Blue Ridge Rangers – Jambalaya (On The Bayou) 1973

Sorry if you are seeing this twice…I can’t blame WordPress for this…I scheduled it for yesterday…this morning. I’m posting it again.

Who are all of those shadows on the cover? That would be the one-man band of John Fogerty who played everything on the album. It was released in 1973.

John wanted to pay tribute to the country artists he admired so he released this album right after CCR broke up. Instead of going about it the traditional country-music way…with a bunch of musicians sitting together in a room and performing the music live as the tapes roll – Fogerty played every single instrument on The Blue Ridge Rangers himself.

Jambalaya is a song written and recorded by country music singer Hank Williams that was first released in 1952. Named for a Creole and Cajun dish, jambalaya, it spawned numerous cover versions.

 

Jambalaya (On The Bayou)

Goodbye, Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh.
Me gotta go, pole the pirogue down the bayou.
My Yvonne, sweetest one, me oh my oh.
Son of a gun, gonna have big fun on the bayou.

[CHORUS:]
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo
‘Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio.
Pick guitar, fill fruit jar and be gayo,
Son of a gun, gonna have big fun on the bayou.

Thibodeaux, Fontaineaux, the place is buzzin’,
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen.
Dress in style, go hog wild, and be gayo.
Son of a gun, gonna have big fun on the bayou.

[CHORUS:]
Oh, guitar!

[CHORUS]

Oh, Lord!
Hang tight, ooh Lord!
Ah, take it out.
He’s comin’, ah!

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

32 thoughts on “Blue Ridge Rangers – Jambalaya (On The Bayou) 1973”

  1. The Blue Ridge Rangers album in 73 and the self titled John Fogerty album in 75 are both great – as great as CCR. They were both very hard to find for many years due to the bitter lawsuits between Fogerty and his label, Fantasy, and the label’s president Saul Zaentz. As great as he was, John stopped working for many year after the label shelved his next album.

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    1. His Hoodoo album…there is some good songs on there from 76. I’ve heard a few selected cuts from bootlegs and they are not bad.

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    1. Our band followed this version…maybe a little more energized…but not too much… the guitar player would announce it…”here is Hank Williams on speed”… this is my goto version.

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  3. Fogerty’s an amazing and talented performer. His version was a little too long. Believe it or not, I put Hank Williams’ live recordings, along with some other albums, on a flash drive and have been listening to him this week while running errands. Good choice for today, Max!

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  5. Wow, I had no idea John Fogerty put out this album. This sounds great!

    I knew in addition to the guitar John plays keyboards, but I was not aware he evidently also can play the drums – perhaps not exactly like Ginger Baker or Bonzo, but certainly credible enough!

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    1. He did all the instruments on Centerfield also….played all of the instruments. He did a great job on this one.

      Christian I got a post for you to look at if you don’t mind…When I posted it I thought of you. Bluesy and a female band I never heard of…they could play with the big boys. They played in the place of Deep Purple one night.

      https://powerpop.blog/2020/06/19/fanny-aint-that-peculiar/

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    1. I do like Emmylou Harris’s version…almost anything she covers is gold…
      Fogerty could have taken a country turn…I’m glad he didn’t but he could have.

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    1. Off topic Deke…I like asking before I do it but in the next couple of weeks I was going to post a question….. Who formed your musical tastes? I was going to mention you if that is cool…I always like asking…after that conversation we had the other day.

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  9. Fine song I remember from my childhood though I wouldn’t have known the name of the artist (Blue Ridge Runners) til last few years when I began writing about music. Probably assumed it was CCR if I ever thought about it back then.

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    1. He did a good job especially by himself. In 13 years after CCR broke up he only released 2 albums until Centerfield…because…well you know this…the fighting with the record company and band members.

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    1. He knew those songs inside out and didn’t copy them but just put his spin on them without losing a thing…you are right…he turned me on to some of these songs before I heard the originals.

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      3. I can’t stand Hank Williams. There is only one song he ever did that I can stand to listen to…Your Cheatin’ Heart. Fogerty singing this song like him, OY.

        Yeah. No. Sorry. If a song makes my hair hurt, my teeth itch and my sphincter draw up, I gotta turn the dial…or move the needle…or fast forward…or leave the room…or the house…or drive off a cliff… Make it stop! 😫

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      4. Oh I think Hank one of the best songs in history…I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry…that one is like Silent Night to me.

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      2. He was so down to earth and then he would write I’m So Lonesome I could Cry and those lyrics are incredible. He was a complete package.

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