Bluesin' by the Bayou: I'm Not Jiving

Liner Note Author: Ian Saddler.
Apart from a handful of sides clustered toward the end of the collection, almost everything on Ace's 2016 Bluesin' by the Bayou: I'm Not Jiving -- the latest in their ongoing By the Bayou series, a collection that has run so long it's hard to keep count of the volumes, although this would be the third designated as strictly "Bluesin'" -- didn't see release until many years after its recording. Some of the cuts showed up on various collectors imprints in the '70s and '80s but only a handful of the sides actually came out when they were recorded: Chris Kenner's "Don't Let Her Pin That Charge on Me," Clarence Garlow's "I Feel Like Calling You," Boozoo Chavis' "Bye Bye Catin," and Henry Clement's "Late Hour Blues," to be specific. None of these were hits, which reemphasizes that this is an archival trawl, not a treasure trove of hits, and that's the good thing about it: it's a collection of swamp blues and Slim Harpo boogies, all distinguished by their cinematic murk and gritty rhythms, the very thing that makes this seem like a time machine back to the glory days of Louisiana juke joints. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine