L' lAmour Ou la Folie
Beausoleil
Rhino / Wea
| List Price: |
$11.98 |
| Amazon Price: |
$10.99 |
| Lowest New Price: |
$8.96 |
| Lowest Used Price: |
$3.99 |
| Total New: |
6 |
| Total Used: |
16 |
DVD Details:
- Starring:
- Director:
- Format:
- Rated:
- Studio: Rhino / Wea
- Theatrical Release Date: Dec 31, 1969
- DVD Release Date: Jan 14, 1997
- Run Time:
- ASIN: B0000033Y5
- UPC: 081227262228
- Sales Rank: 38455
Editorial Review from Amazon.com essential recording:
Recorded shortly after Beausoleil celebrated their 20th anniversary, IL'Amour ou la Folie/I ("Love or Folly") finds them at the height of their confident, highly spirited, and considerably unstagnant powers. By now the sextet transcends the dancehall, possessing the ability to transform nearly any traditional Cajun, Creole, or French tune into high art while preserving a clear sonic bloodline back to its roots. Guests Richard Thompson, clarinetist Dr. Michael White, and lap-steel guitarist Bessyl Duhon are lagniappe on a record that encompasses everything from happy and sad old-timey waltzes, two-steps, and ballads, to spry "newgrass" originals like Michael Doucet's "Newz Reel." i--Richard Gehr/i
Amazon Customer Reviews:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Fantastic modern music from a Cajun French perspective, 2008-01-05
From the wry lyrics and joyous melody of the title cut ("Love or Folly") to the heartfelt slow-dance sadness of Les Blues De Creve De Faim ("The Hurting with Hunger Blues"), Beausoleil's musicians again demonstrate their enormous range. Born out of traditional Cajun-Creole folk, the group has raised old-time Louisiana French folk songs to artistic heights few down-home bands have achieved. Beausoleil is the dynamic rhythm and lead guitary of David Doucet, brother Michael Doucet's alternately dizzying and passionate fiddle and strong lead vocals, Jimmy Breaux's virtuoso accordion, backed by dead-on percussion of Billy Ware and Jimmy Alesi.
br /The guest musicians include Guitarist Richard Thompson, Augie Meyers, saxophonist Harry Simoneaux, Josh Graves on dobro, Murnel Babineaux on pedal steel, pianist Dave Pellicciaro, Tommy Comeaux's mandolin, and accordionist/steel guitarist Bessyl Duhon.
br /You get a some old-time Cajun, a little "newgrass," some Caribbean spice, a Parisian-flavored melody, and the most danceable and toe-tappable TV news theme ever broadcast (Newz Reel really is the theme of the nightly newscast in Lafayette, LA).
br /If you already know Beausoleil, you'll have a hard time deciding if this isn't the best of all of their studio albums. If you don't know Beausoleil, the first Grammy winning Cajun band, this is a fine place to start appreciating their talent for inventing a new sound out of a musical tradition stretching back decades and even hundreds of years. If you do like this album, you'll also want to get Cajunization, Cajun Conja, the new live album, and all the collections they've released. These guys really are the Beatles, not just of Louisiana, but of all roots-based American music.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Steeped in Tradition, Boldly Forging Forward, 2004-08-27
Maybe it's the Cajun boy in me, but I used to be very unnerved by the popularity of Beausoleil across the world. I just couldn't comprehend why folks in cities like NYC or Boston or San Francisco would enjoy this music, most of which was in a language they couldn't understand. It almost seemed as if Beausoleil was using their "ethnicity" to trick people outside of Louisiana into liking them because they were a "novelty" act. Boy, was I ever wrong. As I've become more mature, I've realized that Beausoleil's popularity isn't due to their "novel" status, but their brilliant music. Few contemporary Cajun bands can play songs like these guys and turn it into a beautiful thing that crosses language and cultural boundaries.
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br /The songs on "L'Amour Ou La Folie" are fun, imaginative and heavily steeped not only in Cajun tradition, but the French tradition as well(listen to "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie" and don't tell me that you think of France when you hear it). "Newz Reel" had me longing to watch KATC news(you won't get this if you haven't been around Lafayette). The rest of the album, from the tribute to "Pop" McGee to the title track, is fantastic. The fiddle work is brilliant and the band's sound is tight. The songs are well done and nothing comes across as gimmicky or fake. When you hear "Charivari," you catch a glimpse of life that few have ever experienced outside of the Pelican State. Everything is found on this album. It's a true masterpiece. Not only does the music pay homage to the past, but you can hear new sounds that haven't been played by a Cajun band before. The closest example I can come up with would be rockabilly. In its infant stages, most of its pioneers could barely play instruments, but when folks like Buddy Holly, who studied music and experimented with it, came along, the sound took on a whole new state. Beausoleil does that with Cajun music. It's traditonal, but at the same time there is a "newness" about it.
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br /Thanks, Beausoleil, for spreading the music of our unique culture across the world. As long as bands such as yourself exist, I don't think we'll have to worry about the Cajun culture fading away for a long time.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
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