"Country Girl" - Abe Manuel

Coming from a musical family, Abraham "Abe" Manuel watched his brother Joe help form the Melody Boys with famed local fiddler Harry Choates.  By 1949, Harry was on his own and Joe and Abe teamed up to form a new band with many of Harry's old band members.  The group started touring southern and eastern Texas and south-west Louisiana, using both their own names as well as obscure pseudonyms.

Tout les veuve de la coulée, 

Sont partie z-au village,

Pour acheter de coton jaune a la boutique.

Pour achter des coton jaune,

Pour fait des 'tite mémines,

Pour amener la belle 'tit fille au bal à soir.

All the country gals have gone,

To buy some fancy clothes from town,

They will see the country boys this Saturday night,

They will flutter their little eyes,

Wear lipstick or knot some ties,

Trying to get those poor old boys this Saturday night.

Tout les veuve de la coulée, 

Sont partie z-au village,

Pour acheter de coton jaune a la boutique.

Pour achter des coton jaune,

Pour fait des 'tite mémines,

Pour amener la belle 'tit fille au bal à soir.

They'll go to the fais-do-do,

Where the pretty boys all go,

They'll dance away their cares and do things light,

Gunna turn on all their charm,

As they dance in boyfriend's arms,

When they go a-steppin' on a Saturday night.

Louisiana Hillbillies, KTAG, 1954
Bradley Stutes (steel guitar), Dottie Manuel (guitar),
Amos Comeaux (drums), Abe Manuel (fiddle),
Wiley Barkdull (piano)

By 1954, Abe married into another musical family and his wife Dottie assumed the role of guitarist and part-time vocalist in the band. Her father Jules "Chun" Vincent was a Cajun fiddler from Cameron Parish. The band had a show on KTAG as well as a radio spot on KAOK.1  Together with Buston Olsen, Jerome Stubbs on steel guitar, Merton Thibodeaux or Popeye Broussard on piano, and Ronald "Tinky" Bisette on bass, they covered the famous Happy Fats' original "Le Veuve De La Coulee" as "Country Girl" (#1098) in 1955 for J.D. Miller's Feature Records.

Daily World
Apr 28, 1954

All the widows of the gully,

Have gone to the village,

To buy yellow cotton at the store,

To buy yellow cotton,

To make little bloomers,

To bring the beautiful little girl to the dance tonight.

All the country gals have gone,

To buy some fancy clothes from town,

They will see the country boys this Saturday night,

They will flutter their little eyes,

Wear lipstick or knot some ties,

Trying to get those poor old boys this Saturday night.

All the widows of the gully,

Have gone to the village,

To buy yellow cotton at the store,

To buy yellow cotton,

To make little bloomers,

To bring the beautiful little girl to the dance tonight.

They'll go to the fais-do-do,

Where the pretty boys all go,

They'll dance away their cares and do things light,

Gunna turn on all their charm,

As they dance in boyfriend's arms,

When they go a-steppin' on a Saturday night.

Abe's recording career eventually faded away and he continued to perform until the mid-1960s when Miller invited him to join Cajun fiddler Rufus Thibodeaux for a recording session as a tribute to the late Harry Choates. 

1. "Cajun Dancehall Heyday" by Ron Yule
2. Lyrics by Herman M

Release Info:

Hippy-Ti-Yo | Feature 1098

Country Girl | Feature 1098

Find:

Acadian All Star Special - The Pioneering Cajun Recordings Of J.D. Miller (Bear, 2011)

"Hippy Ti Yo" - Abe Manuel

Abraham "Abe" Manuel was a hillbilly fiddle player that dabbled in both country music and Cajun music, covering popular tunes of the region.  In the early 1940s, he played with Leo Soileau at the Avalon Club in Basile.  No strangers in the music business, Abe Manuel Sr. toured and appeared at the Louisiana Hayride and the Grand Ole Opry with Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell. For a time, he was one of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys. He ended up playing with Chuck Guillory, Carrol Broussard, and even possibly Harry Choates with his brother Joe.  Broussard, who played steel guitar with Harry, recalls that Abe filled in on fiddle for Harry when he "went off to get cured".1   

Lake Charles American Press
Mar 3, 1954

C'est le Hip et Taïaut, ouais, 

Mais, qu'a volé mon traîneau, ouais, 

Quand il a vu j’étais devenu chaud, cherie,

Il a ramené mon traîneau. 

C'est les filles de Bosco, ouais, 

Qu'a volé mon gilet,

Quand il a vu j'suis d'venu chaud , chérie, 

T'as ramené mon gilet.

C'est le Hip et Taïaut, ouais, 

Mais, qu'a volé mon traîneau, ouais, 

Quand il a vu j’étais devenu chaud, cherie,

Il a ramené mon traîneau. 

C'est les filles de Bosco, ouais, 

Qu'a volé mon gilet,

Quand il a vu j'suis d'venu chaud , chérie, 

T'as ramené mon gilet.

Abe Manuel Sr.

Recorded in 1954 at J.D. Miller's studio in Crowley, Louisiana, Abe's Louisiana Hillbillies consisted of Abe Manuel on fiddle, Bradley Stutes on steel guitar, Dorothy "Dottie" Vincent on rhythm guitar, Amos Comeaux on drums, and either Wiley Barkdull or Cecil Farrell "Benny" Fruge on piano.  In the song, it's quite possible "Pitre et Bosco" is actually "filles de Bosco", similar to the lyrics in Leo Soileau's "Hackberry Hop".  Either way, the song is clearly taken from the well-known "Ils La Volet Mon Trancas" sung by Cleoma Breaux in 1934.   

It's Hip and Taïaut, yeah,

That stole my sled, yeah,

When they saw I had become hot, cherie,

They brought my sled back.

This the girls of Bosco, yeah,

That stole my vest,

When they saw I had become hot, cherie,

They brought my jacket back.

By 1965, Abe was living in Lake Charles and became vice-president of the Southern Association of Country and Western Music.   Years afterwards, Abe and his wife Dottie were owners of Manuel's Cajun Store in Milton, Tennessee for years. That store became a restaurant, and Abe Manuel Sr. found his calling. On summertime Friday nights at dusk, most of the town bring lawn chairs over to the restaurant, sit down in the road, and eat friend alligator and crawfish étouffée while watching the Manuels and their friends play Cajun country music on the porch.  

1. Louisiana Fiddlers By Ron Yule 
2. In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music By Nicholas Dawidoff
3. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.music.country.classic/Hh9-IIB9nt4
4. May 21, 1965 Lake Charles American-Press from Lake Charles, Louisiana · Page 5

Find:

Acadian All Star Special - The Pioneering Cajun Recordings Of J.D. Miller (Bear, 2011)

"I've Got Your Heart Locked Up" - Abe Manuel

Abraham "Abe" Manuel provided some of the earliest fiddle playing recordings during the 1940s and 1950s.   Although never gaining the same popularity as Harry Choates, his imitation of the Cliff Bruner style carried him into the 1950s, allowing him to start his own band, the Louisiana Hillbillies.   By 1954, the group worked with J.D. Miller and his Feature label to record "I've Got Your Heart Locked Up" (#1086).

Ton petit cœur, il est barré dedans l’armoire,

Dans l’armoire de mon amour, mais, jolie fille,

Il y a pas longtemps, tu m’as promit de me soigner, 

Et m'aimer, mais, pour toujours, mais, jolie fille.

Ton petit cœur, il est barré dedans l’armoire,

Dans l’armoire de mon amour, mais, jolie fille,

Mais, moi, j'connais un jour avenir, t’auras du regret,

Pour ça t'as fait, mais, z-avec moi, il y a pas longtemps.

Lake Charles American Press
Jul 1, 1954

In the early 1940s, he played with Leo Soileau at the Avalon Club in Basile, follwed by playing with varios bands and country musicians during the 1940s, including Chuck Guillory, Carrol Broussard, Harry Choates, Ralph Richardson, Pee Wee Maples, and Ferrell Benny Fruge.  By the 1950s, he was playing alongside the Hackberry Ramblers at the Silver Star Club.  His 1954 lineup included  Jerome Stubbs or Dottie Vincent on guitar, Bradley Stutes or Dusty
Rhodes on steel guitar, Merton Thibodeaux on bass.

Your little heart, it's locked inside the closet,

In the closet of my heart, well, pretty girl,

Not long ago, you promised to look after me,

And love me, well, forever, well, pretty girl.

Your little heart, it's locked inside the closet,

In the closet of my heart, well, pretty girl,

Well, I know one day in the future, you'll regret this,

For what you've done, well, with me, not long ago.

Abe would go on to play with many country giants before settling in to play with his own family band later in life.  He periodically played on KWKH Shreveport "in the Louisiana Hayride days".1

1. Louisiana Fiddlers By Ron Yule
2. Lyrics by Jordy A

Find:
Acadian All Star Special - The Pioneering Cajun Recordings Of J.D. Miller (Bear, 2011)