Who Stole My Monkey?
| Who Stole My Monkey? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1999 | |||
| Recorded | September 1998 | |||
| Studio | Dockside | |||
| Genre | Zydeco | |||
| Label | Rounder | |||
| Producer | Scott Billington | |||
| Boozoo Chavis chronology | ||||
| ||||
Who Stole My Monkey? is an album by the American musician Boozoo Chavis, released in 1999.[1][2] He is credited with his band, the Majic Sounds (billed on the cover as the Magic Sounds). Who Stole My Monkey? was the first zydeco album to include a Parental Advisory label.[3] Chavis supported the album with a North American tour.[4]
Production
Recorded at Dockside Studio, in Maurice, Louisiana, the album was produced by Scott Billington.[5] Chavis's son Charles sang lead on "Sock It to Me" and "Marksville Slide".[6] The album packaging advises that the concluding two songs, "Uncle Bud" and "Deacon Jones", are not suitable for airplay due to their X-rated lyrics; the songs were originally released as "under-the-counter" 45s.[6][7] "Lucille" is a version of the Clifton Chenier song.[8]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [9] |
| Orlando Sentinel | [6] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [10] |
| Tucson Citizen | A[11] |
The Charleston Daily Mail wrote that Chavis's "chugging, circular, single-chord style has proved to be all but inimitable."[12] The Orlando Sentinel said that "Boozoo, [bassist Classie] Ballou and guitarist Carlton 'Guitar' Thomas create complicated harmonic structures with Thomas sometimes echoing Boozoo's phrases, sometimes embellishing them, sometimes supporting them with simple chords and sometimes developing miniature counter-melodies."[6] The Wall Street Journal determined that Chavis's "in-your-face style marks a throwback to a day when musical intensity mattered more than pristine technique or production values."[13]
The Chicago Tribune stated that Chavis "bypasses familiar verse-chorus-verse structures and 4/4 tempos for old-fashioned, cycling riffs and off-kilter, two-step grooves."[14] The San Diego Union-Tribune determined that "his earthy, no-fuss music combines Creole and Cajun traditions with blues, without diluting any of them."[15] The Washington Post opined that the title track gets "mired in the same old drum-bass-rubboard boom-scratcha boom-scratcha of a dozen other zydeco songs."[16] The Tucson Citizen praised the "reedy squeezebox, good-time vocal delivery and playful way with the lyric."[11]
AllMusic wrote that "Boozoo lays down tunes just like he was working a dance in Louisiana rather than making a record in the sterile confines of a recording studio."[9]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Dance All Night" | |
| 2. | "Who Stole My Monkey?" | |
| 3. | "Marksville Slide" | |
| 4. | "I'm Going Away to Stay" | |
| 5. | "I Went to the Dance" | |
| 6. | "Oh Yeah" | |
| 7. | "I Want to Go Home" | |
| 8. | "Lucille" | |
| 9. | "Ay, Cayenne" | |
| 10. | "Baby Please Don't Go" | |
| 11. | "Valse de Derniere Fois" | |
| 12. | "Sock It to Me" | |
| 13. | "Bottle Up and Go" | |
| 14. | "Allons a Lafayette" | |
| 15. | "Uncle Bud" | |
| 16. | "Deacon Jones" |
References
- ^ Orteza, Arsenio (May 11, 1999). "Eat their poussiere". The Village Voice. Vol. 44, no. 18. pp. 119, 120.
- ^ Hadley, Frank-John (September 1999). "Who Stole My Monkey?". DownBeat. Vol. 66, no. 9. p. 68.
- ^ Thomas, Rob (July 8, 1999). "Spotlight: Boozoo Chavis". Rhythm. Wisconsin State Journal. p. 15.
- ^ "New World News". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 59, no. 624. June 28, 1999. p. 33.
- ^ Billington, Scott (2022). Making Tracks: A Record Producer’s Southern Roots Music Journey. University Press of Mississippi.
- ^ a b c d Gettelman, Parry (April 2, 1999). "Same Old Boozoo, and That's Great". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 10.
- ^ Rollins, Ron (June 25, 1999). "Words come back to haunt him". Dayton Daily News. p. 1C.
- ^ Campbell, Gavin James (Fall 1999). "Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds Who Stole My Monkey?". Southern Cultures. 5 (3): 92.
- ^ a b "Who Stole My Monkey? Review by Cub Koda". AllMusic. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
- ^ The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin Books. 2006. p. 117.
- ^ a b Buckley, Daniel (July 15, 1999). "Leg-shakin' zydeco and electric Hendrix magic". Calendar. Tucson Citizen. p. 21.
- ^ Lipton, Michael (March 11, 1999). "Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds 'Who Stole My Monkey?'". Charleston Daily Mail. p. 2D.
- ^ Havighurst, Craig (April 19, 1999). "Zydeco Picks Up the Beat". The Wall Street Journal. p. A20.
- ^ Reger, Rick (July 9, 1999). "Asking Zydeco's Crucial Questions". Friday. Chicago Tribune. p. 26.
- ^ Varga, George (September 9, 1999). "Street Scene '99". Entertainment. The San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 30.
- ^ Judge, Mark Gauvreau (January 21, 2001). "From the Bayou, Beaucoup Boozoo". The Washington Post. p. G2.