"Natchitocheo (French Town)" - Blind Uncle Gaspard

Two of some of the earliest recording artists in French Louisiana happened to be Alcide "Uncle Blind" Gaspard and John Bertrand.   They brought about  In addition to their repertoires of old French ballads, Gaspard and Bertrand also had in common the inclination, while playing, to whistle the melodies of various songs.  Gaspard provides an example during his 1929 recording "Natchitocheo (French Town)" (#5333), also sometimes listed as "Aux Natchitoches".1   Gaspard was from the Marksville area, not far from the Red River region of central Louisiana.  The Red River provided navigation to the north-western part of the state which is where the song's lover happens to live, in Natchitoches.

Aux Natchitoches I(l) n'a z-une brune et je ne la vois pas autant je veux, 

Aux Natchitoches I(l) n'a z-une brune et je ne la vois pas autant je veux,

Par un beau dimanche, je m’étais mis aller la voir, j'l’ai trouvée au lit malade,

Par un beau dimanche, je m’étais mis aller la voir, j'l’ai trouvée au lit malade,

Endormez vous? Sommeillez vous? Et tous nos amours, 'trends plus parlés, 

Endormez vous? Sommeillez vous? Et tous nos amours, 'trends plus parlés,

Si vous avez un-e habit z-à prendre, prenez la donc couleur de cendre,

Si vous avez un-e habit z-à prendre, prenez la donc couleur de cendre. 

C'est l'habillement de la plus triste pour un amant qui vit en langueur,

C'est l'habillement de la plus triste pour un amant qui vit en langueur, 

Ni je dors, ni je sommeille, toute la nuit mon esprit veille,

Ni je dors et ni je sommeille, toute la nuit mon esprit veille.

(whistle)

Aux Natchitoches I(l) n'a z-une brune et je ne la vois pas de quand je veux, 

Aux Natchitoches I(l) n'a z-une brune et je ne la vois pas de quand je veux,

Par un beau dimanche, je m’étais mis aller la voir, je l'ai trouvé joli malade,

mmmmmm.

Fort St. Jean Baptiste Des Natchitoches

According to author Dr. Ryan Brasseaux,

Gaspard waxed a ballad entitled “Aux Natchitoches,” presumably a colonial era composition handed down for generations in families of French extraction on the northern fringes of Cajun Country.3  

The settlement of Natchitoches was established in 1714 and is considered the oldest permanent European settlement within the boarders of the Louisiana Purchase.2  Given that the area west of this was considered Spanish Texas, it served as the most eastern stop on "El Camino Real", connecting the village all the way to Mexico City.4 With the location of the city's proximity to the Red River, stories of the region made their way into the Cajun country further south.  Even Gaspard's colonial French-Creole phrasing is more aligned with the French spoken along this river than the Cajun French spoken in the southern prairies.  

Blind Uncle Gaspard

Gaspard learned to play several instruments, possibly from family members.  These reportedly included guitar, violin, accordion, and bass fiddle.  At times he played with his brothers, Amadie, a violin player, and Victor, who played bass.1  Here, Gaspard sings of a lover that he doesn't visit often.  When he arrives, the singer is slowly dying and he prepares for her eventual death.  

In Natchitoches, there lives a brunette and I don't see her when I want,

In Natchitoches, there lives a brunette and I don't see her when I want,

On a beautiful Sunday, I had gone to see her, I found her sick in bed,

On a beautiful Sunday, I had gone to see her, I found her sick in bed.

Are you sleeping? Are you dozing? And all of our love, I never hear of it anymore,

Are you sleeping? Are you dozing? And all of our love, I never hear of it anymore,

If you have an outfit to take (wear), wear the dark black one,

If you have an outfit to take (wear), wear the dark black one.

It's the sad outfit for a lover that is living in languish (slowly dying),

It's the sad outfit for a lover that is living in languish (slowly dying),

I can't sleep, I can't doze off, all through the night, my mind stays awake,

I can't sleep and I can't doze off, all through the night, my mind stays awake.

(whistle)

In Natchitoches, there lives a brunette and I don't see her when I want,

In Natchitoches, there lives a brunette and I don't see her when I want,

On a beautiful Sunday, I had gone to see her, I found her sick in bed,

mmmmmm.

According to author Dr. Ryan Brasseaux, 

While most Cajun composers wrote about their immediate environs, “Aux Natchitoches” revolves around the strategic colonial settlement up river from Avoyelles. Between 1956 and 1957, ballad hunter Harry Oster recorded an almost identical adaptation of this early commercial recording.  Oster discovered vocalist and guitarist Bee Deshotel who sang the ballad a cappella. According to Oster, the thematic integrity of Blind Uncle’s solo recordings places the songs squarely in the French ballad tradition.3  

1. Blind Uncle Gapard, Delma Lachney, John Bertrand - Early American Cajun Music. Yazoo liner notes.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natchitoches,_Louisiana
3. Bayou Boogie: the Americanization of Cajun music, 1928-1950.  Ryan Andre Brasseaux.  2004
4. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/55055/55055-h/55055-h.htm
5. Lyrics by Stephane F 

Release Info:
G05 NO-122 Natchitocheo (French Town) | Vocalion 5333
G06 NO-123 Sur Le Borde De L'Eau (On The Riverside) | Vocalion 5333

Find:
John Bertrand / Blind Uncle Gaspard / Delma Lachney Early American Cajun Music (Yazoo, 1999)

"Tant Que Tu Est Avec Moi" - Jolly Boys of Lafayette

The Jolly Boys got their start in 1937 with their only recording session with Decca.  Joe Fabacher led his group during the late 1930s through the 1950s. It included his brother Red and Leon "Crip" Credeur".  Francis "Red" Fabacher was a brilliant guitar player.  By 1940, Red was playing radio shows on KVOL along with Nason Guidry and the Sons Of Acadians.  However, soon after, he was drafted into WWII.

(Moi) tout seul dans la peine,

Moi tout seul, chère 'tit monde,

Mérite pas ça, ça t'as fais, 

Mais, ça t'as fais, jolie.

Quand ton nègre est avec toi,

C'est "chère" ici et "chère" là bas,

Mais, quand ton nègre est-z-à-coté,

T'as bien prié ton pauvre vieux nègre.

Crowley Daily Signal
Sept 7, 1950

The song was their version of Amede Ardoin's "Eunice Two Step".  It spawned other post-war versions such as Virgil Bozman's "Tell Me If You Love Me" and Lee Sonnier's "Chere Ici Et Chere La-Ba". The phrase chère ici et chère là bas eludes to a lover's quarrel, where in the love interest acts differently when her man is at her side versus when he's away.

(I'm) all alone in pain,

I'm all alone, dear little everything,

Don't deserve that, that you've done,

Well, that you've done, pretty.

When your man is with you,

It's "dearie" here and "dearie" there,

Well, when your man alone by your side,

You had better pray for your poor old man.

While Red got his start playing Cajun swing music, he also was adept to playing country and rock in the later years. By the time he got out of the service, he had joined Harry Choates band, playing full rhythm guitar and occasionally filling in for Happy Fats.

1. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:
61914-A Tant Que Tu Est Avec Moi (As Long As You're With Me) | Decca 17036 A
61915-A High Society | Decca 17036 B

Find: 
Cajun: Rare & Authentic (JSP, 2008)

"Rubber Dolly" - Harry Choates

Facts about Harry Choates' early life are lost to the sands of time, though it’s likely that he spent his early childhood in Rayne and New Iberia before his family moved to the booming oil town of Port Arthur, Texas in 1929. Beyond his birth certificate, the first concrete evidence of Choates’ existence came in the form of his first recorded appearance with Happy Fats’ Rayne-Bo Ramblers in 1940. Harry was now 17, and he emerged from childhood with two fully developed talents, the yin and yang that would define the highest and lowest moments of the rest of his life: the ability to drink most dedicated booze-hounds under the table and the musical genius to blow just about anybody off of the bandstand.1

Austin American
Oct 4, 1947

His 1947 instrumental, "Rubber Dolly" (#1331), for Gold Star records came to south Louisiana from the American hillbilly musicians of the Appalachian region. It became a marching song during WWI.  Quoted in the book “To the Last Ridge” by WH Downing, first published in 1920, he writes about hearing a wounded man out in no-man’s-land at Fromelles, singing it in his delirium.2,3,4  

Rumored to be the origins of an English nursery rhyme, it was later popularized by Woody Guthrie, Bill Parsons, Ella Fitzgerald and the Light Crust Doughboys.4  Earlier Cajun musicians such as Angelas Lejeune borrowed the melody for his popular "Bayou Pom Pom One Step".  Other derivatives of the melody found it's way into Joe Falcon's "Osson One Step", Adam Trahan's "Waltz Of Our Little Town" and Amede Ardoin's "Tortope d'Osrun".  Post-war Cajun versions can be found in Iry Lejeune's "Bayou Ponpon Special" and Austin Pitre's "High Point Two Step" and his "Janot Special".



Record producer, Bill Quinn, had such a large following of Harry Choates' music, he licensed out several songs from this session to Modern Records Hollywood of Los Angelas.  Listeners can hear Harry call out steel guitarist Ronald Ray "Pee Wee" Lyons. Among the other musicians were Joe Manuel on banjo, Eddie Pursley on guitar, B.D. Williams on bass, Johnnie Ruth Manuel on piano and Curzy "Pork Chop" Roy on drums.  Banjoist Chester "Pee Wee" Broussard, who played with Happy Fats at some of the same places Choates performed, related to Kevin Coffey:

[Harry Choates' Melody Boys] liked to drink, liked to smoke, and money just burned a hole in their pockets. We’d play a dance and get back to Rayne, and they’d go find a slot machine. Before we finished eating our breakfast, which was usually three in the morning, they were already broke and trying to borrow money from somebody else.1  

1. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/harry-choates/
2. http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=4030
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clapping_Song
4. https://www.mamalisa.com/blog/did-you-sing-the-rhyme-rubber-dolly/

Release Info:
1331 Rubber Dolly | Gold Star 1331
1326-B Fa-De-Do Stomp | Gold Star 1326-B

528A Rubber Dolly | Modern 20-528A
528B Cajun Hop | Modern 20-528B


Find:
Western Swing, Vol. 1 (Old Timey, 1966)
Harry Choates ‎– The Fiddle King Of Cajun Swing (Arhoolie, 1982, 1993)
Devil In The Bayou - The Gold Star Recordings (Bear Family, 2002)

"Chere Vere Naig" - Clopha "Shuk" Richard & Marie Falcon

Shuk Richard's Louisiana Aces was another popular band on radio and live appearances when this 1951 session took place.  Clopha “Shuk” (Shug) Richard was born in Rayne and it is believed that he learned to play the Cajun accordion by ear with his initial lessons coming from his mother, Ozia Breaux Richard. After working in the rice fields on farms near Rayne, he moved to Lake Charles in the 1920s.2  Marie Falcon was the band's added attraction and one of the very few female artists to appear during the era.  She came from Cajun music's first family, with the recordings of Joe and Cleoma Falcon. Two of Joe's nieces, Marie and Helen, became musicians.1    

Cher vieux nègre, après n’emmener pour te voir,

(A venir te)* de m'voir avant d'mourir,

Aussi loin avec moi aujourd'hui,

Moi, je peux p'us m’empêcher, ouais, d'pleurer.

Moi-même, j'connais quoi tu viens pour te faire soigner,

Moi, je peux p'us m’empêcher, ouais, d'pleurer

Prends courage, à ton vieux nègre pour te voir, 

(Venir te)* pour une autre fois, donc, moi, j'connais.

Aussi loin avec moi, aujourd'hui,

Aujourd'hui, m’empêcher, ouais, d'pleurer,

Comment j'vais venir, moi, te revoir, jolie cœur,

(Venir te pour)* une autre fois que avant d'mourir.

Eddie Richard, Jay Dartez,
Shuk Richard on accordion,
Marie Solange Falcon on guitar,
Jack Brock (MC)

Together, Marie and Shuk Richard recorded "Chere Vere Naig" (#622) corruption of the French phrase, "chère vieux nègre") as an ode to Cleoma's melody "La Valse Crowley".   The song is a high intensity waltz made more effective as Eddie Duhon 'seconds' her vocal on fiddle.1    The group rounded out with Crawford Vincent on drums and Shuk on accordion.  Marie handles the vocals on all four songs from the session. She strums her guitar stridently and sings at the top of her voice as loud as any male Cajun singer.  However, these sessions made very little impact on her as a musician.  Author John Broven remembers:

I once interviewed Marie... I kept trying to convince her that she was breaking new ground as a Cajun woman singer but she wouldn't have it, treating it all matter-of-factly.1  

My dear old friend, take me to see you,

(Come and) see me before I die,

So far away from me, today,

I can not stop myself, yeah, from crying.

I, myself, I know that you're coming to be cared by me,

I can not stop myself, yeah, from crying,

Have courage, your old friend sees you,

(Coming) another time, therefore, I know.

So far away from me, today,

Today, stop me, yeah, from crying,

How will I come see you again, pretty sweetheart?

(Coming) another time, before I die.

1. Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings, Vol. 2. Liner notes.
2. Cajun Dancehall Heyday by Ron Yule
3. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:
-A Madame Entelle Two Step | Khoury's KH-622-A
-B Chere Vere Naig | Khoury's KH-622-B

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

"La Valse De Te Maurice" - Terry Clement

The Clement Brothers band have been making wonderful Cajun music since the late 1940s. They were on the scene playing the same clubs in the same time period that so many of our "better known" heroes from the 50s dance-hall circuit were active, such as Lawrence Walker, Austin Pitre, Iry LeJeune, Aldus Roger, etc. Their great friend and hero, Nathan Abshire, helped spark a revival of accordion music in the post-war years with a regular engagement at The Pine Grove Club, a dance-hall situated just a short way down the road from the Clement home.1  Terry recalled their first show in 1949:

When we were kids, we called ourselves the Rhythmic Five and patterned our music after the music of Nathan Abshire.2  

Marshall Arceneaux

From Evangeline, Louisiana, this family has deep roots on the southwest prairies. Ancestors made their way to Louisiana from Marseille, France in the early 1800s, settling in the Grand Coteau area of the old Attakapas country before moving on to present day environs near Jennings. On fiddle and accordion, their father Laurent played the Louisiana French folk music that became the basis of what we know these days as Cajun music, passing on to his sons his considerable knowledge and talents.1  

C'est nous autres, qu'est si joyeux,

C'est nous autres, qu'aime autant, mais, la musique,

Pour un bon temps, ouais, j'ai courtisé*,

Venez nous rejoindre, ouais, là bas, chez 'tit Maurice.

C'est nous autres, ouais, qu'est si joyeux,

C'est nous autres, qu'un bon temps, mais, s'amuser,

Pour z-un bon temps, ouais, venez boire la bière, 

Venez nous rejoindre, là bas, chez 'Tit Maurice.

Ronnie Goudreau

The group borrowed the tune as a cover of Oran "Doc" Guidry's recording of "Le Nuevo Tit Maurice".   It was re-recorded by Happy Fats for RCA during a 1946 session.   By the time Terry recorded it in 1952, his band featured himself on accordion; Purvis Clément on fiddle, Marshall Arceneaux on vocals and guitar, Ronnie Goudreaux on drums and Jerry Dugas on steel guitar.   Ronnie got his start playing big band dance music during the 40s with the group Sentimental Scholars and went onto playing with Randy and the Rockets years later. 

We're the ones, who are so happy,

We're the ones, who so love, well, the music,

For a good time, yeah, I court (chase the ladies)*,

Come join us, over there, at the 'Tit Maurice.

We're the ones, who are so happy,

We're the ones, who have a good time, well, having fun,

For a good time, yeah, come and drink beer,

Come join us, over there, at the 'Tit Maurice.

The Clements would be part of a field recording session done by Dr. Harry Oster where the group would lay down some of the earliest Cajun recordings ever between 1956 and 1958.   Austin Pitre, who also recorded during the Oster recordings, also used the melody for "Chatatinia Waltz".  

Linus Elmer Simar, Purvis Clement, Terry Clement,
Ronald E Goodreau, Floyd Bergeaux

1. http://npmusic.org/artists.html
2. Cajun Dancehall Heyday by Ron Yule
3. Photo by Aaron I
4. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:
-A La Valse De Te Maurice | Feature 1090-A
-B Diggy Liggy Lo | Feature 1090-B

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

"One Step De Laccissine" - Nathan Abshire & Rayne-Bo Ramblers

The first introduction to Cajun blues in Louisiana came from the Afro-Creoles that created some of the first Cajun standards in Louisiana.  Other musicians took note, copying their style, and inserting their own soul into the music.  Nathan Abshire was especially taken with the spirited playing and singing of Creole accordionist/singer Amédé Ardoin, and Ardoin often invited Abshire to play with him. 

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.’

Nathan Abshire

But I’d go and we’d sure make some music. As far as that goes, we made some great music.1

During his very first recording session, in 1935, along side Happy Fats' Rayne-Bo Ramblers, the team of Norris Savoy on fiddle and Warnes "Tee-Neg" Schexnyder on guitar traveled to New Orleans to record a tune named after a small town in Louisiana: "One Step De Laccissine" (#2178). Typical of national recording labels, they rarely cared about proper names; misspelling Nathan's name as "Nason Absher" and Lacassine as "Laccissine".  In standard Abshire style, Nathan used the accordion to foreshadow his interest in Cajun blues.  According to author Ryan Brasseaux:

The "One Step de Laccissine", for example, is a vibrant romp that flirts with the melody that would become "Pine Grove Blues".2

1. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/masters-of-louisiana-music-nathan-abshire/
2. Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music By Ryan Andre Brasseaux

Release Info:
BS-94412-1 One Step De Laccissine | Bluebird B-2178 A
BS-94413-1 Le Valse De Boutte Dechuminen | Bluebird B-2178 B

Find:

Le Gran Mamou: A Cajun Music Anthology (CMF, 1990)
Cajun Country, Vol. 2, More Hits from the Swamp (JSP, 2005)
Cajun Capers: Cajun Music 1928-1954 (Proper, 2005)

"Le Midland Two Step" - Amede Ardoin

Amede Ardoin was one of the first African-American accordionists to make a "French" record. He was a popular performer and creative improvisational singer, respected by blacks and whites alike. His vocal and playing styles have influenced most Cajun and Creole musicians since then. He recorded many sides, with Dennis McGee on fiddle, and later in the mid-1930s on his own.1 Based on the slower Angelas Lejeune's "La Valse Du Texas", Ardoin took the slow tempo waltz and created a fast-paced two-step from the melody.

Oh, toi, catin, ô tous mes parents,

Oh, moi, je connais, ça veut pas me voir chez toi.

Oh, toi 'tite fille, comment ça se fait avec toi,

Tu me fais tant de la misère sans jamais je t'ai rien fait,

Oh, je m'en vas en quelque part, ouais, pour mon je te voir,

Ouais, pour moi, je te voir, mais, tes parents veulent pas que mon je te vois.

Oh, ye yaille, toi, catin, ça peut passer,

Tu sais, chez ma marraine, moi, j’avoir au moins 5 sous,

Oh, moi, je m'en vas, ô, j'ai pas d'argent,

Oh, mon papa et ma maman m'en a pas donné.

Oh, ye yaille, catin, éoù c'est je vas aller,

Oh, pour mon te voir toutes les heures dimanche matin,

Oh, moi, j'allais, là-bas éoù toi, t'etais,

Moi, je m'aperçois, mais, ta maman veut pas me voir.

Amede Ardoin

In 1934, record mogul, Jack Kapp, who had recently left Brunswick Records that year, quietly pulled some of their previous recording artists to record for a new label named Decca.  He convinced former Brunswick artists such as Bing Crosby, the Mills Brothers, Guy Lombardo and Amede Ardoin to sign with the fledgling label.  During a solo trip to New York City, Kapp invited both the Falcons and Ardoin to their main studio where Ardoin waxed the quick paced song, "Le Midland Two Step" (#17003) as an ode to the small farming community in Acadia Parish.   In an agriculturally-dominated society, if one wasn't farming, they were considered lazy.   Fiddle player Canray Fontenot and his father remembered growing up playing music with Amede.  

Amede, he was the lazy type of man. He was the baby of the family.  He didn't like to work. He was always playing. He'd go somewhere if he knew someone was making a big boucherie, he go over there and sit down with his accordion, and play there.  They'd feed him, maybe give him a piece of meat to take home to give to one of his brothers.2     

Oh, you little doll, oh, my parents,

Oh, I know, they don't want to see me at your place.

Oh, you little girl, why have you done that?

You've made me so miserable without ever doing anything to you,

Oh, I'm going to go somewhere, yeah, so I can see you,

Yeah, so I can see you, however, your parents do not want me to see you.

Oh, ye yaille, you little doll, that passes by,

You know, at my godmother's place, I have at least five cents.

Oh, I'm going away, oh, I have no money,

Oh, my dad and my mom did not give me any.

Oh, ye yaille, little doll, where am I going to go?

Oh, for I see you all the time on Sunday mornings,

Oh, I'm going to go over there, where you were,

I realize, well, your mother does not want to see me.

1. J'ai Ete Au Bal Vol. 1.  Arhoolie CD 331.  Liner notes.
2. http://arhoolie.org/canray-fontenot-interview/
3. Lyrics by Marc C

Release Info:
39196-B Le Midland Two Step (The Midland Two Step) | Decca 17003 A
39204-A Valse De Mon Vieux Village (My Old Home Town Waltz) | Decca 17003 B

Find:
I'm Never Comin' Back: The Roots of Zydeco (Arhoolie, 1995)
CAJUN-Rare & Authentic (JSP, 2008)
Mama, I'll Be Long Gone : The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934 (Tompkins Square, 2011)