Charles Mann
“Swamp Pop Voice of Welsh, Louisiana”
Quick Intro
Born Charles Louis Domingue in Welsh, Louisiana, Charles Mann is a cornerstone of swamp pop, known for turning “Red Red Wine” into a Gulf Coast heartbreaker and later carrying the sound to the U.K. with a Cajun-flavored “Walk of Life.” He cut his early singles for Lanor and, years later, released key albums and anthologies with our label family via Jin Records—keeping his catalog in circulation for new generations.
In-Depth Profile
Mann’s breakout came mid-1960s with “Keep Your Arms Around Me,” produced in Ville Platte during his Lanor run. Between 1966–1975 he stacked a string of 45s—soulful vocals, New Orleans-leaning grooves, and country tenderness—culminating in 1969’s regional smash “Red Red Wine.” In 1989–1990, he signed with a U.K. indie for “Walk of Life,” bringing swamp pop to British stages (including major festival slots) and widening his audience. From there, our Jin Records arm helped anchor his legacy with the career-spanning The Essential Collection (late ’90s) and the later studio set Pushing Your Luck (2000s). Additional anthologies followed on other labels, but Mann’s enduring through-line is unchanged: an emotive, blue-eyed soul voice carrying Louisiana’s dancehall DNA.
Signature Tracks
- “Red Red Wine” — the 1969 slow-burner that fused pop melody to swamp-pop ache; jukebox gold along the I-10 corridor.
- “Keep Your Arms Around Me” — his mid-’60s regional hit; sweet-sorrow vocals over a classic South Louisiana groove.
- “Walk of Life” — Dire Straits reimagined with Cajun snap; the cut that opened doors overseas and kept dance floors busy at home.
Notable Accomplishments & Awards
- Louisiana Music Hall of Fame inductee (2010)
- Key catalog presence on our roster via Jin Records — including The Essential Collection and Pushing Your Luck, ensuring enduring access to his work.
- International exposure — U.K. releases and festival appearances broadened swamp pop’s audience beyond Louisiana.
Bonus Notes
- Early career produced in Ville Platte’s scene (Lanor); later studio work and compilations maintained by our Jin/Flat Town pipeline.
- Mann’s cuts are staples at Louisiana dancehalls—slow-dance sway to two-step bounce—showing the full swamp-pop palette.
Album Reviews
Pushing Your Luck
OffBeat Magazine — Written by Dan Willging (March 2007)
“What makes him good is that he recognizes what a song needs and then matches up to its core sentiment, whether it’s weaving a thread of suspense, revealing an unconditional love or trying to conquer a mountain of hurt.”
For being one of the pioneering papas of swamp pop, Charles Mann has had surprisingly few full-length releases during his 46-year recording career. Two of those, the ’80s She’s Walking Towards Me LP and Jin Records’ Essential Collection disc, never introduced new material but repackaged a strand of Lanor singles cut with Lee Lavergne. Now, nearly a decade after Essential Collection, Mann returns with a somewhat new look and avoids coasting on his blue-eyed soul rep and recycling the glory days. Instead of rushing the process to have an immediate successor to the Essential Collection, Mann painstakingly took years to sift through countless songs pitched to him by prolific tunesmiths “Charlo” Guilbeau and Ron Thibodeaux to eventually handpick 10 dandies, seven of which are first time recordings.
While all these fit neatly within the swamp pop canon, it’s also a varied lot. Vintage, dreamy pop tunes “I Started With An Angel” and “I Played The Fool” contrast nicely with stuff that sounds more MOR contemporary like “Louisiana Nights” and “Just You and Me.” As a crooner, Mann’s still got it, a sturdy voice and the unwavering lungpower to really emote on such Kleenex sobbers as “Burning Desire” and “Go On and Cry.” What makes him good is that he recognizes what a song needs and then matches up to its core sentiment, whether it’s weaving a thread of suspense, revealing an unconditional love or trying to conquer a mountain of hurt.
Interestingly, Mann’s debut recording “Pushing Your Luck,” originally waxed in 1964 with rock ’n’ rollers the Eltradors, surfaces here Cajun seasoned with Timmy Broussard’s accordion playing. One of Mann’s traditional Cajun favorites, “Daylight Waltz,” features his 74-year-old brother Garland Domingue on drums and 84-year-old uncle Arthur Leger on fiddle. Everything works well with the only misgiving being that the disc doesn’t list which instrument(s) each of the sidemen played. Still, like the title song says, Mann has always managed to keep strutting his stuff and pushing his luck. It’s worked so far.