WARREN STORM
TAKING THE WORLD, BY STORM
A REGIONAL ROOTS JOURNEY WITH THE GODFATHER OF SWAMP POP
APO RECORDS APO 2026
LONG AS I CAN SEE THE LIGHT–MATHILDA–LONELY NIGHTS–LET THE FOUR WINDS BLOW–TENNESSEE BLUES–MAMA MAMA MAMA–MY MOMENTS OF SORROW–PRISONER’S SONG–MY HOUSE OF MEMORIES–TROUBLES TROUBLES–RAINING IN MY HEART
Warren “Storm” Schexnider is a musical legend, and especially in his home region of South Louisiana. Growing up in rural Vermillion Parish, he is a master of what is lovingly referred to as “swamp pop,” an amalgam of traditional Cajun sounds mixed with blues, R & B, zydeco, and country, and made popular in the Fifties. Warren Storm has done it all–he’s been a drummer, a singer, and a front man. Yvette Landry wrote his biography, “Taking The World, By Storm,” and this album, the accompanying soundtrack, if you will, also has the name “A Regional Roots Journey With The Godfather Of Swamp Pop.” Rather than re-hash many of Warren’s seminal recordings for this project, his vocals were so strong that the decision was made to record an all-new album. He and his band headed to Dockside Studios, where all eleven tracks were laid down on half-inch tape, live-in-studio, the way they did it back in the Fifties.
Joining Warren on this project are John Fogerty, Marc Broussard, and Yvette Landry on vocals, and Sonny Landreth on slide guitar. The set opens with one of our favorites, and one of the set’s most powerful performances, as Warren and John Fogerty duet on one of John’s most endearing classics, “Long As I Can See The Light,” featuring Derek Huston on sax. “Mathilda” is a traditional Cajun love song, inspired by Fifties’ pop, presented herein with Marc Broussard on vocals, Eric Adcock on piano, and Sonny Landreth on slide guitar. Warren brings a plaintive touch to the lovelorn vocal on a tender read of Robert Charles Guidry’s “Tennessee Blues,” with pedal steel from Richard Comeaux, and fiddle from Beau Thomas.
We had two other favorites. Yvette Landry joins Warren on a playful duet of one of his earliest hits, “Mama Mama Mama, guess what your little boy’s done?” The set closes with the Slim Harpo classic, “Raining In My Heart,” with Derek on sax, Eric on piano, and Roddie Romero on guitar.
At 82 years young, Warren Storm’s voice is as vibrant and powerful as ever, and he has lovingly recorded a new album of standards that have helped him earn the nickname “The Godfather Of Swamp Pop,” over a career that has spanned nearly seventy years! Enjoy and hear for yourself this great singer’s talent with “Taking The World, By Storm!” Until next time…Sheryl and Don Crow, The Nashville Blues And Roots Alliance
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