Boogie Beasts – Don’t Be Mean – A Tribute to R.L. Burnside
Donor Productions
11 Tracks – 42 minutes
Boogie Beats are a Belgian blues rock group celebrating their 15th anniversary together based on the first album release, Wild Feeling with the Beasts, in 2011. In celebrating that anniversary, they decided to also pay tribute to famed Hill Country Blues artist R.L Burnside who would be celebrating his 100th birthday in 2026 (born in Lafayette County, Mississippi on November 23, 1926, died September 1, 2005). R. L. (alternately known as Robert Lee or Ruel Lee) moved to Holly Springs, where Mississippi Fred McDowell also lived and became his mentor.
The band consists of Jan Jaspers on guitar and vocals, Patrick Louis on guitar and vocals, Fabian Bernardo on harmonica, and Gert Servaes on drums, percussion, and piano. They are joined by guests, Duwayne Burnside, R.L.’s son, on two cuts; Kenny Brown, R.L.’s. guitarist for many years, on two cuts, and Luther Dickinson, band leader for the North Mississippi Allstars and former guitarist with The Black Keys, providing a contribution to the Hill Country legacy, and Philadelphia’s G. Love providing his own unique interpretation or “special sauce” as he likes to call it to the Hill Country.
With exception of one song, all were written or co-written by R.L. Burnsides. Kenny Brown was R.L.’s co-writer on three tracks. The album leads off with “Jumper on the Line”, a song first recorded by R.L. in 1967. Duwayne Burnside provides the vocals for the track. The band keeps some of the rhythms but offers their own unique sound while Duwayne provides the definitive Hill Country vocals as he states, “This White Lightnin’ done gone to my head”. 1993’s “Goin’ Down South” is one of R.L.’s best known songs and is given a standard but very robust approach as he tells her “I’m gonna leave you baby. Don’t care where you go” after he catches her with another man. Kenny Brown plays slide guitar on 1995’s “Skinny Woman”, as they declare “Don’t want a skinny woman, her meat don’t shake”.
Cedric Mae joins the band on guitar and backing vocals on the only non-R.L. Burnside track. “You Gotta Move” was written by Mississippi Fred McDowell and Rev. Gary Davis in 1965 and was recorded by Fred in the same year. As Fred was R.L.’s mentor, it is a fitting addition to the album. On “Peaches” from 1965, he says “Don’t your peaches, they look mellow way up in your tree.” “Heaven know they sweet. Every time I decide to climb your tree, baby, I wonder what makes you smile.” G. Love adds vocals, harmonica, additional lyrics, and a rap on “Shake ’em on Down” recorded in 1993 as he tells, “Me and my baby went to get some money. Well, she got some dum dum, she shoved him down, shook him down twice.”
“Poor Black Mattie” likely was written sometime in the 60’s, is featured in a video from 1984, and appears on an album in 1990, but the lyrics are shown as copyrighted in 1995. Go figure! He sings “Poor Black Mattie ain’t got a change of clothes. Girl got drunk, throwed her clothes outdoors”. Luther Dickinson plays slide guitar on 1997’s “Over the Hill” with dark lyrics citing, “There is nowhere to run when the reaper comes.” “What’s over there that I can’t see. Swear this world is a disease. All this pain but what does it mean. Tryna maintain till God sets me free.” Duwayne Burnside takes the vocal lead again on “Fireman Ring the Bell” from 1994 as it is noted that he “Spent 90 days in jail, man., my face turned to the wall. All I could hear is my baby call.”
Kenny Brown returns on slide guitar for “Snake Drive” from 1996 as they sing “Love in the devil but he won’t get me”. The album concludes with 1997’s “Alice Mae”, a final break-up song citing “Verbally, we’d agreed it was over. And we were through. I’m trying to compose myself, but I just can’t get over you girl.”
When R.L. Burnside recorded many of these songs, his instrumentation was frequently limited – many times just the man with his acoustic guitar. The Boogie Beats leave no doubt in the integrity of the of the Hillside sound, but delivers an expanded full band that only adds depth to the songs but never takes away its raw style. The result is a viable cross section of both the anniversary of the Boogie Beats and a solid homage to the legacy of R.L. Burnside. Fans of the Hill Country sound will not be disappointed with this release.
