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Jambalaya

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"Jambalaya (On the Bayou)" is a song by American country music singer Hank Williams, whose version of the song was first released July 19th 1952 on MGM Records. Named for the Creole/Cajun dish of the same name, the song has since inspired numerous cover versions, and has achieved popularity across several different genres of music.

The Residents covered "Jambalaya" in 1986 for their album Stars & Hank Forever in 1986; their version was first released as the B-side of the European version of the single "Kaw-Liga" in April 1986, followed by the album in October.

The Residents have since performed the song live on a number of occasions; to date it has been featured as the opening song of three live shows, most recently in 2023 on the Faceless Forever 50th Anniversary tour.

History[]

Background[]

"Jambalaya" was first released on July 9th 1952 by American country and western singer Moon Mullican, who co-wrote the song with Hank Williams (with Mullican being uncredited due to contractual obligations).

Williams' version was released ten days later on MGM Records, and peaked at number 1 on the US Billboard Hot Country singles chart. A third version of the song by Jo Stafford was released on July 20th, and charted at number 3.

In 1960, Bobby Comstock's version charted at 90, and in January 1962, Fats Domino's version charted at number 30 in the US Billboard charts. In 1972, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's version of the song charted at 84, and in 1973 a version by Blue Ridge Rangers charted at 14 on the Record World charts.

The Residents' versions[]

The Residents recorded "Jambalaya" in their Clementina Street studio in 1986, as the closing track of the "Hank" side of their Stars & Hank Forever album. The Residents' version combines "Jambalaya" with "The Singing Waterfall", another Hank Williams composition.

The album was released on Ralph Records in October 1986; an edited version of "Jambalaya" had previously been issued as the B-side of the European version of the single "Kaw-Liga" on Torso earlier in the year. The album version was later featured as the B-side of the Hit The Road Jack (Special Almost Dance Mix) EP in 1987.

A slightly longer edit of the studio version was featured on the 25th Anniversary retrospective box set Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses in 1997, and the album version appeared in the three-CD collection 80 Aching Orphans in 2017.

Live performances[]

The Residents (with Snakefinger on guitar) first performed "Jambalaya" live on January 10th 1987, at the final performance of The 13th Anniversary Show in San Francisco. In March 1989, they performed the song as the introduction to the suite "Buckaroo Blues" for an appearance on the German TV program Off Beat Night. In 1997, it was featured as the opening number in The Residents' show at the Fillmore Theater.

In 2011, The Residents' lead composer Charles Bobuck composed a live arrangement of the song that went unused until a demo was featured on the compilation album Maxine / CB Suite in 2014.[1][Note 1] Two demo versions of the song are featured on WOW Demos 1 and WOW Demos 2, recorded in 2012 for the Wonder of Weird 40th Anniversary tour (but ultimately not included in that show's set list) and released in 2021. In 2014, Bobuck released a remix of The Residents' studio version of "Jambalaya" for the Radio Thoreau remix project.

During the Faceless Forever 50th Anniversary tour in 2023, "Jambalaya" was once again performed as the opening song of each show.

Lyrics[]

Hank Williams version (1952)[]

Goodbye Joe, me gotta go, me oh my oh
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
My Yvonne, the sweetest one, me oh my oh
Son of me gun we'll have big fun on the bayou

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie on a filé gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, filled fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of me gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

The Thibodauxs, the Fontaineauxs, the place is buzzin'
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen
Dress in style and go hog wild, me oh my oh
Son of me gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

Settle down far from town get me a pirogue
And I'll catch all the fish in the bayou

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie on a filé gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, filled fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of me gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

Jambalaya and a crawfish pie on a filé gumbo
'Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar, filled fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of me gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou
Son of me gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

Later on, swap my mon, get me a pirogue
And I'll catch all the fish on the bayou
Swap my mon, to buy Yvonne what she need-oh
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie...

List of releases[]

List of versions[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Clementina Street studio recording, 1986 (single edit, 3:27)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Clementina Street studio recording, 1986 (4:46)
  3. ↑ Clementina Street studio recording, 1986 (Huddled Masses edit, 3:53)
  4. ↑ Disfigured Night live recording, Fillmore Theater, San Francisco, October 31st 1997 (4:55)
  5. ↑ Off Beat Night live TV performance, Tele 5 Studios, Grünwald, Germany, March 15th 1989 (4:11)
  6. ↑ Disfigured Night live rehearsal recording, San Francisco, October 30th 1997 (4:36)
  7. ↑ Charles Bobuck studio demo recording, 2011 (5:08)
  8. ↑ Clementina Street studio recording, 1986 (2014 Charles Bobuck remix, 3:59)

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ There are three live shows this could've been used for. In 2011, the Talking Light tour was on its final legs, and the Wonder of Weird tour was two years away. Randy Rose also was undertaking his Sam's Enchanted Evening performances, which featured piano re-arrangements of classic pop songs.

External links and references[]

  1. ↑ Maxine/CB Suite at Discogs
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