Loup Garou | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 4, 1995 (Europe) June 18, 1996 (U.S.) | |||
Recorded | The Nut Ranch, Studio City Room & Board, Nashville Schnee Studio, North Hollywood Track Studio, North Hollywood | |||
Genre | Country, Blues, Cajun, Mariachi, R&B, Soul | |||
Length | 54:51 | |||
Label | EastWest (Europe) Discovery (U.S.) | |||
Producer | John Philip Shenale Willy DeVille | |||
Willy DeVille chronology | ||||
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Loup Garou (French for werewolf ) is an album released in 1995 by Willy DeVille. First released in Europe in 1995 on the EastWest label, it was released the following year in the United States on the Discovery label. It was recorded in Los Angeles and produced by John Philip Shenale, who also produced DeVille’s Backstreets of Desire album.
Loup Garou includes a duet with Brenda Lee (“You’ll Never Know”). DeVille said about recording with Lee:
She’s amazing, and so professional. She's just this tiny little woman who has this great big voice. I had to cool out her accent a little bit. She had a real cracker-type of accent. I guess it's gotten thicker over the years, because she didn't sound like that when she was a teenager doing "Sweet Nothing."
She didn't know who the hell I was. I just called her up, played the song for her, and she loved it. She had her business people check me out, and they reported that I was big in Europe and had been recording for twenty years. So I flew to Nashville, which is a very weird place. Everybody is in the music business—every cab driver, waiter and busboy.
She was very shy. I thought she didn't like me at first, but once she got into the studio and saw me with all my dogs, she realized I was a very normal person. I told her I'd seen every show she ever did in New Orleans. I was the guy in front, and I had a picture of her sitting on my lap. I had my proof. That's got to go down in my book as one of the most memorable experiences in my career. [1]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Allmusic's 2008 capsule review says, “With Loup Garou, Willie DeVille explored new rhythmic and melodic territory, experimenting with cajun and mariachi music. Not all of the songs work—frequently, Deville sounds too nervous and studied to really break free and have fun with the material—but it nevertheless is enjoyable, with enough strong songs (especially ‘You’ll Never Know,’ a duet with Brenda Lee) to make it worthwhile for longtime DeVille followers.” [3]
The album received at least two favorable reviews at the time of its release. Musician said, “Loup Garou is subtle in nuance but staggering in scope; it connects the dots between all of the artist’s sacrosanct influences, often within the framework of a single song … All of it is on the money, performed from the heart.” [4]
The Independent said, “(Deville’s) voice has, if anything, improved with the husky patina of age. Loup Garou builds on his trademark sub-Springsteen style, adding a few Louisiana voodoo touches where appropriate, particularly on the title track, and blending in other, more unusual textures, like the fairground sound of the Optigan keyboard on ‘Still (I Love You Still).’ He comes close to poignancy-overload on ‘Angels Don't Lie,’ where wistful uilleann pipes and penny-whistle are combined with the haunting string-pad sound from ‘Streets of Philadelphia,’ but there's enough skill and sensitivity elsewhere to render this a more than capable comeback.” [5]
While DeVille wrote most of Loup Garou in his native English, some songs have lyrics in Cajun French, and “Asi Te Amo” is a Spanish language reprise of the track “Still (I Love You Still).” "No Such Pain as Love" presents a rare country music offering by DeVille. Freddy Koella, a longtime DeVille sideman, cowrote "When You're Away from Me."
The cover photograph shows DeVille standing in front of Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, said to be the oldest bar in the United States, at the corner of Bourbon Street and St. Philip Street in New Orleans.
DeVille, his then-wife Lisa, and Mink DeVille Band members Koella, David J. Keyes, Seth Farber, Boris Kinberg, and Shawn Murray appeared in a music video for "Still (I Love You Still)," filmed in spring 1995 at the New Orleans Preservation Hall.
Unless otherwise noted, all songs by Willy DeVille.
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