“Bayou Boys”
Eddy Raven
Written by Frank J. Myers, Eddy Raven, and Troy Seals
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
November 18, 1989
This is Cajun “Chattahoochee” and I am here for it.
Eddy Raven’s final No. 1 single to date is an autobiographical gem that celebrates his Louisiana upbringing, and it’s a fun contrast to the later Alan Jackson hit because apparently Raven had better game back in the day.
Another nineties connection I hear is to Hal Ketchum, with the specific, detailed nostalgic imagery delivering the same wistful appeal of “Small Town Saturday Night.” Having now heard all of Raven’s No. 1 singles, which just seemed to get better over the years, I’m wondering if it’s just those three letters on the CD cover of Temporary Sanity that slowed him down at radio. Producer Barry Beckett was never on the cutting edge of recording technology, and him still recording on analog in 1989 might’ve made his records sound dated next to his up and coming peers.
Because one thing is for sure: this man kept making great music. His albums from Universal/Liberty/Capitol are harder to find than his independent work, and a late switch to digital recording wasn’t enough to save the quite good Right For the Flight album that became his major label swan song in 1991. I strongly recommend his later work, especially his bluegrass takes on some of his older hits accompanied by Carolina Road.
“Bayou Boys” gets an A.
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Eddy Raven saves his best for last! No disrespect whatsoever for the rest of his songbook but this one is just in a different league entirely when it comes to defining his milieu and carving out a sound that was all his own. The comparison to “Chattahoochee” is a good one. Just as Jackson’s song captures the culture of rural Georgia, the listener can almost smell the shrimp boil in the air when taking in Raven’s Cajun jam. Whenever I crave that Cajun sound, this one is near or at the top of my You Tube playlist.
Raven had so much momentum at this point and it’s hard to fathom that this would be the song that would end it all. I’m eternally grateful to my hometown radio station for keeping this one alive with recurrent play through the 90s and into the 2000s as it did with several of Eddy Raven’s other classics.
Grade: A
FYI the link for this song isn’t lit up on the main page. I only found it because of the “next:” listing at the bottom of the “If Tomorrow Never Comes” entry.
Raven seemed to exist in some alternate country universe in the ’80’s . He was rooted in the traditions of country music but was seemingly excused from the expectations and trappings of the times. He just did his own thing and did it exceptionally well regardless of trends or genre tendencies.
In this performance, he offers us danceable details. Aldo and Marie feel real and knowable.
This sex-haunted song is succinct, simple and celebratory
Raven’s charisma and charm go a long way towards makings this work.
Imagine how badly it could come off in the hands of a star like T.G. Shepherd from earlier in the decade.