One of the pioneers of mixing New Orleans R&B with early rock and roll was Frankie Ford (1939-2015), who became a local legend and one of the progenitors of what eventually became known as “Swamp Rock”. This sound was a major influence on English bands like the Beatles, who incorporated it into their own music before importing it back tot he US during the British Invasion of 1963. He had a rich and rowdy voice, filled with energy, and even had a top hit with the infectious “Sea Cruise”. But as this 30 song cd demonstrates, he had as much energy and drive as fellow Louisiana rockers like Little Richard and Gary US Bonds, even teaming with Mac Rebennack (aka “Dr. John”) for a handful of tunes here.
His own material besides the big hit includes the hilarious “Alimony” and the hoot of “You Talk Too Much” along with a poppish take of “Time After Time” and the shuffling “Seventeen”. He’s teamed up also with fellow Crescent City legends like saxist Red Tyler and pianist Huey Smith, and the band wallops out “Saturday Night Fish Fry” and sounds like Bond on a sweaty “Watchdog”. A slice of Bourbon Street is served up like a Po’ Boy here.