by Adam Greenberg
A relatively standard release from Clifton Chenier, the then reigning king of zydeco. The music bumps and grooves in all the ways it's supposed to. One of the songs dates the album a bit ("Zydeco Disco"), but aside from that one, the rest of the album is pretty much straightforward zydeco and blues. In spots it delves a little into jazz, but only in spots. In and of itself, delving into jazz wouldn't be such a bad thing, but this band's form of the genre tends to be a bit sloppy. When it comes to zydeco, there's no stopping them, but elsewhere they're more stoppable. For a basic look into Chenier's brand of zydeco, this album might not be too bad, though certainly others exist that may serve better. For a look into the style in general, one should expand into other major players (Buckwheat Zydeco, Beau Jocque, Little Nathan) as well as Chenier and his family.