Don Rich Bayou Soul CD

Not to be confused with the late Don Rich, who was the fiddle star of Buck Owens & His Buckaroos, this Rich is a second-generation guitar player from southern Louisiana. Over the course of six previous albums, Rich has mostly stayed within the swamp pop lines, but Bayou Soul is a stylistic side trip. The majority of the album consists of vintage soul and R&B covers done with very little Cajun influence, such as Otis Redding's "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)," William Bell's "You Don't Miss Your Water," and Larry Williams' "Bony Maronie." The last of these songs is a particular disappointment, because the New Orleans-based Williams' song seems like it would lend itself nicely to an accordion-led recasting, but Rich's anonymous, horn-based arrangement sounds more like the work of a competent but not particularly inspired hotel cover band. The album closes with a set of Rich originals culminating in by far the album's best work, a bilingual torch ballad for organ and voice called "Hey Mom," dedicated to Rich's late mother. Sung with more conviction and deeper soul than the merely adequate performances that came before, "Hey Mom" is a timely reminder of Rich's talents that unfortunately comes at the end of a record that tends to hide them. ~ Stewart Mason

Personnel: Don Rich (vocals, keyboards, drums); Todd Stelly (guitar); Jason Parfait (saxophone, background vocals); James Spells (trumpet); Lynn Blanchard Jr., Mike Richard (bass guitar); Jimmy Adams, Boo Boo Richard, Joe Gary, Todd Richard (drums); Travis Thibodaux (background vocals); Bart St. Germaine.