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| Yep Roc's new version of Swampland Jewels – out Sept 22 – comes with the iconic original Goldband sleeve art. |
Inspired by the original Swampland Jewels LP on Goldband Records in 1979, and the expanded CD reissue from '91, Yep Roc's 19-track alternate version of the classic anthology of vintage Cajun, zydeco, rock ‘n roll and R&B music from East Texas and Southwest Louisiana hits the streets on September 22.
Now available for pre-order with an instant download of Cleveland Crochet's jukebox fave “Sugar Bee,” Swampland Jewels is the first full-length from Yep Roc Records partnership with the Southern Folklife Collection at the Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Produced by Steven Weiss, Curator at the Southern Folklife Collection, and remastered from the original tapes by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen Mastering in Carrboro, NC, the compilation features tracks drawn from the original LP and CD releases, along with seven newly discovered recordings, liner notes by Weiss on the history of Goldband Records and founder Eddie Shuler. Fans of the 1979 release will be relieved to hear that the folks at Yep Roc had the good sense to go with Goldband's goofy-great original crawfish ridin' sleeve art.
On October 1, a live performance event will be held at the Arts Center in Carrboro, NC. Featuring a lecture by Cajun music scholar Barry Jean Ancelet (University of Louisiana, Lafayette), the event will also include performances by Jo-El Sonnier, a featured performer on the compilation, and Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys.
After comparing the two-track album master of the original ‘70s release to the album master, Weiss decided to rebuild the compilation from the high-resolution transfers of the un-overdubbed original session tapes. The release retains as much of the raw element as possible while keeping the dynamic range of recordings, which were recorded live, straight-to-tape, without overdubs.
“I researched the Goldband collection to find the original single or session masters for all the songs,” says Weiss. “It was a thrill hearing the raw recordings with studio talk, count-ins and unissued takes that captured the way Eddie worked and the immediacy of studio recordings in the 1950s and ‘60s. The original tapes also captured a strong sense of place.”
While hopeful to recreate the original LP track list, Weiss was unable to find acceptable masters for some of the tracks that would match the sound quality of the new transfers. Notably absent on the new release are Joe Bonsall's version of Jolie Blon, Jay Stutes' take of Kaw-Liga, Robert Bertrand's Jambalaya and Iry LeJeune's Evangeline Special. In place of those tracks, he chose newly discovered songs that matched the scope and feel of what he felt was Eddie Shuler’s original intent. Much like the early ‘90s CD reissue, this re-imagined reissue of Swampland Jewels features an expanded track list (see below). Somewhat oddly, the new set doesn't include any tracks by the hugely popular LeJeune who played a key role in returning the accordion to prominence in cajun music of the late 40s and early 50s. To find out what you're missing, hunt down the excellent Iry LeJeune – The Definitive Collection compiled by John Broven and issued by the UK-based Ace label without the ludicrous electric bass overdubs added posthumously by Shuler.
One of the most vital and important documentarians of endemic southern music in the 20th century, Goldband Records was located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and produced recordings of some of the South’s most important and distinctive musical styles and sounds, including Cajun, zydeco, blues, rhythm and blues, rockabilly, and swamp pop. For years, fans, collectors and scholars have lamented the use of later overdubs Eddie Shuler employed on the original LP release in order to update the original ‘50s and ‘60s recordings for the late-‘70s marketplace.
In the mid-90s, the Southern Folklife Collection acquired the archives of Goldband Records, which included sound recordings covering the label’s 50-year history. Moldy and in need of extensive cleaning before they could be digitized for preservation and access, the Goldband tapes required thousands of hours of repair. Through a series of grants from the GRAMMY Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, all recordings were cleaned and digitized, preserving the content and making the recordings accessible for research and release.
Digitized by the Southern Folklife Collection staff engineers Brian Paulson and John Loy using modern open reel tape decks optimized with custom playback heads for archival work, the audio was captured at a high-resolution bit depth/sample rate of 24bit/96kHz. The end result of this work revealed content of never-before-heard tapes in high quality and many hours of unreleased takes.
Swampland Jewels
“Paper In My Shoe” – Boozoo Chavis – on original LP and CD, new remix from original master
“Boss Cajun” – Shorty LeBlanc – on original LP and CD, new remix from original master
“Fee Fee Poncho” – Sidney Brown and Jo-El Sonnier – on original LP and CD, new remix from original master
“Sugar Bee” – Cleveland Crochet and Jay Stutes – on original LP and CD, new remix from original master
“You’re So Fine”- Pee Wee Kershaw – new to collection
“My Girl of the Village” – Sidney Brown and Jo-El Sonnier – new to collection
“La Cuca Rochman” – Joe Bonsall – on original LP and CD, new unreleased edit
“Good Morning Blues” – Cleveland Crochet and Jay Stutes – on original LP and CD, new previously unreleased edit, remastered from original single master
“My Little Cabbage” – Shorty LeBlanc – on original LP and CD, remastered from original master
“Yard Dog” – Al Ferrier – on original LP and CD, remastered from original master
“Telephone Won’t Ring” – Boozoo Chavis – new to collection
“La Valse de Bo Sparkle” – LeRoy Broussard – new to collection
“Creole Song” – Joe Bonsall – new to collection
“Always There” – Geno Thibodeaux and Robert Bertrand – on original CD release, new remix by Brian Paulson
“My Blue Letter” – Jo-El Sonnier – on original CD release, new remix
“Lemonade Song” – LeRoy Broussard – new to collection
“Mois Cinquantas Sous (My Fifty Cents)” – Jo-El Sonnier & Robert Bertrand – on original CD release, alternate take, remastered from original master
“Bon Ton Roula” – Herman Guiee – on original CD release, remastered from original master
“Pauve Hobo (Poor Hobo)” – Joe Bonsall – new to collection
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