Doug Kershaw - Introduction to Doug Kershaw (CD)

All Music Guide

A short time after Doug and Rusty Kershaw parted ways as a performing duo, and right before he signed a longterm recording deal with Warner Brothers in 1969, Doug Kershaw tracked several sides for Texan Huey P. Meaux's Crazy Cajun label. These sessions ranged all over the place, from straight country and covers of Creedence Clearwater Revival and Sir Douglas Quintet hits, to a handful of Kershaw's trademark wild and ragged bayou stomps, all of which are represented here on An Introduction to Doug Kershaw, an anthology of Crazy Cajun tracks. Kershaw isn't exactly an artist who could be said to have evolved his sound at all, and his jerky, wooly approach to singing, and his manic, kinetic fiddle sawing means that almost all of his recordings work along the same fault line, and these sides are no exception. Highlights include a revival of Doug and Rusty's 1958 country hit at Hickory Records, "Hey Mae," a looseasagoose "Down South in New Orleans," a pair of Sir Douglas Quintet covers, "The... Rains Came," a fascinating, lurching "Mendocino," and a live version of Doug's best song, the autobiographical "Louisiana Man," which was a deserving hit in 1961 in its original version. Edsel's 1999 Kershaw anthology called Crazy Cajun Recordings has a few more tracks than this one but lacks a version of "Louisiana Man," so it's pretty much a tossup between the two sets. The earlier Doug and Rusty Kershaw recordings on Hickory Records are certainly worth checking out, too, particularly if you're curious about what an unhinged version of the Everly Brothers might sound like if they had grown up Cajun down on that bayou. - Steve Leggett, All Music Guide Read more Less