Swamp pop
Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French Louisiana musical influences. Although a fairly obscure genre, swamp pop maintains a large audience in its south Louisiana and southeast Texas homeland, and it has acquired a small but passionate cult following in the United Kingdom, and Northern Europe[1]
Swamp pop
1950s, Acadiana region, Louisiana, United States
Legacy[edit]
From 1950s to 1960s, swamp pop songs have appeared in the Billboard Top 40. While swamp pop drew heavily on New Orleans rhythm and blues, it reciprocated by making a detectable impact on songs including Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee"(number 1, 1959), and Clarence "Frogman" Henry's "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do" (number 4, 1961)[12] (Bobby Charles compositions). Swamp pop also left its imprint on the related but distinct genre known as "swamp blues", including Slim Harpo's "Rainin' in My Heart".[13] Bobby Charles released the album Bobby Charles (1972) that included "Small Town Talk".[14]
Leon Russell, Delaney & Bonnie, Dale Hawkins, Tony Joe White, John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival were influenced by swamp pop.[15] Swamp pop's impact on popular music is heard in the Rolling Stones' cover of Barbara Lynn's "You'll Lose a Good Thing" and "Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin')", the Honeydrippers' rendition of Phil Phillips' "Sea of Love",[16] Elvis Presley's cover of Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy",[17] and even The Beatles' swamp-inspired "Oh! Darling".
Swamp pop influenced Tejano music, particularly the recordings of Freddy Fender's early swampy songs "Before The Next Teardrop Falls" and "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" in 1975. South Louisiana and southeast Texas audiences generally consider Fender a full-fledged swamp pop musician.[18]
Although swamp pop began a slow decline with the onslaught of the mid-1960s British Invasion, the genre continues to draw devoted fans to south Louisiana and southeast Texas festivals and nightclubs. Some younger non-swamp musicians, such as Cajun artist Zachary Richard[19] and C. C. Adcock, have acknowledged a strong swamp pop influence.[20]