A singular sound that is immediately distinguishable in the blues is what is recognized “swamp blues,” and there was no single record label that more ideally offered and was identified with the style and principal musicians who presented this variety than that of Nashville, Tennessee’s Excello Records.  Nashville record store owner Ernie Young originally began Nashboro Records in 1951 to offer gospel releases, and then one year later in 1952 commenced Excello Records to offer a host of musical designs including blues, R&B, rock, and yet more gospel music.  Back in the 1940s, Young forged something of a collaboration with the powerful 50,000-watt Nashville-based radio outlet WLAC due to the variety of music the station put out over the airwaves, embracing a strategy of playing music that pleased a blurred racial boundary to appeal to the greatest cross-section of listeners as possible. 

Excello’s blues roster included popular artists such as Lightnin’ Slim, Slim Harpo, Jerry McCain, Lonesome Sundown, Lazy Lester, Katie Webster, Tabby Thomas, Whispering Smith, Boogie Jake, Ramblin’ Hi Harris, Henry Gray, Ole Sonny Boy, Silas Hogan, and Guitar Gable, among many others.  The delicious swamp blues sound that made Excello Records famous is imprinted by guitar proficiency that is basic yet highly effectual due to its boogie constructs not much different than those musically campaigned by blues giant Jimmy Reed.  Tremolo-laden guitar exertions were also employed (an adaptation effect that essentially modifies the intensity of the instrument’s signal).  Additionally, a studio procedure of generating an eerie echo effect fashioned a kind of ominous structure on many records, all the while also using shuffle rhythms, forceful harmonica segments, and spartan drumming.   Under the guidance of Excello Records’ renowned producer Jay Miller, the die was shaped as to the label’s swamp blues sound, one that persists and fascinates to this day.

Without a doubt, what became known as the swamp blues sound is uniquely and enormously infectious.  To further and succinctly define swamp blues’ influences, it seems best to frame the genre as a brilliant blues spin-off that unites the broad appealing factors of zydeco, Cajun, soul, New Orleans, and blues inputs into a tasty fusion of simplified guitar designs, economical constructions, and meager percussion. 

For the interested, below are a number of swamp blues artists and titles of their works that one interested in swamp blues may want to check-out to study the exceptional musical form.

Swamp Blues Artists And Certain Of Their Song Titles

• Slim Harpo – “I’m A King Bee”
• Lightning Slim – “I’m Warning You Baby”
• Lonesome Sundown – “Gonna Stick To You Baby”
• Lazy Lester – “Sugar Coated Love”
• Katie Webster & Ashton Savoy – “Baby Baby”
• Jimmy Anderson – “Naggin’”
• Joe Johnson – “Alimonia Blues”
• Sylvester Buckley – “Mumblin’ Blues”
• Clarence Garlow – “Foggy Blues”
• Boogie Jake – “Early In The Morning”
• Silas Hogan – “My Baby Walked Out”
• Whispering Smith – “Baby Left Me This Morning”
• Calhoun – “Hey Mattie”
• Ramblin’ Hi Harris – “Early One Morning”
• Leroy Washington – “Wild Cherry”
• Tabby Thomas – “Hoodoo Party”
• Henry Gray – “Midnight Dream”

With all the emphasis so far on swamp blues, there was another notable and exciting swamp music style that emerged, one known as swamp pop.  Also arising in the 1950s, swamp pop was a flavorsome meld of country and western, R&B, conventional French Louisiana melodic sways, and a bountiful mix of New Orleans’ numerous influences.  Swamp pop was centered in the Acadiana region of Louisiana, that southcentral section of the state.  Swamp pop featured emotionally dripping lyrics, often dealing with unrequited love, with instrumentation including roiling pianos, horn sections that added drama and depth, firm rhythmic emphasis, simplistic, yet wholly nourishing, single-string guitar runs, and meandering bass lines.  It is also important to note that the southeast expanse of Texas was also a swamp pop hotbed.

Names such as Rod Benard, Warren Storm, Bobby Charles, Jimmy Clanton, Joe Barry, Buck Rogers & The Jets, Randy And The Rockets, Johnnie Allen, Clint West, and a host of others brought their swamp pop sensibilities to a welcoming and fervently dedicated record-buying public.

The other evening, I pulled a collection of superb swamp pop music from my collection, and sat back with a cocktail in hand and enjoyed the ride over the panorama of its 30 selections.  That Ace Records CD is entitled Cookie & The Cupcakes – Kings Of Swamp Pop (Ace Records CDCHD 142).  I so very greatly enjoyed my swamp pop journey that I feel it is time that I provide a brief overview of the band and its history.

Cookie & The Cupcakes’ journey actually started under another band name in the very early 1950s, that being The Boogie Ramblers.  The band was based in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  The group was led by Shelton Dunaway, a vocalist and saxophone player.  Huey “Cookie” Thierry came on board, trading vocal and saxophone work with Dunaway.  Additional original band members included yet another saxophone player named Sidney “Hot Rod” Reynaud, guitarist Marshall LeDee, Joe “Blue” Landy on the bass, Drummer Ivory Jackson, and trumpeter and piano man Ernest Jacobs.  Eventually, the band grew to eight members, total.

The band’s proficiencies were of such a high quality that they were quickly charged with being the house band at the Lake Charles hotspot The Moulin Rouge Club.  Continuing to be the star attraction at The Moulin Rouge Club where performances were always labeled as “dances,” The Boogie Ramblers were the band to enjoy on a night out. 

So popular were The Boogie Ramblers that they found significant popularity in the aforementioned Louisiana and Texas regions.  They also enjoyed prominent performance engagements in various New Orleans hotels. 

As The Boogie Ramblers were becoming the kings of the Louisiana/Texas music scene, they commenced to marketing themselves to various recording companies in an attempt to get a record out to seize upon their broad popularity and to increase their chances to further market themselves to new performing venues.

In actuality, the band was already beholden to the Goldband Records label, one owned by Eddie Shuler, as they had signed with the imprint in 1952.  However, no releases on the label had occurred.  As such, the band was bound and frustrated at the same time.

Finally in 1955, Goldband released a 45rpm with “Cindy Lou”/”Such As Love” with Shelton Dunaway on vocals (#45-G-1130).  A 78rpm version was also released.  Interestingly, Shuler recorded close to 20 selections by the group, but only issued the two sides mentioned.

The Boogie Ramblers became so successful, largely upon the merits of their dynamic “live” shows, that they became the opening act on tours for the likes of rock-n-roll and R&B greats Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino.

In 1956, Thierry assumed the front man role for the band, with the group then becoming known as Cookie & The Boogie Ramblers.  There are alternating accounts of how the band then went on to be known as Cookie & The Cupcakes.  One version has it that a shoeshine boy jokingly referred to them as Cookie & The Cupcakes, and as such they decided to go with the band name.  Another account suggests that an audience member yelled the name out and the group adopted it.  The truth may never be known.

Without a doubt, the song most closely and rightfully associated with Cookie & The Cupcakes is “Mathilda,” a song that the band had been performing beginning in 1957.  The song became one of the favorites of their “live” performances.  The tune encapsulated the individual and collective talents of the band, and with Thierry’s deep and soulful singing and its overall swaying rhythmic and melancholy feel, its release in 1958 on the Khoury’s Records label (KH-703) saw thousands of copies of the 45rpm (“Mathilda”/”Married Life,”) being sold.  Many felt, and still do, that Thierry’s teary singing is the stuff of high art.  George Khoury, owner of the label, was a Lake Charles record store owner who got the record made at the studios of KAOK 1400 AM, a Lake Charles radio station.  The Judd label went on to release “Mathilda” on a national basis.  Interestingly, the Judd label was owned by Judd Phillips, the brother of Sam Phillips of Sun Records fame.

By 1959, “Mathilda” had made an impressive march up the record charts reaching as high as #47 on the important Billboard pop chart.  Due to the side’s success, it had the twofold effect of introducing swamp pop across the nation, and it became for all intents and purposes the unofficial swamp pop anthem, both results only clearing the way for other artists to capitalize on the genre’s unique sound.

Also interesting for Cookie & The Cupcakes is that in 1958 they were the backing band on a song that realized a high stratum, one entitled “Sea Of Love,” a release by Phil Phillips And The Twilights, a song that the powerhouse Mercury Records imprint picked up and distributed nationally, with the side eventually achieving a #1 perch on Billboard’s R&B chart. 

Moving from the 1950s into the 1960s, Cookie & The Cupcakes continued to enjoy enthusiastic audiences and gained even more renown for their “live” shows, and continued to record 45rpms, notably for the Lake Charles Lyric Records label, and while not as commercially viable as “Mathilda,” they were of uniformly good quality, with “Got You On My Mind,” a 1963 release on the Jin Records label (#1012) seeing success in reaching #100 on the Hot 100 Billboard chart in May of 1963.

However, as is known, things don’t always stay the same, and in 1965, Theirry (aka Cookie) suddenly left southern Louisiana and moved to Los Angeles, California.  Cookie & The Cupcakes were without their front man.  But this was not to last for long, as Lil’ Alfred (Alfred Babino), a star on the Louisiana music scene whose 1960 smash hit “Walkin’ Down The Aisle” on Khoury’s Records (#726) under the name Little Alfred And The Berrycups made him noteworthy, joined the band.  He was known for being a dynamic showman, and the ideal person to carry on the front man duties of the band.

Ernest Jacobs assumed the bandleader role for Cookie & The Cupcakes and the band soldiered on, but by the early 1970s the group had run its course with musical preferences changing, and the assemblage disbanded.

But an amazing occurrence played out in 1992.  Ernest Jacobs discovered after all the intervening years the now somewhat disabled Thierry was still alive, though, he was able to be mobile with the aid of a walking cane.  As a result, Cookie & The Cupcakes reunited with Theirry, Jacobs, Dunaway, Reynaud, LeDee, and Lil Alfred, and together they brought their famous swamp pop sound to very welcoming blues festival audiences, including a memorable overseas show at Blues Estafette in The Netherlands.

However, Thierry passed away in 1997, and the band continued on with Lil Alfred out front, primarily playing shows in Louisiana and Texas.  Lil’ Alfred passed away in 2006.

Whether it’s swamp pop or swamp blues, the irresistible sounds of both are to be explored and savored.  Cookie & The Cupcakes played a major role in the rise of swamp pop as a widely accepted musical genre.

Both The Boogie Ramblers and Cookie & The Cupcakes musical competencies should be valued by all blues enthusiasts.  Below are collections that highlight their broad talents.  All are highly recommended.

• Cookie & The Cupcakes – Kings Of Swamp Pop (Ace Records CDCHD 142) – CD
• Cookie & The Cupcakes – The Legendary Cookie & The Cupcakes (Goldband Records GRPL-7757) – LP
• Various Artists – Louisiana Swamp Blues – JSP Records (JSP77180) – CD
• Various Artists – On Bended Knee (The Birth Of Swamp Pop) – Great Voices Of The Century (GVC 2033) – CD