"Mama Where You At?" - Leo Soileau & Mayuse LaFleur

This story is about one of the saddest moments in Cajun music history.   Leo Soileau was a proficient musician which i discussed previously.  He would play with many musicians throughout the 1930s and 1940s, however, his first stint at music was with his close friend Meus (also spelled "Mayeuse" or "Mayuse").

Mayuse Lafleur was born August 14, 1906 and six months later in February 1907, his mother abandoned her husband and infant son.  According to historian Par Pascal, Mayuse’ father brought his infant son to live with Mayuse’ grandmother, who was a widow and living near Ville Platte.

Leo Soileau was a childhood friend of Mayuse and a distant relative, who also played the violin. Mayuse played the accordion and sang. While growing up, together they played in a number of house dances and dance halls.  After he got married, Mayuse’ in-laws didn’t approve of his long absences playing music in dance halls and fais-do-dos and being away from their daughter and grandson. They finally told Mayuse to leave, causing hardship and his wife's separation. 

Dietlein Jewelry Store, 1920s
 Carola Lillie Hartley Historic Photo Collection

In 1928, Lafleur and Soileau traveled to Atlanta Georgia and recorded four songs for Victor Records. According to author Tony Russell, Leo was introduced to a Victor agent, Ralph Peer, by Frank Dietlein, an jewelry store owner from Opelousas, Louisiana who also sold records on the side.  They were not the first Cajun musicians to record their music; they were second. The honor of being first went to Joe Falcon from Rayne, who earlier in the same year recorded “Allons A Lafayette” (Let’s Go to Lafayette) for Columbia Records.

Leo Soileau

On October 17th, they arrived in Atlanta and the following morning, Soileau and LaFleur were escorted to an improvised studio that doubled as a Ku Klux Klan meeting room.   Peer had Jimmie Rodgers recording in the same building that day.  The four sides waxed during this historic session represented Leo Soileau and Mayuse LaFleur's first recordings.   Seated underneath Victor's dangling microphone, LaFleur performed for the first time publicly "Mama, Where You At?" (#21769).   Also known as "Chere Mam" or "Hey Mom", the tune expresses LaFleur's wish to see his mother one more time before he dies, inasmuch as LaFleur's mother had abandoned him when he was an infant.  On the first take Mayuse started singing, then broke down sobbing. A few minutes later, on the second take Mayuse was able to control his emotions and that was the version used.2  According to Dietlein, 

They began playing the old tune and about half way through the tune, Mayuse began singing in French.  When the song was finished, the engineer asked me for the name. I asked Mayuse for the name of the song. After a moment or two, he translated into English this title, "Mama, Where You At?"  That was the name under which the Victor company released the recording.  Later I found out that these French songs were spontaneous. While the old tunes remained the same, the lyrics invariably reflected the mood of the singer.11  

According to musician Mickey Soileau, 

That song, "Mama, Where You At" might have different words altogether the next time Mayuse sang it.  It all depended how he felt. If he felt sad, he'd sing a sad song, but if he felt happy the song would be a happy one.  That is true in many cases of Cajun singers and musicians.11  

Oh Mam, éyoù toi t'es,

Chère Mam, comment ça se fait

Que jamais je te voir encore,

Chère Mam, éyoù toi t'es ?

Hey Mam, comment ç'fait

J'ai jamais eu des nouvelles,

De toi, chère maman,

J'voudrais t'voir, ye ya yaille.

Hey yaille, Maman,

J'voudrais t'voir quand même,

Une fois avant d'mourir,

Chère Mam, oh ye yaille.

Hey Mam, moi j'prend ça dur,

D'pas t'avoir jamais vue

Ye yaille, chère Maman,

Laisse-moi te r'voir une fois.

Hey, ye yaille,

Ya yaille , chère maman,

Comment ç'fait, 

Que moi j'su comme ça ?

Hey yaille, chéri,

Viens vite mon……..,

Me voir ma chère Maman,

La première fois moi j'va la voir.

Oh Mam, prépare-toi,

Ton nèg' est passé t'voir,

Oh m'mam, 'gardez donc,

Viens voir quoi c'est y a eu.

Mayuse LaFleur and Leo Soileau also recorded “Grand Basile,” “La Valse Criminelle,” (The Criminal Waltz) which was composed by Meus. “Ton Papa Ma Jeter Dehors,” (Your Father threw me out) obviously singing about how his ex-father-in-law threw Meus off the property, which he had given to him and his wife. And “Mom, Et ou Toi T’est?” (“Mom, where are you?”).  Mayuse and Leo were each paid $25 for every song recorded. Mayuse told Leo he would use the $100 to find his mother.

Unbeknownst to anyone, Mayuse dealt with a broken heart and wondered why his mother gives him up? When he sang “Chere Mam”, was it a premonition? Mayuse was shot and killed on October 28, 1928, just nine days after recording “Chere Mam.” Mayuse was only twenty-two years old.  

Mayuse and Leo were playing at a honky-tonk in Basile, Louisiana, which was owned by Mayuse’ friend Alex Bellon when Kossuth Manual pulled a gun and shot Bellon several times. Bellon escaped outside and hid under a truck where he later died. Mayuse immediately ran to his friend’s side. Kossuth shot Mayuse, instantly killing him. Kossuth also shot at Leo Soileau, but missed because Leo quickly ducked back inside the honky-tonk bar.

Mayuse Lafleur
By Rob Jones

The reason for the fight is found in rumors.  Lawmen tried with varying degrees of effort and success to control the fights at dancehalls, but they usually winked at the Saturday night high-jinx — unless it really got out of hand. The first is that a man backed his truck into the front porch of the place where LaFleur was playing, causing about $10 in damage. The owner demanded the money to fix the porch. The driver said he didn’t have it. Both were pretty drunk. One thing led to another, especially after a friend of the driver got involved to make matters worse.  The other is that it was in a fight over some moonshine.  There may be an element of each of those stories in how the brawl started, but it ended with six shots fired from a .38-caliber pistol.

Two months after the death of Mayuse, near Christmas 1928 Victor Records shipped several hundred records to local dealers for distributions.  Mayuse’ nineteen-year-old estranged wife, Hazel, opened all the doors and windows in her house and continuously played Mayuse’ records at top volume for her parents to hear and fully appreciate the consequences of his actions. 

Ville Platte Gazette
Nov 24, 1928

Oh mom, where are you,

Dear mom, why is it

That I never see you anymore,

Dear mom, where are you?

Hey mom, how come

I never heard from, 

You, dear mother, 

I would like to see you, ya yaille

Ya yaille, mom, 

I'd like to still see you

Once more before I die 

Dear mom, oh, ye yaille. 

Hey mom, I'm taking it hard, 

Not seeing you

Ye yaille, dear mother, 

Let me one more time. 

Hey, ye yaille, 

Ya yaille, dear mother, 

How come 

You knew I'd be this way

Ye yaille, honey, 

Come quickly

I want to see my dear mother, 

For the first time I've seen her

Oh Mom, get ready, 

Your little boy has come to see you

Mom oh, look at this,

Come see how I've gotten.

"Yaille" is a word that doesn't translate well or at all.  It's possible origin is from the Spanish phrase "ah ya yaille" loosely meaning "Oh! Wow!"  Sometimes it comes out as an exuberant yell.  Other times, it conveyed a mixture of surprise, reproach, and resignation.  In this context, it's definitely a cry of sorrow.  

Leo continued to play dances and picked up an occasional accordionist for recordings, however, he would eventually take a break until 1934 when he picked up music again.   By 1936, he and the Shreves formed the Four Aces and re-recorded the song as a string band tune entitled "A Ute", a misspelled transcription of the Cajun French idiom éyoù (where are you?).   Amedie Breaux and his band would record for J.D. Miller's Feature label the song called "Hey Mom" in 1953.  

According to the publication "The New Era" in Eunice, Lousiana:

"The voice of a dead man pierced the gloomy atmosphere of Second Street last Saturday morning, when a song recorded by Meus [sic] LaFleur, before his untimely death, thrilled hundreds of those who yet speak and understand the Acadian French. ... Tho those who had learned of his alleged murder, the song seemed to grasp their very heart strings, and some even wiped away tears which forced their way to the eyes of those sympathetic listeners, while others not so well informed were happy again for having heard a folk song of their nationality which had never been written but handed down from generation to generation.”

1. South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous By John Broven
2. Cajun Breakdown : The Emergence of an American-Made Music By Ryan Andre Brasseaux
3. Louisiana Music: A Journey From R&b To Zydeco, Jazz To Country, Blues To ... By Rick Koster
4. Discussions with historical columnist William J Thibodeaux
5. The Encyclopedia of Country Music
6. BRAWL TOOK LIFE OF CAJUN MUSICIAN. By Jim Bradshaw. 04/20/2009
7. Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music By Barry Mazor
8. Meeting Jimmie Rodgers: How America’s Original Roots Music Hero Changed the Pop Sounds of a Century by Barry Mazor
9. http://popdenial.blogspot.com/2011/04/mama-where-you-at-mayeus-lafleur-2011.html
10. Photo courtesy of Carola Lillie Hartley Historic Photo Collection
11. Daily World (Opelousas, Louisiana) 17 Dec 1967, Sun Page 4

Find:

Louisiana Cajun Music Vol. 2: The Early 30s (Old Timey/Arhoolie, 1971)
Raise Your Window: A Cajun Music Anthology 1928 - 1941 (The Historic Victor-Bluebird Sessions Vol. 2) (CMF, 1993)
Cajun Origins (Catfish, 2001)
Cajun Louisiane 1928-1939 (Fremeaux, 2003)
The Early Recordings of Leo Soileau (Yazoo, 2006)