The album opens with a song titled “Time To Make A Change.” I think most folks are looking for some change in their lives these days, and some change in the country. This song, however, begins with a more immediate and personal concern, a leaking roof. “Water’s pouring down on me, it’s driving me insane/I’ve got buckets on the floor here, towels all around.” It could be a literal leaking roof, or a metaphor, it’s up to how you hear it. Amedee’s delivery is smooth at times, and cool, but he can let a rawness come into his voice when he desires. There is a somewhat relaxed vibe to this song, which is really nice. And the track features some excellent guitar work, as well as some cool stuff on keys. “Now it’s time to make a move, to fix things/Because it’s our turn now, yeah/It’s a chance to step it up/As the winds begin to howl.” (That last line of course reminds me of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower.”) That’s followed by “Going Fishing,” which has a fun, delightful rhythm. It tackles the light subject of fishing, and does so in a playful way. “I got great big worms, yes, and little bitty grubs.” Yup, nothing serious here. But sometimes we just need a break from all that serious stuff. This song, by the way, contains a variation of that perennial blues opening line “I woke up this morning,” here delivered as “I’m waking up early in the morning.” Here Amedee’s vocals have a rawer sound. This track features some wonderful stuff on piano and more excellent work on guitar.
“I Need A Creole Woman” has a totally delicious opening instrumental section. The guitar is just perfect in this incredibly cool introduction. I suppose it should come as no surprise that the music has a high degree of coolness, since the song’s subject is a Creole woman. There is a playful aspect to this song too, heard in lines like “Tuesday you know we had leftovers, that’s all right/I like ‘em better the next day anyway.” I particularly like the way he adds, “that’s all right,” commenting on the action. I also love the song’s bass line. “Make it sound, make it feel, make it taste just like New Orleans.” Oh yes, this music certainly does that. Jojjo Wight takes over on lead vocals for “Miss You Baby.” There is a hint of country to her delivery at a couple of moments. This track also contains some seriously cool guitar work. I love that classic sound. “Please baby tell me, tell me when this will end/‘Cause I miss your sweet lovin’, darling, I want you home again.” And that spoken “Let me tell you about it” is perfect, as is the way it leads directly to a delicious lead on guitar. Ah, it is the guitar that is telling it then. So good!
Amedee is back on vocals for “A5 Boogie.” Does he say “refrigelator” near the beginning? Weird. Well, no matter, I suppose. This song has a classic boogie sound, and is another track to mention fishing. This time, the waters they were going to fish are found to be polluted, and this song actually has an environmental message, heard in lines like “Recycle all your garbage and trash/To reduce the pollution” and “Gotta have a bigtime solution/To this dirty world we live in/Recycle your plastic and your garbage, and recycle your metal.” That is followed by “She Don’t Know,” which has a good, mean vibe and features some wonderful stuff on keys. Then Jojjo Wight sings lead on “Dead Snake Blues.” She delivers a cool, loose performance. This is kind of an odd song in which she smells something bad and thinks it might be a mouse, but instead finds it’s a dead snake. “Well, I go into the snake room, I got to take me a look,” she sings. Wait, she has a snake room? Is that a thing? First I’ve heard of it, but I haven’t been down to Louisiana in a long time. Perhaps listings there are like, “3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1 snake room.” What do I know? This track contains some great stuff on guitar.
The album’s sole cover is Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927” from his great Good Old Boys album. This song was covered a lot in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. These guys do a good job with it, delivering a passionate and moving rendition. That’s followed by “Cain Snake,” a song that was written by Amedee “Creole Man” Frederick. Its opening lines are quite similar to the opening lines of “Crawling King Snake”: “I’m the creeping, crawling cain snake/Baby, you know I rule my den.” This song has a classic blues sound, and you can be certain that there is plenty of great guitar work here. The album wraps up with “We Need Love,” a song written by Amedee “Creole Man” Frederick and Amedee “A5” Frederick. This one has a sweeter, soulful vibe. “We need love in our souls/We need love in our schools/We need love, love, love in our hearts.” Indeed. Later in the song, Amedee “A5” Frederick sings, “You can change, it’s not too late/Even if you feel like there’s too much on your plate/We need love, love, love.” I do wonder if people can change. It’s something I’ve wondered my whole life, but especially in the last eight years. I keep thinking a certain segment of the population will wake up, but I’m wrong every time. Now I don’t think those people can change. I hope I’m wrong. I hope they change before November. “We need love, we need love, we need love.”
CD Track List
- Time To Make A Change
- Going Fishing
- I Need A Creole Woman
- Miss You Baby
- A5 Boogie
- She Don’t Know
- Dead Snake Blues
- Louisiana 1927
- Cain Snake
- We Need Love
Pontchartrain Shakers was released on April 19, 2024 on Southland Records.
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