Doc Lou & The Roosters | Cock-A-Doodle Live – Album Review

Doc Lou and The Roosters – Cock-A-Doodle Live

Independent Release

http://www.docloublues.com

14 Tracks – 56 minutes

Doc Lou and his band make their home in the South of France. Enamored with the blues, he traveled around the US between 2010 and 2015 with extended stays in Louisiana and Mississippi where he met and hung out with numerous blues luminaries. He then formed his own band consisting of himself on lead vocals, harmonica and rhythm guitar, Jeff Hug on electric guitar and backing and lead vocals, and Mitch Geronimo on drums. Settling back into France, the band released two albums – Crowing Blues (2019) and Back to Louisiana (2021). The current album is a live recording of many of the songs from those two albums. The album explores the tradition of US southern music and particularly that from the bayous. The album consists of nine original songs and five covers recorded live at Chez Tonton, St. Aubin.

In 2021, Doc Lou & The Roosters won the Challenge Blues Francais  which led to their competing in the 2023 International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

The album opens with three covers, the first being Slim Harpo’s “Scratch My Back”, followed by Jimmy Reed’s “You Don’t Have to Go”, and Tommy Tuckers’ “High Heel Sneakers”. Doc’s harp work rings true throughout the songs with Jeff’s supporting guitar and Mitch’s steady drumbeat delivering a solid rhythm which dismisses the need for a bass player.

The first original song, “In the Wood” from their 2021 album, has a haunting guitar run with some spooky lyrics surrounding a graveyard story and perhaps a murder. Lou declares I am “Missing You”, a rocker from the same album. “I’m Free” from the 2019 album is another guitar driven rocker as Lou pulls out his harp and sings that he has “no more misery”.

“Back To Louisiana” gets things jumping with Lou’s harp coming out swinging followed by a proclamation of his love of the French Quarter, all the beautiful chicks, the food and generally reminiscing about his time in the state. “Bye Bye Baby” features Jeff on slide guitar as Lou declares ” I will not be back anymore”. “Bad Whiskey” and “Traveling Boy” are both from the 2019 album. The former again has Jeff out front on his harp with a boogie as he confronts his love of “cheap wine…bad whiskey…warm beer…rum and tequila”. The latter is a bouncy song about his travels as a young man in the US with mentions of Memphis and San Francisco.

The fourth cover is Jimmy Rogers’ “Walking by Myself” with Jeff’s guitar again being the lead for the song. As the title implies “Rock Groove Shake” from the 2021 album offers blues rock with Lou’s harp and Jeff’s guitar sharing the upfront sound. Lou says, “Ask Your Angels” “do it for me” from the 2019 album. The album ends with a rollicking cover of Louis Jordan’s “Early in The Morning”.

The album offers a nice mix of traditional guitar and harmonica blues. Lou’s vocals are generally clear, although his accent sometimes slides in on some phrasing.  An introduction at the beginning and a statement prior to the last track is in French.

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