"Love Sick Waltz" - Aldus Roger

Aldus Roger was born in the small town of Carencro, near Lafayette, a musician's son who began playing the one-row diatonic accordion the locally preferred type of the instrument aged eight. By his mid-teens he was playing in public, but during the 1930s popular taste in rench-speaking south Louisiana swung away from the accordion to a string-band sound, closer to Anglo-American country music. It was not until the instrument enjoyed a revival in the 1950s, thanks to players like Iry LeJune, Nathan Abshire and Roger himself, that he made his mark with his band the Lafayette Playboys.2

Demandant ton p’tit cœur chère p’tite fille,

Il faut l’emmener à la maison z’avec moi,

Garde tout le temps mais bien te soigner, jolie fille,

Ou je te demande de t’en revenir avec ton nég.

Un(e) p’tit(e) bouclette de tes petits cheveux que j’aime autant,

Une p’tite caresse qui travaille aussi dure,

Mon petit cœur qui est si cassé juste pour toi,

Viens t’en donc avec ton nég à la maison.

Johnny Credeur, Phillip Alleman,
Fernest "Man" Abshire, Aldus Roger,
Oran "Doc" Guidry

While his contemporary and fellow accordionist Lawrence Walker favoured a smooth sound, "Aldus's music was loud. More into full force," as singer/historian Johnnie Allan remembered. According to J.D. Miller in a 1984 interview, 

Back there in 1946, when I set my studio up, there was very little to setting up a recording studio.  If I recall correctly, ...i believe I do, I had three microphones, I had a 4 channel Ampeg mixer, I had an audio amplifier, and a mono recorder.  It didn't take any time at all to setup anything, .... we were in business.

Roy Morgan

During the early 1950s, he and his band walked into the J.D. Miller studio in Crowley and waxed the "Love Sick Waltz" (#2004) for Feature records.  His song featured the vocalist and guitarist Roy Morgan, who played with many bands during the 1950s including Joe Falcon and his Silver String Band.

Asking your little sweetheart, dear little daughter,

You must come home with me,

To always look after you, well, take care of you, pretty girl,

Or I'll demand you return with your old man.

A small ringlet of your little hair that I love so much,

Lightly caressing it, it's difficult to handle,

My little heart is so broken, only for you,

Come back with your old man to his home. 

Crowley Daily Signal
Nov 18, 1961

For 15 years Roger had a television show on KLFY in Lafayette, and he made records for all the south Louisiana labels specializing in Cajun music, such as Goldband, Cajun Classics and, especially, La Louisianne, for whom he recorded numerous singles and three albums.2

1. Lyrics by Stephane F
2. http://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jun/02/guardianobituaries2
3. Photo identification by Michael Dupuy

Find:

Acadian All Star Special: The Pioneering Cajun Recordings of J.D. Miller (Bear Family, 2011)