WORDS BY JOHN HOWARD
Tommy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in 2007
JOSH BRASTED/WIREIMAGE/GETTY
Tommy McLain, who has been described as the Cajun Hank Williams, and the Godfather Of Swamp Pop, burst on the scene in the UK with track one, side one, of DJ Charlie Gillett’s Another Saturday Night – Classic Recordings From The Louisiana Bayous in 1974. He performed that same song, a re-working of Fats Domino’s Before I Grow Too Old, in London in a series of summer Sunday night sessions earlier this year, and proved why, at the age of 79 – and in fine voice – he is regarded as a legend. His biggest track, a cover of Don Gibson’s country ballad Sweet Dreams, made No.15 in the Billboard charts in 1966. Vintage Rock caught up with this jovial character, immaculately dressed in silver shoes and rainbow socks, for a chat between his visits to music publishers and record labels with his new songs, and recordings.