “I'll Play the Blues for You” (Albert King) or “The Thrill is Gone” (B.B. King) : great soulful singing and great soulful guitar. ■

Audio

The only two songs from the album available on YT :
► “Waiting For My Tomorrow” : https://youtu.be/T4EYNPk1WhU
► “Love Is Like A Hammer” : https://youtu.be/xTzXutImg9Q (for the music, the images are of no interest)
→ The Roscoe Chenier channel on YT : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCplstKG-uYqOflw1SwVtMhQ

Videos
The only two videos of Roscoe Chenier live I could find, both from his 2006 European tour :
► Menen, Belgium : https://youtu.be/hYu56aEjSYQ
► Schortens, Germany : https://my.mail.ru//mail/alex-enm/video/3342/665710.html?time=70

Roscoe Chenier, 1941-2013