"Point De Lou" - Nathan Abshire

Nathan Abshire was born in the small town of Gueydan and his father, mother and uncle all played insturments.  Although his father was an accordionist, Abshire claimed nobody taught him, he just picked it up himself.  Abshire spoke little English.  He was unable to sign his own name, yet he composed many wonderful Cajun songs, and was right at the top of the tree as a singer, accordionist and bandleader.1   

J’étais à là, z-au bal, j'ai fait le serment de p(l)us te voir, 

Courtiser les veuves, j'connais ça fait du bien,

Dans la courtise* cousins, 'tit monde, mais, je suis comme ça, 

Toi, qui veux m'aimer, j'connais ça me fait du mal.

J’étais à là, z-au bal, mais, j'suis-z-habillé encore, 

J'vais seulement pas te voir pour courtiser les veuves,

Toujour courtise*, j'suis comme ça pas, toi tu veux me rejoindre,

Mais, ça fait du mal, j'connais ça peut pas durer.

Nathan Abshire

The song was likely an ode to a small community in Acadia Parish named Pointe Aux Loups, between Iota and Eunice.  It translated to Wolf Point because of all the wild wolves that roamed the area.   Recorded between 1953 and 1954, "Point De Lou" (#645) was influenced by one of the earliest versions of the melody, Iry Lejeune's "J'ai Ete Z Au Bal". It's based off of a children's tune known as ""The Rabbit Stole The Pumpkin" by John Bertrand & Milton Pitre in 1929, with words added by Joe Falcon in his 1934 recording of "Ne Buvez Plus Jamais (Never Drink No More)".   

I was there, at the dance, I swore I'd see you some more,

Courting all the single ladies, I know that it's good,

Courting your cousin*, my little everything, well, I'm like that,

You, who wants me to love you, I know it feels bad.

I was there, at the dance, well, all dressed up again,

I'm not only there to see you, but, to court the single ladies,

Always courting*, I am not like that, you want to join me,

Well, it hurts, I know that it cannot last.

Nathan changed the name from the Musical Five and his band became the Rhythm Five after several of his band members left.  He had to put together a rag tag team of musicians and friends in order to keep playing, mostly due to the Kegleys leaving the group.  Because of the nature of Nathan's lineup changing, it's quite difficult to pin down the musicians during this period.  The session possibly had Cleveland Deshotel on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, possibly Jim Baker on bass and Shelton Manuel on drums.  Yet, to this day, the vocalist of this wild and raucous recording is unknown.  

1. Boppin' By The Bayou - Rock Me Mama.  Liner Notes.
2. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

2258 Texas Waltz | Khoury KH-645-A
2259 Point De Lou | Khoury KH-645-B

Find:
Nathan Abshire & the Pine Grove Boys - French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)

"Grand Mamou" - Nathan Abshire

While he mirrored the midcentury infatuation with country-flavored honky-tonk music—fiddle-driven and slide-guitar-embellished—Nathan Abshire later helped lead a resurgence of more traditionally crafted Cajun music with the sound of the old-time button accordion reinstalled at its center. This was the music that had fueled both bals des maisons (house parties) and fais do-dos (weekend dances) in the old days.2   

After the war, Nathan's big break came when Ernest Thibodeaux and Wilson Granger convinced the Avalon Club owner, Quincy Davis, that the band needed an accordion player.   Wilson recalled:

That’s where I met him, when I started playing with him. I had heard of him. I know he was from Riceville. Nathan didn’t know much of anything. When they (Quincy Davis) went and got him to play music, he was fixing stoves. Cooking stoves. You know, there’s not a big business in fixing stoves.  Davis had him on the radio five days a week. He got very popular.1   

Eh, mais, t'en aller à grand Mamou,

C'est pour voir les belles 'tites blondes, mais, malheureux.

Eh, jolie 'tite fille, criminelle,

M'a quitte pour t'en aller z-avec vaurien,

Moi je te souhaite tout le malheur que tu peux avoir,

Tu connais j'mérite pas ça, mais, t'après faire. 

It wouldn't be long before Quincy found record label owner Virgil Bozman and convinced him to record Nathan and his band to help promote his Pine Grove Club near Jennings.  Bozman took advantage of this agreement and recorded at least ten songs for his Oklahoma Tornadoes label, starting in May of 1949 at the local KPLC radio station in Lake Charles.  One of these songs was the popular 1935 Leo Soileau tune called "Grand Mamou" (#106). It was a song that Leo had recorded earlier as "Basile" with Mayuse Lafleur in 1928.

Nathan Abshire
Trent Oubre Studio
www.trentoubre.com

His band during this recording is believed to have consisted of Will Kegley on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, Jim Baker on bass, and special vocalist Roy Broussard.  After the OT recordings were produced, many musicians began comparing his style to the more popular  Cajun accordionist Iry Lejeune.  When Nathan's first fiddler, Wilson Granger, was asked to compare his style against Iry Lejeune, he stated:

Nathan played the smoothest accordion, in my opinion, than anybody else.  Iry was a hell of an accordion player.   He could play two-steps like nobody else. But Nathan was easier to follow than Iry, put it that way.1  

Hey, well, you're going to big Mamou,

It's to see the pretty little blondes, well, oh my.

Hey, pretty little girl, it's terrible,

I'm leaving for you went away with a scoundrel,

I wish you all the misfortune you can have,

You know I didn't deserve that, well, what you're doing.

Nathan continued to record, and travel, into his later years.  In 1970, he and the Balfa Brothers performed "Grand Mamou" during a Cajun concert in New York City. 

1. Wilson Granger interview. Andrew Brown. 2005.
2. https://64parishes.org/entry/nathan-abshire
3. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

106-A Grand Mamou | OT 106-A

106-B Lake Charles Two Step | OT 106-B

Find:

Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings Vol. 2 (Arhoolie, 2013)

"New Orleans Waltz" - Nathan Abshire

One of the most colorful and greatest Cajun musicians of all time was the late Nathan Abshire. Abshire’s unique style—best heard on the likes of “Pine Grove Blues,” “Mama Rosin,” “Shamrock Waltz,” and even Joe South’s “Games People Play”—came from blending traditional Cajun music with Louisiana Creole and blues music, music other early Cajun musicians largely disdained or ignored. He also ignited his performances with a spirit and joy for life that few musicians could match.

Ah, 'tite fille, moi j'm'en vas, chère,

Moi j'm'en vas, m'en aller dans la maison.

Ah, 'tite fille, tu vas voir, chère,

Tu vas voir ton erreur, ça va tout le temps.

Ah, 'tite monde, c'est malheureux, chère,

Malheureux de te voir t'es, là.

Ah, 'tite fille, t'écoutais, chère, 

T'écoutais tous les conseils de tous les autres.

Nathan Abshire

The 1949 tune is an ode to the Crescent City called "New Orleans Waltz" (#110).  A melody popularized in the 1930s by Norris Savoy, Norris recorded the same melody in 1947 as "La Valse de Meche".    Nathan and Norris recorded briefly with Warnes Schexnayder and Happy Fats at a New Orleans recording session in 1935.  It's fitting that Nathan chose this title instead, reminiscing about his days playing music with the group in the Big Easy. 

The band consisted of Nathan on accordion and vocals, Will Kegley on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, Jim Baker on bass, and Ozide Kegley on drums. Recorded for Virgil Bozman's OT Records, supported by George Khoury, he would record some of his earliest post-war material for this label.  It didn't take long for Khoury to see Nathan's potential and sign him on his own label, Khoury's Recordings.  Eddie Shuler recalls Bozman:

He sold cow horns.  In fact, I still have one of his cow horns over the entrance to my door there that he gave me back at that time. I let him sing on my radio show. Anyway, he went then and teamed up with George Khoury and then he went out and found Nathan Abshire.  They used the radio station's disc cutting facilities because that's the way they made their commercials.2

Oh, little girl, I'm leaving, dearie,

I'm leaving, I'm going home.

Oh, little girl, you will see, dearie,

You will see your mistake, always how it is.

Oh, my little everything, it's terrible, dearie,

Sad to see how you are, over there.

Oh, little girl, listen, dearie,

Listen to all the advice of others.

Masters were cut onto aluminum-based acetate-covered discs, which were then sent to a processing plant.  Many of the metal plating work for Virgil's records were done by the Charles Eckart Co. on Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles.  This firm in turn probably sent the metal parts to a Los Angeles pressing plant to manufacture the discs, since there were no such plants in Louisiana.3  

Eventually, Nathan re-recorded the melody as "La Valse De Meche" in 1973 for La Louisianne Records with Bessyl Duhon on rhythm guitar, Rufus Thibodeaux on bass, Joe Thibodeaux on drums, record producer Carol Rachou on triangle, and Merlin Fontenot on fiddle.

Towards the end of his days, Abshire adopted the motto “The good times are killing me.” It was the title of his last Swallow LP and he had it spelled out in gold mail box letters on his accordion case. 

1. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/masters-of-louisiana-music-nathan-abshire/
2. http://arhoolie.org/eddie-shuler-goldband-records/
3. Cajun Honk Tonk Vol.2.  Liner notes.  
4. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

New Orleans Waltz | OT Records 110-A

French Blues | OT Records 110-B

Find:
Cajun Music - The Early 50s (Arhoolie, 1969)
Bayou Two-Step - Cajun Hits From Louisiana 1929-1962 (Jasmine, 2015)

"Lake Charles Two Step" - Nathan Abshire

By late 1949, Nathan's band was driving the new Cajun honky-tonk sound with Will Kegley on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, and Jim Baker on bass. Based on Amede Ardoin's "One Step Des Chameaux", Nathan covered the song with a new set of lyrics entitled "Lake Charles Two Step" (#106).  It was a melody that became very popular in 1950 in which led Jimmy Newman and Herman Durbin to record their version entitled "Fais Do Do Two Step".   As Nathan's popularity began to soar on the radio and in jukeboxes, his local presence in dance-halls increased as well.  According to fiddler Wilson Granger, who recorded and filled in with the band,

We would play [at the Crystal Grill] five nights a week.  That used to be between Lake Charles and Sulphur.   We'd play an hour on the radio every day, on KPLC.  Saturday night, we'd go to the Avalon Club; Sunday night, we'd play at Lawtell, Step Inn Club.  They had two clubs there, Step Inn Club and the Green Lantern Club.  Sometimes, we'd go play in Riceville on a Sunday night. We played seven nights a week.1  

Oh, chère 'tite monde, pourquoi, mais, te comme ça?

C’est tout rapport à toi et tes vilains manières.

Oh, ye yaille, 'tite monde, connais tes après malfaire,

Tes tout temps après me quereller, pourquoi que je mon va.

Oh, ye yaille, 'tite monde, tu as tout mes aujourd’hui,

Toi tes voul ton negre, connait que t’es voul l'voir.

Earl DeMary, Wilson Granger,
Eldrige Guidry, unknown on drums,
Nathan Abshire, and Ernest Thibodeaux

Although producer Virgil Bozman tried to sell the record from the back of an old hearse, sales were scarce and finding a copy of this recording after 1949 seemed to be harder and harder.  Record collector and writer Lyle Ferbrache discovered one and used it on his iconic Cajun Honky Tonk Vol.2 CD.  He states:

Until a copy turned up on eBay ten years ago, this record was thought not to exist. So why is it rare? The bass back beat is over cooked and might have had trouble with the big sixteen-inch speakers on the jukeboxes.2  

Oh, dear little world, why, well, you like that?

It's all about you and your nasty ways.

Oh, ye yaille, little world, I know you're doing wrong,

You're always quarreling, that's why I'm leaving.

Oh, ye yaille, little world, you have me today,

You wanted your man, know that you'll see him.

 

1. Wilson Granger interview. Andrew Brown. 2005.
2. Post War Cajun 78 RPM Nuggets by Lyle Ferbrache
3. Lyrics by Herman M

Release Info:

Grand Mamou | OT 106-A

Lake Charles Two Step | OT 106-B

Find:

Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings Vol. 2 (Arhoolie, 2013)

"Musical Five Special" - Nathan Abshire

Nathan Abshire was a Cajun accordionist who made his home in Basile, Louisiana.  A self-taught musician, he was in great demand as a performer, first at house dances, then at local dancehalls, and eventually at music festivals all over the country.  In the 1930s, he played with Creole musician Amede Ardoin, who had a great influence on Abshire's music. In 1949, Nathan, backed by Earl DeMary's Musical Aces, recorded the acclaimed "Pine Grove Blues" in Lake Charles. It was an attempt by bar owner Quincy Davis to get new found attention on his struggling dancehall, the Pine Grove Club.


By 1953, Quincy Davis had gotten the publicity he wanted and Nathan was left on his own.  According to Bernella Fruge, she believes that's when Davis insisted on exclusive rights to use the Pine Grove Boys name in relation to the Avalon Club.  Looking for an alternate and influenced by DeMary's band, Nathan renamed his group the Musical Five.   Together, they recorded the "Musical Five Special" (#631), an instrumental cover of the Joe Falcon song "Fe Fe Ponchaux". While Cleveland "Cat" Deshotel had begun playing with Nathan around the same time, it's believed to be Will Kegley on fiddle.  Will would end up playing with Nathan during those early years before the band picked up Atlas Fruge and Jim Baker and Shelton Manuel.  According to Will's grandson, Chad Crochet, he had heard stories of younger Will building and selling fiddles in exchange for whiskey.  

After a notorious fight between Will and Nathan's steel guitarist Atlas Fruge, which left Altas with a stab wound, Will was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but only ended up serving a few months.  When he returned, Atlas had left the band and Will picked up right where he had left off.   However, it wouldn't be long before he found more trouble.  Kegley eventually moved from Lake Charles to the other side of the Sabine, playing in Orangefield and Port Neches, Texas.  He decided to leave after tangling with Davis, a man who had done prison time and supposedly had connections to the mob.4  

Will Kegley and Nathan Abshire

Stories about Kegley's pension to fight Davis after drunken sprees at the Avalon are notorious, however, many only remember his fine fiddling skills.3  When famed fiddler Doug Kershaw formed his group and the Continental Playboys played bars and dances around the Lake Arthur area, they wound up as regulars on radio station KPLC. He recalled Will Kegley as the founding influence in his earliest years:

We learned songs from local musicians like the fiddler Will Kegley.2,5

Cajun accordionist Ray Abshire recalled Will backing him up.

Kegley was the master at 'basing' behind the accordion.  When playing with Will, I sometimes turned to make sure he was still playing.  He was so good he just blended perfect with the accordion.4  

Today, Will's fiddle can be found in the Nashville Hall of Fame museum.

   

1. Discussions with Chad Ray Crochet
2. http://www.fiddle.com/Articles.page?Index=27&ArticleID=18818
3. Louisiana Music by Lyle Ferbrache
4. https://therecordlive.com/2009/08/13/the-lost-waltz/
5. "Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music" by Ryan Andre Brasseaux

Release Info:

Musical Five Special | Khoury's KH-631-A

Avalon Waltz | Khoury's KH-631-B

Find:

Nathan Abshire & the Pine Grove Boys - French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)

"French Blues" - Nathan Abshire

While many remember Nathan Abshire after the war, helping create the resurgence of Cajun music, most are unaware his start began much earlier in the 1930s. By 1935, Abshire teamed up with guitarist Leroy "Happy Fats" LeBlanc and his Rayne-Bo Ramblers, whose line-up was a fluctuating one and began to record with them, as an accordionist – vocalist on 4 songs.  

This New Orleans session was split between Fat’s Rayne-Bo Ramblers and the Hackberry Ramblers, giving, among others, "French Blues" (#2177).  An Abshire arrangement based on Amede Ardoin's "Les Blues De Crowley", the song would achieve classic status during the later years. An itinerant studio was set up by the technicians of Bluebird (whom misspelled his name "Nason Absher") in a time when the majors of the recording industry were showing an interest in ethnic music. 

Oh! tu m’a fait du mal tit monde

Oh!

Tu pres ma quitté, j’vas tout temps aimé.

C’est malheurse de m'voir.

Avec deux mains j'pourrai pleurer.

Ah Haa!

Nathan Abshire

Abshire was especially taken with the spirited playing and singing of Creole accordionist/singer Amede Ardoin.  Ardoin’s influence was especially evident on Abshire’s first recording in 1935, "French Blues."  "French Blues" is a generic name Nathan gave to this lazy, swingy instrumental, with a few bluesy call-outs. While most won't recognize the song as traditional blues, it was what the Cajuns used to express the limited blue notes that the accordion could mimic. In this early version, you can hear Happy Fats and Simon "Warnest" Schexnyder on guitars and Norris Savoy on fiddle. It was a quasi-instrumental with Nathan interjecting different phrases throughout the song. According to author Ryan Brasseaux:

Like the Breaux family and Lawrence Walker, Nathan composed his blues numbers from the cross-cultural fodder that nourished Cajun music's evolutionary mechanisms.1

Little did he realize that his abilities would shine after the war when asked to bring the accordion back.  When the Pine Grove Boys needed an accordion player in the late 1940s, their memory of Nathan playing in these early years sealed their decision to invite him to join.  Nathan resurrected the tune he remembered and at the KPLC studio, Earl Demarcy and Nathan recorded his "French Blues" for George Khoury and Virgil Bozman's O.T. record label (#110).  The 1949 session would re-launch Abshire's music career. The group consisted of either Ernest Thibodeaux or Earl Demarcy on guitar, Atlas Fruge on steel, Jim Baker on bass, Oziet Kegley on drums, and either Will Kegley or Wilson Granger on fiddle.

Oh! you did me wrong, my little world.

Oh!

You're leaving me, yet, i've always loved you.

It's so sad to see me.

I could cry with both hands.

Ah Haa!

Like his "Pine Grove Blues", he would re-record the tune a slew of times throughout the 60s and 70s.  The group recorded a live session at The Frontier Bar in Basile, Louisiana in 1966 with the Balfas backing him up.  By 1968, the crew entered the Swallow Studios in Ville Platte, Louisiana and re-recorded it again. By 1973, Carol Rachou grabbed a triangle and with Merlin Fontenot on fiddle, Rufus Thibodeaux on bass, Joe Thibodeaux on drums, and Bessyl Duhon on guitar, they re-recorded the tune once more, entitling it "Le Blues Francais" for Carol's La Louisianne Records label. 

French Blues - 1935

French Blues - 1949

1. Cajun Breakdown : The Emergence of an American-Made Music By Ryan Andre Brasseaux
2. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/masters-of-louisiana-music-nathan-abshire/
3. http://www.bopping.org/nathan-abshire-pope-of-cajun-accordion/
4. Lyrics by Jerry M and Raymond Francois

Find:
Cajun Music - The Early 50s (Arhoolie, 1969)
Pioneers of the Cajun Accordion (Arhoolie, 1989)
Nathan Abshire & the Pine Grove Boys - French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)
Cajun Louisiane 1928-1939 (Fremeaux, 2003)
Cajun Capers: Cajun Music 1928-1954 (Proper, 2005)
Bayou Two-Step - Cajun Hits From Louisiana 1929-1962 (Jasmine, 2015)

"Choupique Two Step" - Nathan Abshire

Nathan Abshire was the first in the family of six children.  His parents, also musicians, played accordion, and two of his brothers, known to have been top-notch accordion players, gave it up when still young.3  Abshire was especially taken with the spirited playing and singing of Creole accordionist and singer Amede Ardoin, and Ardoin often invited Abshire to play with him.2  

“Every Saturday we used to go to John Foreman’s saloon. I’d see Amédé Ardoin coming down the way. He’d say, ‘Abshire, you’ve got to help me tonight.’ I’d say. ‘Amédé, I can’t help you.’ ‘Oh yeah,’ he’d say, ‘We’re both going to play. I’ll play for awhile, you play for awhile.’ I’d say, ‘I don’t feel much like going Amédé.’ But I’d go and we’d sure make some music. As far as that goes, we made some great music.”2

Oh, jolie parti, c'es partie à Choupique,

C'es parti, jolie catin, 

Pour voir des belles 'tit blondes.

Aye! C'es Choupique!

Oh, jolie catin, jolie sa m'fais du mal.

Oui, ces drole qui tu m’a dit,

Jolie, sa m'fais du mal.

Oh, jolie catin, jolie tu m'fais du mal,

M'fais du mal, catin du mal,

J'vas pleurer pour toi.

Nathan Abshire
by Todd Kruse
http://pictify.saatchigallery.com/user/tjkruse

The choupique (pronounced "shoe pick") is a trash fish, known outside Louisiana as the bowfin, which isn't eaten much but can be found plentiful around Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. Choupique is also the name of a rural community north of Eunice, Louisiana, not far from a small stream called "La Coulée Choupique".

George Khoury, the owner of Lyric label, recorded Nathan's "Choupique Two Step" (#610) in 1951 but chose not to co-release it on his Khoury's label until years later when he re-released many of these pressings on 45 RPM.  The band consisted of his typical lineup of Nathan on accordion and vocals, Will Kegley on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, Jim Baker on bass, Ozide Kegley on drums. It could very well be a version of Happy Fats' "Les Fille De St. Martin" that Nathan had remembered from their first session together 16 years earlier.   All of these are based on Amede Ardoin's "Amede Two Step".

Church Point News
Dec 12, 1961

Oh, my pretty went away, went away to Choupique,

She left me, my pretty doll,

Going to go see the pretty little blondes.

Aye! Choupique!

Oh, my pretty doll, pretty, you hurt me,

Yes, it's odd what you said,

Pretty, you hurt me.

Oh, my pretty doll, pretty, you hurt me,

You hurt me, my doll, it hurts,

I'm going to cry over you.

1. Louisiana Music, Vol. 1 by Lyle Ferbrache
2. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/masters-of-louisiana-music-nathan-abshire/
3. Pine Grove Blues: Swallow LP 6014. Liner notes.
4. Lyrics by Jerry M

Find:
Nathan Abshire & the Pine Grove Boys - French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)

"Pine Grove Boogie" - Nathan Abshire

Marking the height of Nathan Abshire's second music career, he and Virgil Bozeman teamed up with a band of musicians to lay down some of Nathan's favorite type of music... the blues!  Nathan's accordion, full of "blue" notes of tonal purity, was outstanding behind Roy Broussard's vocals.  

Bozeman worked both as a musician and as a house painter.  But then found himself in San Antonio stationed in the military. After the war, he joined Bennie Hess' Oklahoma Torndados band as a rhythm guitarist.  He was in Lake Charles, pushing his cowhorn sales when he gained an interest in what record producer Eddie Shuler was doing.  Originally, Bozeman had met with Eddie Shuler during one of his radio programs, trying to get into the recording business.   Virgil figured he'd work alongside Shuler to get Nathan to record a batch of songs, including a 1949 follow up to his Pine Grove Blues entitled "Pine Grove Boogie" (#111).   By this time, he, Will Kegley and Ernest Thibodeaux formed a new group with Nathan and added Atlas Fruge and Jim Baker.  Ron Broussard joined in for this particular session.  But Eddie referred Bozeman to a record salesman named George Khoury.  According to Eddie:

He came by, I still had a radio show at the time he came by. Well, first he came to me and I didn't want him. That's because I wasn't too enthused about what he was doing because he was singing and all that stuff.  He came and he got affiliated with George Khoury.5

Nathan Abshire

Oh, ayou toi t'as passé, ma chère petite négresse, que toi(?)

T’es partie avec un autre que moi,

Mais moi, je connais qu’il t’aime pas mieux, ouais, petite négresse.

Oh, ayou toi t’as passé avec un autre qui t’aime pas mieux, ouais, que moi?

Avec un autre qui t’aime pas mieux que moi,

Mais moi je connais t’auras du regret ’tite fille, ma négresse, (mais fait pas ça avec moi!)?

Although moderately successful, the recording was unable to duplicate the success of "Pine Grove Blues".  Bozman was running out of money and Khoury was no longer financially supporting him.  His meager band income was supplemented by an unusual profession: cowhorn salesman. According to Ernest Thibodeaux:

Virgel Bozman

Bozman tried to make a living any way he could.  He would walk around fields looking for the old Brahma bull horns.  He would take them, clean them up real nice and put a finish on them.  He didn't have any trouble selling them.  People would mount them in their house to hang their hats or coats.  I can bet they still might be in use.

Oh, where have you gone, my dear little woman, you,

You have left with someone other than me,

Well, I know he loves you no better, yeh, little woman.

Oh, where have you gone with another who loves you no better, yeh, than me,

With another one who loves you no better than me,

Well, I know you will have regrets, my woman. (Well, don't do that to me!)

It would be Virgel's last release near Lake Charles.  Realizing his business wasn't successful, he moved back to San Antonio.  He continued his O.T. label alongside Bob Tanner's facility by mailing his masters to Stephen Shaw and George Weitlauf in Cincinatti, OH.  His last Cajun release was Abshire's "Step It Fast".

1. South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous By John Broven
2. The Encyclopedia of Country Music
3. http://45rpmrecords.com/date_shaw.php
4. Louisiana Music, Vol. 1 by Lyle F
5. http://arhoolie.org/eddie-shuler-goldband-records/
6. Lyrics by Jordy A

Find:
French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)

"Avalon Waltz" - Nathan Abshire

Nathan Abshire lived most of his early life in a small town north of Gueydan called Riceville.   After the war, he was approached by members of the Pine Grove dancehall house band, known as the Pine Grove Boys.   The accordion was back in the limelight and the owner, Quincy Davis, thought the addition would be good for business in his clubs.  By 1949, he was recording in the radio stations in Lake Charles under the direction of Virgel Bozman and George Khoury.  In 1950, Abshire moved to Basile, located on the Louisiana prairie on Highway 190: 

“What brought me here to Basile was music. You see, I came to play seven nights a week at the Avalon Club here in Basile. So my wife and I took this little house, and we’ve lived here ever since. We know lots of people here, and lots of people come from all over to visit.”

Nathan would play most of his nights at this club and adopted the name, the Musical Five.  According to author Lyle Ferbrache, there were other clubs that had a long history in southwest Louisiana, and a few were older, but arguably none of them quite had the Avalon's pedigree. Leo Soileau, Happy Fats, Harry Choates and many others had all be featured at the Avalon during the peak of the string band years.  It was a place owned and managed by a rough and tumble "colorful and bombastic owner", John Quincy Davis.2  

Quincy Davis (right)

Davis served in the navy during WWI but got into trouble, serving a prison term. Legend has it that he escaped from Angola the first time, only to be recaptured after a statewide manhunt.  By 1937, he had converted a large, narrow barn in Basile into the Avalon Club.  Davis was a big man and if a fight broke out, it didn't take long for both parties to be outside.2   According to fiddler Will Kegley's daughter:

If Quincy got real mad, he would grab the troublemakers, knock their heads together, and run or drag them out the door.2

Hé, tite fille, rappelle-toi ça t'as fait,

Ouais z'avec moi, 'tit monde, il y a pas longtemps,

Et tant qu'à toi, 'tit fille, je veux pas de toi.

Hé, 'tite fille, moi j'ai été chez ton papa,

C'est pour demander, catin, ton mariage,

Mais, c'est trop dur, catin, pour toi, te marier.

Nathan's group played six out of seven days, alternating between both Quincy Davis’ clubs in Lake Charles, the Crystal Grill and the Broken Mirror in the evening, and on KPLC radio for a daily broadcast in the daytime.  By the time they recorded "Avalon Waltz" (#631) in 1953, his band contained Ernest Thibodeaux on rhythm guitar, Atlas Fruge steel guitar, Jim Baker on bass guiter, possibly Shelton Manuel or Ozide Kegley on drums, and Will Kegley or Cleveland "Cat" Deshotel on fiddle.  It was a rendition of Joe Falcon's 1934 "Le Valse De Mon Reve".

Pervis Clement, Ronnie Goodreaux, Nathan Abshire
Ernest Thibodeaux (guitar on right, out of sight)

The Avalon was successful partially because Davis had crafted it, and the surrounding buildings, into a tourist attraction in which music was only one aspect.2  According to Bernella Fruge:

He had a zoo by the Avalon.  He had buses coming in. A lot of buses from Opelousas, New Iberia, Mamou.  Buses that would bring people from the country to the Avalon club. And his club had a restaurant, a saloon... the zoo had monkeys, snakes, I think one tiger...right on the side of the building.2 

Hey, little girl, remember what you've done,

Yeh, with me, little everything, not long ago,

And as for you, little girl, I don't want you.

Hey, girl, I've been to your dad's place,

It's to ask, little doll, your hand in marriage,

Well, it's too hard, little doll, for you to get married.

The Clement Brothers, who also recorded for Khoury at the same time as Nathan, loved Nathan's playing and went to the Avalon almost every week-end to hear him play and sit in once in awhile.  His Avalon Waltz can be found in the melody of Austin Pitre's "Redell Waltz".  Ironically, while visiting an inmate at Angola, Davis suffered a massive heart attack and died in the place that once held him captive.2   

1. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/masters-of-louisiana-music-nathan-abshire/
2. Louisiana Music by Lyle Ferbrache and Andrew Brown
3. Lyrics by Stephane F and Phoebe T and Matt D

Release Info:
Musical Five Special | Khoury's KH-631-A
Avalon Waltz | Khoury's KH-631-B

Find:

Nathan Abshire & the Pine Grove Boys - French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)