VA - Later Alligator (Louisiana Rock'n'Roll) [2CD] (2012)

Fantastic Voyage continues its mission to unearth and collate America’s huge regional rock ‘n’ roll heritages by heading down to Louisiana for Later Alligator, a rare gumbo blend of Big Easy R&B, Cajun country, rampant blues-boogie and Bayou swing, served up over two discs brimming with lesser-heard originals and mouth-watering obscurities on CD for the first time.

Compiled with Wild Wax Show DJ ‘Jailhouse’ John Alexander and knowledgably annotated by Lucky Parker, the set deftly demonstrates the fabulous range of styles running rampant in the Pelican State in the 1950s-60s, kicking off and winding up with Louisiana’s most infamous son, Jerry Lee Lewis. The unmistakably rolling ‘Lewis Boogie’ was originally the flip of post-scandal statement, The Return Of Jerry Lee Lewis, while his version of Hank Williams’ ‘Jambalaya’ is the ultimate crowning pinch of gumbo spice on a set whose fellow rockers include ‘Suzie-Q’ titan Dale Hawkins, Bobby Charles [with the title track], Rod Bernard, Clarence Garlow, Roy Brown, Frankie Ford, Bobby Marchan, Fats Domino, Chris Kenner, Tibby Edwards, Johnny Ray Harris, Roy Montrell, Champion Jack Dupree, Mickey Gilley, Billy Blank, Ruckus Tyler, Lou Millet, Clarence ‘Bon Ton’ Garlow and many more. Several tracks are drawn from the local independent labels including Goldband, Jin, Ace, Ram and Vin, introducing a fervently attractive streak for record collectors as many are on CD for the first time.

As with all Fantastic Voyage expeditionary releases, the set’s allure is further hot-wired by oddities and curios, here including a 13-year-old Dolly Parton wailing ‘Puppy Love’ or the Cajun accordion swamp gas of Cleveland Crochet’s ‘Sugar Bee’. Strangest of all is Jay chevalier, crooning about the Cuban missile crisis over guitar and bongos before a major explosion at the end. There’s a tangible spirit and energy coursing through these tracks rarely found in today’s music which was even unique to the state of Louisiana back then; it’s own brand of spiced-up, cross-fertilising rock ‘n’ roll and country twang, all bathed in steamy swamp fever. To have so many towering examples gathered together on one set is cause for celebration and no-holds-barred whoopee.
Fantatastic Voyage