"Anuiant Et Bleu" - Roy Gonzales

In the summer of 1929, Opelousas jewelry store owner, Frank Dietlein2 negotiated a recording deal for Leo Soileau and Paramount Records.   Crowley native Roy Gonzales, who sang French interpretations of Jimmie Rodgers songs, went along for the ride with an old four-string guitar.  Paramount expected them to perform, having invested $700 to transport them on a fast mail train to Indiana.1  


When Gonzales arrived at the studios in July of 1929, he had a change of heart and pleaded with the producers not to record.  The record executives insisted , and the Louisiananian produced six Cajun adaptations of tunes popularized by Jimmie Rodgers, including "Anuiant Et Bleu" (#1456), better known as "Lonely and Blue".1  

Ennuyé et bleu, et mon coeur cassé, 

Personne pour me contenter, chère,

Tu m'as laissé seul, t'as parti chez toi, 

Pourquoi tu voyages, ma chère fille? 

T'as promis toi t'étais juste pour moi, 

Et toi et moi t'aurais jamais laissé,

Tu m'as pas écouté, tu m'as laissé, 

Peut être un jour tu viendras. 

(yodel)

Tu crois tu saurais je m'ennuie de toi, 

Que moi je t'aime pour toujours,

Peut être tu dirais "Un jour je m'en reviendrai",

Mais, j'ai laissé seul chez toi, chère.

T'as promis (que) t'aurais été que pour moi,

Et toi et moi t'aurais jamais laissé,

Tu m'as pas écouté et tu m'as laissé,

Peut être un jour tu reviendras. 

(yodel)

Clarion News
July 18, 1929

Gonzales approached the microphone, four-stringed guitar in hand and proceeded to strum through several familiar Rodgers-styled blues. The accomplished vocalist confidently swung his warm vibrato-laden baritone through the material, embellishing his vocal with yodeling.1  

Lonely and blue, and my heart is broken,

Noone to make me happy, dear,

You left me alone, you went back home,

Why did you roam, my dear girl?

You promised you were just for me,

And you'd never leave me,

You didn't listen, you left me,

Maybe one day you will return.

(yodel)

You think you know that I will miss you,

That I'll love you forever,

Maybe you would say, "Someday I'll return"

Well, I left your house alone, dear.

You promised me you would have been only for me,

And you, you'd never leave me,

You did not listen to me and you left me,

Maybe one day you'll come back.

At the same session, Roy also sang a variation of Jimmie Rodgers' "Blue Yodel" entitled "Choctaw Beer Blues".   It was a tune that he recorded earlier with John Bertrand, but it ended up becoming un-issued by Paramount.  Named after the famed beer of Oklahoma's native Americans, a portion of the song was attributed to orchestra band leader and neighbor, Joe Rivet.    Rivet was a trumpeter from Iberville Parish, and traveled with his band in places such as New Orleans, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Lafayette, and spots in east Texas such as Port Arthur, Longview, and Nacogdoches.5  After playing in Herman Scallan's group in the 1920s, he formed his own group.  Even Harry James' saxophonist and trumpeter Claude Lakey filled in.4   Roy joined his group playing drums and eventually they settled in Alexandria.  Known as Joe Rivet and his Castle Garden band, you could catch their show billed as "Swing and Sweat with Joe Rivet".3   Gonzales and Rivet remained playing until the 1950s. 

Rayne Tribune
Jul 26, 1935

If you're from Mobile, what are you doing down here,

If you're from Mobile, baby what you doing down here,

I'm just messing around, drinking good ole Choctaw beer.

(yodel)

I'm going up the country, but I sure can't take you,

I'm going up the country, but I sure can't take you,

There's nothing up there that an ugly woman can do.

(yodel)

Now, a dog run a rabbit, he run for a thousand miles,

Boy, a dog run a rabbit, run it for a thousand miles,

A rabbit broke down and busted our good time.

(yodel)

There's one thing in this world, I can't understand,

Well there's one thing in this world, baby I can't understand,

It's why an ugly woman always picks a bow-legged man.

(yodel)

Now, blues and trouble, they ramble hand in hand,

Oh, blues and trouble, they ramble hand in hand,

You ain't never had no trouble till you marry a no-good man.

(yodel)

Anuiant Et Bleu

Choctaw Beer Blues

1. Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music By Ryan Andre Brasseaux
2. NOTE: In Tony Russell's Paramount liner notes, he makes no mention of Frank Dietlein.  Instead, he mentions Winter Lemoine of Opelousas as the agent in which Gonzales contacted Paramount
3. The Town Talk from Alexandria, Louisiana. January 1, 1987.
4. https://www.discogs.com/artist/313071-Claude-Lakey
5. Longview News. February 13, 1933.
6. Lyrics by Stephane F, Jerry M and Jeremy R
7. Photos by John T

Release Info:
G-15353-A Anuiant Et Bleu | Paramount 12832
G-15354-A Choctaw Beer Blues | Paramount 12832

Find:

Paramount Old Time Recordings, CD B (JSP, 2006)
The Rise & Fall of Paramount Records: Volume Two, 1928-1932, CD G (Third Man, 2014)