KID and His GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS

Sunday, November 23, 2008

This post is follow up to "Smilin' Jack Silvers". I came into this some time after the previous album, and though it's not nearly as well recorded, it is an interesting bit of Quebec country.
The album features each of the five members presenting two songs each. It leads off with a good steel guitar performance on "West of Semoa(sic)" by Red Larocque. Red also closes the album with the novel "Hawaiian Tattoo".
Jack Silvers is back with a cover of Benny Martin's "Ice Cold Love" and "Your Name Is Beautiful", a 1958 hit for Carl Smith. Unfortunately the vocals are at times buried in the mix throughout this album and "Ice Cold Love" suffers this fate worst of all.
The album has two songs in French, both performed by Roger Bellair. "Mes Chers Vingt Ans" is a Paul Brunelle song, and "Diggy Giggy Lie" is the French lyrics to Rusty and Doug Kershaw's ersatz Cajun novelty "Diggy Liggy Lo" credited here to J. D. Miller.
Gaetan Gagner, who is apparently the "Kid" alluded to in the band's name performs the honky-tonkers "Leave Me Something To Remember You By" and "Heartaches By The Number", originally performed by Buck Owens and Ray Price, respectively. Despite a thick French accent I rather enjoy Gagner's sincere delivery.
Finally, Andre Gagner fiddles two tunes here, the traditional American tune "Sally Goodin'" and Don Rich's "Tum Water Breakdown". Clearly, Gagner was following American fiddle records as much as any traditional Quebec fiddle he must have heard.
Although this doesn't quite match up to the quality of Jack Silvers' earlier album, it is an interesting snap-shot of a working Quebec country band of it's era. The album proclaims it was "Produced by Tex Lavallee Enterprise" and based on the back slick is from c.1971.

Tracks:

1. West Of Semoa - Red Larocque
2. Ice Cold Love - Jack Silvers
3. Mes Chers Vingt Ans - Roger Bellair
4. Leave Me Something To Remember You By - Gaetan Gagner
5. Tum Water Breakdown - Andre Gagner
6. Your Name Is Beautiful - Jack Silvers
7. Diggy Giggy Lie - Roger Bellair
8. Sally Goodin - Andre Gagner
9. Heartaches By The Number - Gaetan Gagner
10. Hawaiian Tattoo - Red Larocque

*download here*