My Top Ten Different Songs With the Same Title: Louisiana Man (#3)

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Go Cubs! As I write this it appears we're going to have a game seven, and it's only fitting for two of the greatest franchises in baseball and the two franchises with the longest World Series victory drought. While I watch that and root on the Cubs I'll introduce you to two more songs that have the exact same title. #3: Louisiana Man Beauty and the beast time! I'll start with the "beauty," Lucinda Williams. One of my favorite albums is her second album, Happy Woman Blues from 1980. Although she became a certified star thanks to the classic Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, the Happy Woman Blues album is far more country. Compare the version of "I Lost It" on that album and the Car Wheels version and you'll see what I mean. Her "Louisiana Man" is about a boyfriend who "played guitar and he sang just like an angel." It has a bouncy beat and great fiddles that you associate with Cajun music. Then there's "the beast," Doug Kershaw. My beloved mother of blessed memory used to say that Doug is "so ugly he's cute." That's a pretty good description. One of the best-known Cajun fiddlers in the world, Doug and his brother Rusty had a few hits in the early 1960s, including their "Louisiana Man." Doug wrote the song about his father, a much happier picture than real life (Kershaw's father committed suicide early in Doug's life). This "Louisiana Man" is a bona fide classic. It's one of the signature songs in Doug Kershaw's career and has been covered by everyone (seriously: the Hollies and Nick Lowe have done rock versions [Lowe's is fabulous], along with country versions by people ranging from Connie Smith to Buck Owens & the Buckaroos. Doug became a solo act in the mid-60s. No less than Johnny Cash wrote the liner notes to his album The Cajun Way (yes, I own it, why do you ask? ). Now 80, Doug Kershaw still performs. His brother Rusty died in 2001. And your worthless trivia: more recent country singer Sammy Kershaw is Doug's cousin. Louisiana Man Rusty & Doug song: Written by Doug Kershaw Released as a single, 1961 Lucinda Williams song: Written by Lucinda Williams From Happy Woman Blues, 1980 Winner: a big ol' ay-eeee! to Doug Kershaw. You can see him here to see if you agree with what my mom said about him: