Alligator Purse

Beausoleil | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 20, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Yep Roc Records
• ASIN: B001KZLI8C
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,756 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #18 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > Cajun & Zydeco > Cajun & Creole
  • #19 in Music > Blues > Regional Blues > Cajun & Zydeco > Zydeco

Editorial Reviews

Grammy winners and 10-time nominees BeauSoleil continue their scion-like march through the panorama of American music with Alligator Purse. Over the past 30-plus years, BeauSoleil has been the very heartbeat of Cajun music and culture, keeping it vital through not only their attention to tradition, but also through passionate and inventive experimentation. This time around these twin creative approaches combine yet again, manifesting themselves in some of music s most authentic and recognizable names.

On Alligator Purse BeauSoleil s fearless captain Michael Doucet leads the next installment of his musical journey along the lifeline of Cajun music, this time with an all star crew including Natalie Merchant ('Little Darlin'), Garth Hudson ('I've Spent All My Money Loving You'), John Sebastian, Roswell Rudd, Bill Keith and others. His notable friends help Doucet bring the rich folk traditions of south Louisiana into the 21st century through the genius interplay of a new take on Cajun favorites ('Marie') and the Cajunization of modern folk classics. A French language reworking of Bob Dylan s cover of Muddy Waters classic Rollin & Tumblin ('Rouler et Tourner') and J.J. Cale's 'The Problem' stand alongside Cajun and Creole history lessons like 'Reel Cajun (451 St. Joseph St.),' 'Les Oignons' and 'Théogéne Creole,' originally sung for John and Alan Lomax s historic 1934 field recordings.

Alligator Purse is the funkiest history lesson ever created, a sweaty sweep through the lore of one of the most vital veins of America s musical heritage and a stark reminder that musical history is best served by a dance floor, not a museum.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine program of traditional and contemporary Cajun music, January 20, 2009

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Alligator Purse (Audio CD)

Formed in the mid-70s as a platform for Louisiana fiddler Michael Doucet's appreciation of his native Cajun musical traditions, BeauSoleil has become an integral part of the history it sought to provide popular resuscitation. More importantly, by interweaving Cajun, zydeco, country, blues, jazz, and other sounds, BeauSoleil not only sparked renewed interest in Southern Louisianan sounds, but moved beyond simple preservation (to the consternation of some critics) to innovation. Doucet's early studies in the UK and France provided exposure to the genre's classic songs, the music's European roots, and the techniques of seminal players. As the lessons were internalized the group has more freely inflected the classics with new flavors and drawn non-Cajun material into the fold. The group's latest (their 29th release!) includes collaborations with Natalie Merchant, Garth Hudson, John Sebastian and others.

Doucet comes out blazing on the instrumental "Reel Cajun (451 N. St. Joseph)," nearly sawing his fiddle in half as he pays tribute to Dennis McGee. Second line drumming provides an apt rhythm for the French translation of Muddy Waters' "Rollin' & Tumblin'," rendered here as "Rouler et Tourner." Julie Miller's "Little Darlin'," which originally appeared as a duet with her husband Buddy Miller on 2004's Love Snuck Up, has its backwoods country twang taken upbeat by Doucet and Natalie Merchant. Cooling down with the New Orleans stroll of "Marie" (supplemented by Andy Stein's superb sax solo) you start to feel this disc is sequenced as an evening's dance program. The band combines classic fiddle and accordion lines with the more contemporary sound of a flat-picked guitar on the waltz-time "Valse á BeauSoleil," and gives dancers a chance to promenade with "Bosco Stomp."

The mid-30's ballad "La Chanson de Théogène Dubois" is transformed with a Latin beat into "Théogène Creole," with the flat-picked acoustic guitar, accordion and fiddle each taking a spin in the spotlight. The group also works its magic on Bobby Charles' "I Spent All My Money Loving You," retaining the song's original Memphis soul with drums and organ, but adding Cajun flavors with accordion and a French translation of the verses. J.J. Cale's skiffle-blues "The Problem" gets a more straight-up treatment, with the original's shuffle beat emphasized in all of the instruments. Cale's lyrics of empty-headed leaders and passive followers was a potent indictment of Bush's failed administration, and remains a stirring call-to-arms. Amédé Ardoin's classic "Valse á Thomas Ardoin" offers a last call from the accordion and a fitting close to BeauSoleil's Cajun prom. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Watch Out: Alligators Ahead!, March 19, 2009

By 

R. E. Wendrich Design "rodude" (Breukelen, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alligator Purse (Audio CD)

Sometime ago I was looking to see if Nathalie Merchant was doing a new album somehow, hope so...anyway I stumbled across an Alligator Purse on which album she contributed...of course needed that in my collection and I must say: Superb Album! I just love that sound, the energy and passion of these people!
Sitting there and listening to the songs my ears were triggered by the subtle and preluding sound of an organ...it sounded much like the Band used to do...and that of course had to do with wonderboy Garth Hudson!
Sifting through the text on the, well-designed cd-cover, I came across my Canadian hero, Garth!
Anyhow, if you really like music and support the French-Canadian and Cajun tradition than this album is a must have! Way to go Beausoleil...Lekker Zonnetje indeed!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Purse of Perfection, June 20, 2009

By 

Susan Budig (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alligator Purse (Audio CD)

BeauSoleil's Alligator Purse holds more than the usual loose change, comb, and tissues. When you open this handbag you'll do a double-take wondering how you acquired all those treasures!

BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet have put out another danged good deal with their latest album, intentionally released last January 20th--the day that Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States.

I heard the band perform the first number on the album, Reel Cajun/451 North St. Joseph St., at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis a few weeks after their release party in Louisiana. It's a heavily flavored Cajun tune, with impressive fiddlin', but it's not quite my favorite on the disc.

Skip over to track #3, Carrière Zydeco, Go ahead, put your player on Repeat Single and listen for about five rounds. It takes me that long before I'm ready to move on to the next song. There must be something salty mixed into the tune because one listen is never enough. I want to hear the hum and build and resolution repeatedly.

I have a similar response to the sixth tune on the album. Valse à BeauSoleil has been recorded several times, but not with a harmonica. How that makes me giddy, I don't know, but it does. I hit repeat again as I mentally waltz about the dance floor to this number. I wonder which one of the band will take up harmonica now? On the album, John Sebastian performs the honors.

In fact, the album is replete with guest musicians. One of my very favorites is the Hammond organ played by Garth Hudson in track # 9. I Spent All My Money Lovin' You, sung in both English and Cajun French, brings a smile to my lips and a shimmy to my hips--almost too much fun, this one.

If you're like me and like to sing along, Les Oignons gives you a perfect chance. Whether you speak French or not, the words are easy to repeat and repeat loudly. I have a habit--bad?--of playing my music at a boosted volume with my windows down and singing "as if no one's listening." Yesterday someone from a nearby car wanted to know what I was listening to because "it sounds so happy!"

Bosco Stomp finds mixed reviews from me. Overall I like it, but David Doucet's singing sounds strained. I loved his voice on his solo album, 1957, but it here it comes off as though he can't quite reach the notes.

This CD sports guest appearances the likes of Andy Stein, Roswell Rudd, Natalie Merchant, and Happy and Artie Traum who add their own interpretations to what Cajun means. More than Cajun tunes however, Alligator Purse gives the listener a bit of bluegrass (Little Darlin'), a Caribbean-scented number (Théogène Créole), and a social critique (The Problem) to name some of the non-traditional songs.

My kids and I loved listening to Michael recite the nursery rhyme about Jim the Fish. No one could quite imitate the Cajun accented words "purse/nurse" however, though we laughed insanely trying.

I know my passion for Cajun is relentless, but who can blame me when I'm consuming Top-of-the-Line morsels such as BeauSoleil's Alligator Purse?