"Two Step D'Elton" - Dennis McGee & Amede Ardoin

At the same time that the Cajuns were being transformed by new influences, the African American descendants of slaves who had been brought by force to America were developing their own music, and the music of the two cultures influenced one another. The music of Creole culture drew on the same French traditions as Cajun music but added to that the influence of African music in the New World–the rhythms of the Caribbean or the soulful melodies of the blues or a combination of these sources and more. 

The legendary Amédé Ardoin exerted a major influence on the development of both Creole and Cajun music. Ardoin and a number of other Creole musicians would also play at white dances. Eventually, Ardoin became acquainted with the Cajun fiddler Dennis McGee. Together, they began to play at dances throughout the region.1  By 1930, the duo made their way to New Orleans were they waxed the song "Two Step D'Elton" (#513), an ode to the small town in Jeff Davis Parish.

O, joli ’tit monde, comment je vas faire?

Tu m’abandonnes, catin, éou je vas aller, ’tit monde?

O, c’est toi, catin, ô, comment je vas faire,

O, tu m’abandonnes, comment je vas faire, catin?

Ta maman et ton papa, ô, ils n’ont pas voulu,

Mon, je peux perdre, qu’ils ont trouvé, toi, t’etais trop jeune.

O, mais, toi, catin, comment je vas faire, toi, ’tit monde?

Eoù je vas aller si tu m’abandonnes? Comment je vas faire, catin?

Mais, tes parents, ça veut pas moi,

Oui, toi, jolie, qui c’est qu’a fait tout ça, catin?,

(C’est) la faute à ta maman.

Amede Ardoin

Lester "Pe-Te" Jeansonne (Johnson), a native of Grand Tasso who moved to Houston playing Cajun music on a the KPFT radio program, recalled watching Ardoin as a child:

I was a kid and matter of fact, they’d have a house dance at one house one Saturday night, then next week or the two weeks later, they’d have another one at somebody else’s house. Back then there was only one musician, a couple of musicians, and Amédé Ardoin, that played the accordion. I was only about two-and-a-half, three years old, and he played at my house. He was the only musician there. Back then they’d say, “Fais do-do,” and they’d put the kids in the back room in the bed and everything, and you was supposed to stay in there and go to sleep. Man, that accordion music, it was in my blood. [Laughs.] And I’d drift out of there. Finally, after about the third time of getting a whoopin’, they’d just leave me there and I’d just sit right there by his feet while he played.2  

Oh, pretty little everything, how am I going to handle this?

You abandoned me, pretty doll, where are you going to go, little everything?

Oh, it's you, pretty doll, oh, how am I going to handle this?

Oh, you abandoned me, how am I going to handle this, pretty doll?

Your mom and your dad, oh, they don't want (me),

I can lose, what they have found, you were too young.

Oh, well, you, pretty doll, how am I going to handle this, little everything?

Where I am going to go if you abandon me?  How am I going to handle this, pretty doll?

Well, your parents, that don't want me,

Yeah, you, pretty one, who has done all of that, pretty doll?

(It's) your mom's fault.

In 1960, Austin Pitre and his Evangeline Playboys revised the song into his recording of "Two Step de Bayou Teche" for Swallow Records

1. http://andrethierry.com/zydeco/
2. Keeping Cajun Music Alive – “Yes, siree, I guarontee ya”: A conversation with Pe-Te Johnson and Jason Theriot.  Houston History Magazine.

Release Info:

NO-6721 Two Step D'Elton | Brunswick 513

NO-6722 La Valse De Gueydan | Brunswick 513

Find:

I'm Never Comin' Back: The Roots of Zydeco (Arhoolie, 1995)

Cajun Country, Vol. 2, More Hits from the Swamp (JSP, 2005) NOTE: Incorrect recording on CD

Cajun Capers: Cajun Music 1928-1954 (Proper, 2005)

Mama, I'll Be Long Gone : The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934 (Tompkins Square, 2011)