A unique window into the world of Cajun music between 1928 and 1965. Compiled histories from websites, books, news articles, liner notes, and interviews. Most come from my personal 78 collection. Also covering Creole, Cajun-Country, and Cajun swing.
Showing posts with label Roy "Blackie" Romero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roy "Blackie" Romero. Show all posts
Records had been available regionally since the late 1920s and a few of them got played elsewhere from time to time, but it was in 1939 that Leroy "Happy" Fats LeBlanc and the Rayne-Bo Ramblers became the first band from south Louisiana to play on a radio show broadcast nationally over the CBS network. Old-timers will recall that Fats and his band were regular performers at the OST Club in Rayne and Tee Maurice Club near Vatican.1
T'as quitté hier au soir,
Avec un gros en or,
T'as revenu à ce matin,
Tu sentais le vin blanc.
C'est malheureux, (c'est malheureux,)
C'est malheureux tu m'fais comme ça,
C'est malheureux tu m'as quitté,
Quoi faire tu veux venir.
Quoi faire donc, pitié,
Tu fais ça z-avec moi,
T'es après faire du mal,
À ton pauvre nègre.
C'est malheureux, (c'est malheureux,)
C'est malheureux tu m'fais comme ça.
C'est malheureux tu m'as quitté,
Quoi faire tu veux venir.
Happy Fats
Fats was reared on a rice farm near Rayne, Louisiana and got his first guitar by trading a sack of rice for it. He was working in a rice mill for $1.50 a day when he started his band as a way to earn a little bit of money during the Depression. "We'd play dances for ten dollars for the whole band," he said in an interview some years ago. "That was two dollars apiece and two dollars for traveling expenses."1
By 1938, after having many musicians in and out of his band, he regrouped with the Guidry's, Roy "Blackie" Romero and a talented 17-yr-old pianist from the St. Martinville area named Robert Thibodeaux. Together, they formed a western swing outfit for a recording session at the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans and recorded a French version of Deep Elem Blues entitled "Se Mallereux" (#2089).
You left last night,
With a big man in wealth,
You've returned this morning,
You smelled of white wine.
That's terrible, that's terrible,
That's terrible, you did like that,
That's terrible, you left me,
How you want to come back.
So, what's done, pitiful,
You did that with me,
You're going to hurt,
Your poor old man.
That's terrible, that's terrible,
That's terrible, you did like that,
That's terrible, you left me,
How you want to come back.
Jim Bradshaw. "Happy Fats Heard Nationwide". The Abbeville Meridional, published in Abbeville, Louisiana on Sunday, January 29th, 2012
Lyrics by Stephane F
Release Info:
BS-022035-1 Ma belle Mellina | Bluebird B-2046-A
BS-022036-1 Se Mallereux | Bluebird B-2046-B
BS-022036-1 Se Mallereux | Bluebird B-2089-A
BS-022023-1 Cherie a you toi te? [Hackberry Ramblers] | Bluebird B-2089-B
The Crawfish in the Marsh! Texas was a place where many Cajun-string bands headed to in order to record their music and Dallas was no exception. Bluebird had brought several bands over to record in Dallas including Lawrence Walker for their Texas Centennial celebration in 1936. Later, others were headed west to take part in the opportunities there. In 1937, Happy Fats took several band members on a tour of east Texas, playing in such places like Galveston and Port Arthur. By 1938, Happy Fats had swapped members of his group for a recording session in Dallas where they recorded "Les Escrives Dan Platin" for Bluebird Records. According to author Ryan Brasseaux:
"Les Escrives Dan Platin" and "Les Tit Filles de Lafayette" embody the synthetic nature of Cajun swing. Both songs contain a unique blend of Cajun fiddling, Western swing, jazz back beats, solo "takeoffs" and tight Southern gospel harmonies rendered as French choruses.1
Ma p'tite fille est bien si belle,
Viens t'en donc ma chérie,
Mais, j'connais y a pas juste elle,
Viens t'en donc ma chérie,
Viens t'en donc, viens t'en donc,
Viens t'en donc ma chérie,
Viens t'en donc oui quand tu veut,
Mais, viens t'en donc ma chérie.
Des ecrevisses dedans l'platin,
Viens t'en donc ma chérie,
Va attraper demain matin,
Viens t'en donc ma chérie,
Viens t'en donc, viens t'en donc,
Viens t'en donc ma chérie,
Viens t'en donc oui quand tu veut,
Mais, viens t'en donc ma chérie.
Ouai de gumbo et d'la sauce,
Viens t'en donc ma chérie,
Si n'y a pas, c'est pas d'ma faute,
Viens t'en donc ma chérie,
Viens t'en donc, viens t'en donc,
Viens t'en donc ma chérie,
Viens t'en donc oui quand tu veut,
Mais, viens t'en donc ma chérie.
Rayne Tribune June 18, 1937
While some today use the word "platin" to refer to a low lying marshy area, at the turn of the century, Cajuns referred to a "platin" as a small circular pond, formed from rain water deposits, of which there were thousands on the prairies. The melody, similar to Happy's "O.S.T. Girl", was an adaptation of the familiar folk-tune called "Polly Wolly Doodle". It was sung by Dan Emmett's Virginia Minstrels, which premiered in 1843. Later, it was recorded by many musicians later including Harry C. Browne in 1917, Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers in 1926 and the Carter Family in 1939.3
Happy rounded out his group with Oran "Doc Guidry on fiddle, Ray Guidry on banjo, Roy Romero on steel guitar, Nathan Guidry on bass, and Robert Thibodeaux on piano. According to Ryan Brasseaux:
Oran "Doc " Guidry's smooth fiddling and Robert Thibodeaux's swinging stride piano solos carried the band through several sophisticated arrangements such as "Les Escrives Dan Platin".1
Cajun Sketches From The Prairies Of Southwest Louisiana by Lauren Post
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polly_Wolly_Doodle
NOTE: B-2091 is a re-release
Release Info: BS-022040-1 Aux Long De Bois | B-2034-A BS-022032-1 Les Escrives Dan Platin | Bluebird B-2034-B BS-022038-1 Jus Pasque | Bluebird B-2091-A BS-022032-1 Les Escrives Dan Platin | Bluebird B-2091-B Find:
Gran Prairie: Cajun Music Anthology, Vol. 3: The Historic Victor Bluebird Sessions (Country Music, 1994)
Cajun swing was perhaps the most dynamic musical expression in the history of Cajun music. Fiddlers, guitarists, steel guitarists, drummers, piano accordionists, and banjo and mandolin pickers all drew inspiration from the eclectic array of commercial musical styles available at local record stores, emitting from household battery-operated radios, and via the rouging groups and jazz orchestras that provided entertainment at local clubs and honky-tonks.1Leroy "Happy Fats" Leblanc seems to have embraced it all throughout his recording years.
C'est juste que tu crois que t'étais jolie,
C'est juste que tu crois t'es si douce,
C'est juste que tu crois que tu as quelque chose,
Moi j'ne sais pas.
J'ai donné tout mon argent,
(Je) croyais t'avez tout sur le col,
Oui, mais, sapristir, j'ai fini-z avec toi,
C'est juste parce que.
C'est juste que tu crois que t'es jolie,
C'est juste que tu crois t'es si douce,
C'est juste que tu crois que t'as quelque chose,
Mais, moi je ne sais pas.
J'ai dépensé tout mon argent,
Tu croyais j'étais vieux Santa Claus,
Bébé, sapristir, mais, j'ai fini avec toi,
C'est juste parce que.
Alex Broussard, , Happy Fats www.wendyrodrigue.com
"Just Because" was a prolific tune, earlier recorded by Nelston's Hawaiians, covered by many groups of the day including Cleoma Falcon as "Jeusté Parcqué". The French word "sapristi", meaning "Oh heavens!", is still used in France but in a comical way because it's colorful and old-fashioned, so people have tenderness for this word. "Sapristi" is not vulgar, however, its a way to swear without being dirty or offending God. It's an expression of surprise, impatience, or hopelessness and may come across as sarcastic out of frustration.
Oran "Doc" Guidry had been jazz fiddler for some time before Happy Fats replaced Louis Arceneaux with Doc in 1938. According to Guidry, when they first met two years prior in 1936 at one of their first dance-hall shows, Happy asked him if he was interested in finishing school.
He asked me, "You intend to get through school?" I said "Yeah." He asked, "What do you want to pick up?" I said, "I want to pick up medicine." He said, "You want to be a doctor?" I said, "Yeah". He introduced me that night..."Doc" Guidry!3
It turns out that Happy had borrowed the nickname from Light Crust Doughboy's fiddle player Clifford "Doc" Gross and from that point on, Oran was known to everyone as "Doc" Guidry. Many people throughout his life never knew his real name.3
Doc Guidry
Just because you think you are pretty,
Just because you think you are sweet,
Just because you think you have something,
I don't know.
I gave you all my money,
Beleiving you had everything "on the collar",
Yeh, well, good heavens, I'm finished with you,
Just because.
Just because you think you are pretty,
Just because you think you are sweet,
Just because you think you have something,
Well, I don't know.
I spent all my money,
You thought I was old Santa Claus,
Baby, good heavens, well, I'm finished with you,
Just because.
Happy rounded out his group with Ray Guidry on banjo, Roy "Blackie" Romero on steel guitar, Nathan Guidry on bass, and Robert "Rat" Thibodeaux on piano. The release became popular enough with RCA that they released it on their "staff" label and on their "Dog 2" label. After the war, Happy and Doc reunited as Happy, Doc And The Boys until 1953. Happy Fats went on to become a major south Louisiana television personality in the 1950s after the first TV station opened in Lafayette.
