Joe Barry
Been Down That Muddy Road
Night Train Records
By B.J. Weikert
 It all started with a knock at
the door of Joe Barry's house located in Cut Off, Louisiana;
the same town he had been born in over 60 years earlier. Local
producer Michael Vice, of the Louisiana back-up band Blue Eyed
Soul, had written a letter to New York City's Night Train Records
in appreciation of their reissue series and had become friends
with executive producer Aaron Fuchs. Soon, Aaron paid a visit
to Louisiana to check out some of the older musicians who were
still living in the area and on a suggestion from Vice, they
agreed to pay a visit to Swamp Pop sovereign Joe Barry.
The Joe Barry who answered the door on that day wasn't the same
Joe Barry who'd achieved world-wide success with his early 60's
Swamp Pop version of the standard "I'm A Fool To Care".
No, this Joe Barry was suffering from an array of debilitating
ailments including Rheumatoid Arthritis, Chronic Asthma, Bronchitis,
Emphysema, Cariomyopic disease, Diabetes, and an infected immune
system. Even though he was on a ton of medications and barely
able to sing even a few lines at a time, Barry's life-affirming
personality and inner strength won over his visitors and the
decision to record an album, come what may, was reached. The
new album, Been Down That Muddy Road took almost three
years to complete and its formation was a perilous passage with
many ups and downs. Offbeat Magazine called Been Down That
Muddy Road "A triumph of willpower and unconquerable
human spirit. a stunning musical portrait"
Joe Barry was born Joseph Barrios on July 13, 1939 and was
one of the better known artists who specialized in the early
style of rock and roll, indigenous to Louisiana that later came
to be called swamp pop. I asked Joe to explain exactly what the
genre was, and here's what he said: "You take Tejano from
Texas, mix it with Cajun music out of Louisiana, sing it in English
and that's pretty much what you got, and it's great for dancing
too."
As a young man, Barry performed in Cajun bands and made his
first rock and roll recordings in 1956. Barry used to go to Pontchartrain
Beach around this time and it was during one of his forays to
the great big pavilion there that he first saw Elvis Presley.
"Elvis was playing there with Scotty and Bill" Joe
told me, "All the big radio stations had artists perform
there in the fifties and a lot of local names were there. They'd
pack 40 50,000 people onto that boardwalk. This was around
the time that Elvis recorded "That's Alright Mama".
Elvis and I got to be buddies and would go fishin' and stuff.
He played Biloxi a lot to back then and was dating a sheriff's
daughter." Barry went on to say, "After Elvis hit big
you could see there'd be no stopping him. He was something to
be reckoned with." Evidently, Joe Barry is someone to be
reckoned with also, because he told me that after Elvis died,
a National Enquirer reporter came calling at his door trying
to dig up some dirt on his old friend, Mr. Presley. "Yeah,
well this dude wouldn't let me alone and I kept tellin' him that
I wasn't interested in talking with him. Well, he just kept on
and on about it and finally I just decked him. He started crying
for an ambulance and the cops came and I got thrown in jail for
the night. It was the best $500 dollars I ever spent."
Barry's first recording to garner local recognition was "Greatest
Moment In My Life" in 1960. Then Joe hit the big time with
"I'm A Fool To Care" in 1961. This was his first national
hit and was a typical swamp pop ballad with it's slow, melancholic,
heavily influenced R&B. "Tear Drops In My Heart",
also from 1961 was another national hit. It was during this time
that Joe went out on the road and played Ed Sullivan, Milton
Berle, Steve Allen, The Jack Parr Show and Dick Clark's show
among others. It was also at this time that Joe started drinking
and drugging heavily and destroying hotel rooms. He always carried
a gun with him and many a TV set was blown away. One of his hotel
room rages cost him $27,000. "I just got fed up with them
calling my room after I'd told them not to disturb me and after
I got done, the walls were torn apart, the wiring was ripped
out and everything that could be broke was broke."
It wasn't too long after this that Joe figured out that his
manager was ripping him off. What with Joe being the down-home
sort, at this point he basically quit the music business and
told everyone to kiss his ass. Barry had a little success in
the local scene for several more years up until 1967. He did
continue to make occasional appearances until his next major
venture in 1976 when he released an album of country songs entitled
simply Joe Barry. He also released an independent album
of Gospel music in 1980, entitled Sweet Rose Of Sharon. Deteriorating
health pretty much ground everything to a halt by this time,
and even though a lot of people tried to get him to record, Joe
had to beg off due to the fact that he couldn't even sing a complete
song. Eric Burden of The Animals even offered to pick Joe up
in a limo, pay for studio sessions and help book him on a tour,
but Joe had to decline. Then came that unexpected knock at his
door.
With the help of producers Mike Vice and Pershing Wells, co-leaders
of the aforementioned band Blue Eyed Soul, Barry recorded the
demos for his new release at his home in Cut Off, Louisiana on
a portable multi-track board. All in all, three digital audio
workstations were utilized. Vice's band recorded the backing
tracks and Barry had to patch his vocals in bits and pieces over
the tracks. Rhythm and horn sections were cut "wherever
it was convenient and accommodating". The editing and mixing
were all done using computer software and all of the latest digital
technology was put into use. This painstaking process dragged
on for a period of over two and a half years. Joe told me "After
about a year, I was ready to just give up, but then the producers
kept at me, and kept at me hell, sometimes they'd drive
15 miles to get here and I wouldn't be able to sing a single
word but with their confidence, I kept at it until we got
it done". Before some of the sessions at his home, Barry
would double-up on his medications just to be able to get through
the grueling process of singing his vocals.
Listening to "Been Down That Muddy Road" was
an uplifting and captivating experience for my ears. The patchwork
job they finally completed on this album is virtually flawless
and the effort put into this project by all, especially Mr. Barry,
simply blows my mind. The first cut on the album is a well-chosen
cover of the 80's hit "Every Breath You Take" done
swamp pop style. The song works remarkably well in this style
and if you didn't know beforehand, you might let this tune slip
by without ever realizing that it's a song from Sting in the
Police days. A French version is also included at the end of
the CD. Joe's voice has aged well and his unique style of singing
is still intact after all these years. I highly recommend you
check out some of Joe's early stuff which can be purchased at
the Tuff City Records website. They have a double CD compilation
available that collects nearly everything he's ever released
(59 songs).
Although the bulk of Barry's recordings in the past were of
the swamp pop variety, on the new release he varies genres and
exhibits his country and blues influences. Other than the previously
mentioned Sting cut, all of the songs on Been Down That Muddy
Road are new or either previously unreleased, and boy there
are some real gems here. The second cut on the album, "Backstreets
Of Houston," had a definite Texas singer-songwriter feel
to it and Joe's lyrics are simply astonishing:
I met her in the backstreets of Houston
She said that Priscilla was her name
I asked her what she was searchin' for
She said my father, 'cause I have no last name
There's a seed I carry inside of me
That will bloom with the coming of spring
With sadness I give the world this blossom
And again there's a child with no last name
And she offered me her love just for the giving
And I hold her as though she were a child
Now finally my Priscilla has a last name
Since I took her from the backstreets of Houston running wild
"A Smoke Filled Barroom" is a straight ahead honky-tonk
number with a twist. It's all about how alcoholism can ruin a
family where instead of the husband straying from the home and
going to the bar getting lost in a life of drunkenness, it's
the wife. The song talks about the man having to get a call from
the waitress at closing time so he can go down and sneak his
lifeless wife out through the back door. The hurt that comes
across from the husband's point of view is well expressed by
lyrics with a bite:
I stay home with the children all the time
And hear innocent prayers and have to lie
They all want from mommy a kiss goodnight
So tonight I'll make another alibi
"Louisiana Moon" is another winner and is my favorite
song from the album. Joe exhibits a bang-up, soul-drenched vibe
with this infectious, melodic tour de force. Alone in a prison
cell, a man cannot release his mind from a lost love that can
never fade, while outside his window he can see the Louisiana
moon. The song writing on this cut is just splendid and the melodic
arrangement ebbs and flows with a command that never lets up.
After the song ends, there's a couple seconds of silence, and
then you can hear a kid (one of the producer's boys) exclaim
with enthusiasm: "cool!" I couldn't have said it better
myself.
Twin road songs follow, both in the blues style favored by
such early luminaries as Lightnin' Hopkins. "Muddy Road"
features a great slide guitar and paints a lyrical picture of
heading back to the old homestead for good. "Tchoupitoulas
Road" has a larger, more filled out sound with its string
section and hair-raising hard blues harp. Both of these cuts
show off Joe's enduring love of the blues genre. Several blues
artists who have influenced Barry's reverence include: Sonny
Boy Williamson, Guitar Slim, Johnny "Guitar" Watson,
John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf.
Pure swamp pop style songs featured on the album include "Watching
Raindrops," the more Cajun style "Hey La La,"
and "Handle With Care" with its obvious Fats Domino
influence. Another gem reveals itself in "Freedom Express,"
which features a searing electric guitar and a more straight-ahead
rock and roll flavor.
 Joe Barry may look
out his window and see the afterlife any time now, and he's not
afraid to face death's dark continence when it arrives. With
the release of Been Down That Muddy Road Joe knows that
he's tied up all the loose ends of his amazing and musically
productive life. Barry can at last relax knowing that the great
music he's been holding on to for so long is now out there for
all the world to hear. His coda, now complete, is off of his
back and he can find solace in the fact that it's a fitting grand
finale. Lyrics from the last song on the album, "So Long,
Goodbye" convey these final thoughts best:
Last night, I heard the black wolf howling
Looks like my time is drawing near
Oh my old bones and my old body
Is giving up, oh how I moan
I lived my life for my music
And I lived it for the lord
Now my old lungs and my old heart
Have turned weary, cold and hard
Well, it's been a long road from Cutoff, Louisiana
To Houston, New York and LA
I couldn't make it in New Orleans
I packed my act and went away
Lord I miss playing my music
Writing my songs and singing my songs
Whoa, I can hear the slow train comin'
For old Joe Barry it won't be long
So long, so long
Contact BJ Weikert at bj-at-rockzilla.net
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