"Your Father Put Me Out (Ton Pere A Mit d'Eor)" - Leo Soileau and Mayuse Lafleur

Cajun music began to be recorded in order to target one more ethnic group and Ralph Peer, predictably, was in the middle of it all.  The very first Cajun music on record was a pair of accordion sides by Joseph Falcon on Columbia.  Victor rushed to respond with a session in Atlanta when Mayuse Lafleur and Leo Soileau traveled there.  This recording took place during precisely the same week of Atlanta recording sessions in which Jimmie Rodgers was laying down songs. In 1928, St. Landry Parish Sherriff "Cat" Doucet and jewelry store owner Frank Dietlein escorted the team to the big city.

I loaned Mayuse one of my suits. We went first class. Stayed at one of the biggest hotels in Atlanta.  I had told those people we didn't want to be put up at no joint. And we went on the train and had sleepers.2  

Jimmie Rodgers

In face, record producer Ralph Peer had the groundbreaking Cajun pair and Rodgers holed up in the same place.1 According to Soileau:

We stayed at the same hotel as the great Jimmie Rodgers, the old Blue Yodeler and it was really a thrill for us to meet him.  He was there for a recording session, too.1,2  

Oh toi, ‘tit monde, ton papa m’a jeté dehors,

Il m’a jeté dehors de ma maison, de ma maison, moi-même chérie.

Vieille mom! Je suis malheureux, il savait pas, là, il fait erreur,

Ton papa, il a fait erreur quand il m’avait jeté dehors.

Oh, ye yaille, comment ça se fait il a fait ça?

Je connais pas, je méritais pas tout ça il a fait avec moi.

C’est malheureux, il s’aperçoit il a fait erreur, mais, il est trop tard,

C’est pas la peine qu’il se lamente, c’est pas la peine, il va pleurer.

Mayuse Lafleur

With his wife abandoning him and fleeing back her parents home, "Your Father Put Me Out (Ton Pere A Mit d'Eor)" (#21770) spoke direcly to LaFleur's marital problems.   His problems affected the recording session.  The record executives concluded that the duo needed to remedy their edginess and secured a pint of 190 proof "prescription liquor" at a nearby pharmacy.2   Alcohol seemed easy to get.  Maybe lost in rumors, Soileau also mentioned:

Jimmie knew where to secure a supply of moonshine of such high quality and refinement, ...[we] chatted and drank the night away.1,2

Ville Platte Gazette
Dec 22, 1928

However, Dietlein recalled the story differently.

When we arrived at the recording place, Leo told me that Mayuse could not sing.  For his muse to awaken he needed a drink.  When I told the Victor representative Ralph Peer of this predicament, he handed me a twenty dollar bill and asked me to get a taxi cab and try to find a drink Mayuse.  I soon was back with a bottle of white lightning. Mayuse took a healthy swing of the white liquid. I can see Mayuse now.  After a drink or two, his foot began moving and tapping the floor in rhythm.  Pretty soon, I heard him tell Leo, "Laisser aller!"  They started playing and the extemporaneous words came from Mayuse.  His first song was about his girlfriend's father who had kicked him from his house.  "Ton Papa Ma Jete Dehors".3  

Even "Cat" Doucet claims to have been involved in obtaining the liquor.

That was when I took them two boys to Atlanta. They gave us each $100. And our expenses.  Those boys wouldn't go without me. You know them Cajuns wouldn't go to no big city like Atlanta by their selves. I loaned Mayuse one of my suits. The man from RCA--I believe it was RCA--that record company that had the sign with the little dog listening to the big horn--he came and talked to me, and we arranged that I would go over there with Mayuse and Leo.4    

We had a problem with the boys. They were used to having a drink or too before they would play, some of that good bootleg stuff people around here used to make.  Well, they didn't have nothing like that in Georgia. It was a dry state.   Those boys just couldn't get going. Leo played the violin and Mayuse played the accordion and he would sing. They couldn't get started.  So I went to a drug store and go some alcohol, 190 proof, and I made them put something in it--strawberry syrup or something like that. After two-three pops of that, they cranked off!4  

Jimmie would eventually have a deep influence on Leo's music, inspiring Leo to cover tunes such as Jimmie's "Frankie and Johnny".   The melody stayed with Leo, using it for his "Il Ta Prie De Moi" in 1936.  By 1948, hillbilly artists Abe and Joe Manuel covered the tune as "Your Papa Threw Me Out" and later in 1950, Lawrence Walker recorded it as his "Ton Papa Ta Mama Ma Sta Da All". Harry Choates recorded the same tune as "Tondelay".

Oh, you, my little everything, your daddy threw me out,

He threw me out of my house, from my house, by myself, dearie.

Old mom! I'm unhappy, he did not know, over there, he made a mistake,

Your dad, he made a mistake when he threw me out.

Oh, ye yaille, how come he did that?

I do not know, I did not deserve all that he did to me.

It's unfortunate, he realizes he's wrong, but, it's too late,

It' not worth lamenting about it, it's not worth it, he's going to cry.

When Mayuse arrived back home, nine days later, he was found dead from a gunshot wound from a bar fight.    As far as Mayuse's father-in-law, the protagonist of the song, he grew angry at Mayuse's bitter blame  For years after his death, he broke any Mayuse LaFleur record he encountered in the community...regardless of who owned it!2  

1. Meeting Jimmie Rodgers: How America's Original Roots Music Hero Changed the ... By Barry Mazor
2. Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music By Ryan Andre Brasseaux
3. Daily World (Opelousas, Louisiana) 07 May 1974, Tue Page 4
4. Daily World (Opelousas, Louisiana) 02 Feb 1971, Tue Page 2
5. Lyrics by Stephane F and Jordy A

Release Info:
BVE-47203-2 The Criminal Waltz | RCA Victor 21770-A
BVE-47204-1 Your Father Put Me Out (Ton Pere A Mit d'Eor) | RCA Victor 21770-B

Find:
Cajun Capers: Cajun Music 1928-1954 (Proper, 2005)
The Early Recordings of Leo Soileau (Yazoo, 2006)
The Beginner's Guide to Cajun Music (Primo, 2008)
The Best Of Cajun & Zydeco (Not Now, 2010)
The Very Best of Cajun: La Stomp Creole, Vol. 1 (Viper, 2016)

"Se Pas Le Pan" - Hackberry Ramblers

Of all the ventures an optimist might dream up during the Great Depression, the most risky would be a two-person dance band named after a tiny community in Cameron Parish and formed at the peak of the hardest times in American history.  Luderin Darbone and Edwin Duhon didn’t think so. In 1933, they formed the Hackberry Ramblers band, with an accordion, a guitar and a fiddle between them.1

When the Darbones moved to Hackberry, the kid next door was Edwin Duhon, a native of Lake Charles whose hobbies were playing an old accordion and a newer guitar. Darbone and Duhon became friends when they started playing music together.1 

C'est pas le peine tu me dis "non",

Faudra toujours tu me dis "ouais",

C'est pas le peine tu me dis "non",

Faudra toujours tu me marries.

KVOL, Lafayette, LA
Joe Werner, unknown, Luderin Darbone,
Robert Escudier, Lennis Sonnier

By 1937, the group had been recording for two years and arrived at the Masonic Temple in New Orleans to record "Se Pas La Pan" (#2017).   The title means "it's no use", spelled in French as "c'est pas la peine".   The group had added members  Lennis Sonnier on guitar and Joe Werner on guitar/harmonica.   Melodies such as this one can be found earlier tunes such as the Fawvor Brother's "La Valse De Creole", the Segura Brother's "A Mosquito Ate Up My Sweetheart", and later songs such as Lawrence Walker's "Tu Le Du Po La Mam" and Nathan Abshire's "La Valse de Holly Beach".  

It's no use for you to tell me "no",

You will always have to tell me "yeah",

It's no use for you to tell me "no",

You will always have to marry me.

1. "Hackberry Ramblers Making music since 1933". DON KINGERY. American Press, Friday, September 24, 2004
2. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

BS 07224-1 Se Pas La Pan (It's No Use) | Bluebird B-2017-A

BS 07224-1 Rice City Stomp | Bluebird B-2017-B

Find:

Cajun String Bands 1930's: Cajun Breakdown (Arhoolie, 1997)

"Don't Get Married" - Iry Lejeune

Iry Lejeune came from an area near Church Point and paved the way for accordionists to find work again after the war.  Lejeune, who drew heavily from the recorded repertoire of Creole musician Amede Ardoin, is one of the most storied figures in Louisiana French music.  Although venerated for his accordion skills, it is Lejeune's singing that draws the strongest superlatives from writers--that it can "bite and burn and blister the heart" and "encompassed all the pain, loneliness, and hardship of the isolated prairie farmers".

One of Iry's first groups he jumped into was with Earl DeMary's Musical Aces.  It was here that fiddler Wilson Granger first met Iry and noticed his talent.   Before long, they included guitarist Alfred "Duckhead" Cormier.  Wilson recalled:

Earl DeMary got him to play with us. We had many accordion players. Rufus Thibodeaux, his daddy played the accordion. He played with us for awhile. Earl's the one who started us with Iry.  Then, I don't know what happened to Earl. He quit playing with us.  We got this Alfred Cormier, "Duckhead" Cormier, they called him.  They called him "Duckhead" because he could call ducks with his mouth. He didn't need no [whistle].3   

Bridge City, TX, 1948, poss. B.O. Sparkle Club
R.C. Vanicor, Ernest Fruge, Iry Lejeune,
Alfred "Duckhead" Cormier, Earl Demary, Ernest's son

Jeunes filles de la campagne,

Mariez-vous autres jamais,

'Gardez quoi, moi, j'ai fait,

Mis une femme dans l'embarras,

Gardez-donc c'est pas la peine,

T'essayes à les aimer,

Je connais, donc, être musicien,

Ça paiera pas comme ça.

Jeunes filles de la campagne,

Mariez-vous autres jamais,

'Gardez quoi, moi, j'ai fait,

Je m'ai mis dans les misères.

La femme est malheureuse,

Mais, loes enfants est plus.

'Gardez-donc comme c'est misérable,

Les voir à la traîne comme ça.

Jeune filles de la campagne,

Mariez-vous autres jamais,

Jeune fille, c'est une amusette,

'Gardez-donc comment je vas faire,

C'est pas la peine dire non.

Ils vont toujours te condamner,

Ils vont te faire les aimer, chère,

Ils vont toujours te condamner.

Iry Lejeune

"Don't Get Married" (#1195) is Iry's take on the old traditional tune "Jeunes Gens De La Campagne"; a well-known lyrical off-shoot of Joe Falcon's "Allons A Lafayette".  It's a traditional song about the dangers of young men getting married too early, except Iry gave it a unique twist... warning the ladies about marrying a musician!   His phrasing of "les voir à la traîne" directly translates to "seeing them on the trail", but in Cajun French, it's another way of saying "seeing them dragging along the road" or "seeing them wonder around", usually in despair.  Duckhead played the guitar and Wilson filled on fiddle. Granger recalled playing at clubs with Iry:

I played in Bridge City, at B.O.'s Sparkle Club.  I played a lot there, with Iry.  And Bailey's Fish Camp between Orange and Port Arthur. We played there a lot on Saturday nights, with Iry. Jones' Bar and Shamrock Club.  We played the Triangle once or twice, Jones' Bar every Saturday night for awhile.... and also the Shamrock.3  

Wilson Granger

Young girls of the country,

Don't ever get married,

See what I have done,

Made trouble for a woman,

So look, it is no use,

To try to love them, 

I know, though, that being a musician,

It doesn't pay to be like that.

Young girls of the country,

Don't ever get married,

See what I have done,

I am full of misery,

The wife is unhappy,

Well, the children are more,

See how it is miserable,

To see them wondering around, like that.

Young girls of the country,

Don't ever get married,

A young girl is for amusement,

So look, how will I handle this?

It is no use saying no,

They will always condemn you,

They will make you love them, dear,

They will always condemn you.

Iry's recordings became wildly popular in French-speaking Louisiana and southeastern Texas. Lejune's capacity to get the right syncopated rhythm or beat from the accordion and to coax from that instrument a big, multi-faceted, almost big band sound, are hallmarks of his accordion playing.  When author Andrew Brown asked Wilson to compare Iry against Nathan Abshire's style, he said:

I won't say [Nathan] was a better accordion player because, to me, Iry was number one.  That's all he ever done. He started when he was a kid.  He could do anything he wanted with that accordion.3  

1. Cajun and Zydeco Dance Music in Northern California Modern Pleasures in a Postmodern World By Mark F. DeWitt,
2. http://www.zydecocajunbyway.com/iry.html
3. Wilson Granger interview. Andrew Brown. 2005.

Release Info:
-A (2587) Don't Get Married | Folk-Star GF-1195-A
-B (2588) (1219-2) Convict Waltz | Folk-Star GF-1195-B

Find:
The Legendary Iry LeJeune (Goldband, 1991)

Iry Lejeune: Cajun's Greatest: The Definitive Collection (Ace, 2003)

"Dans Les Grand Meche" - Lee Sonnier

In 1948, Livaudais "Lee" Sonnier's connection with Fais Do Do records was a chance circumstance when producer J.D. Miller married into the family.  Miller was a musician himself.  He had played with several hillbilly groups, even playing alongside Amedie Breaux on one occasion during the 1930s.  But it wouldn't be long before Miller entered the military.  Once he was out, he created his own contracting business and rented a large building.   

In the meantime he had married an accordion player's daughter.  His wife was the daughter of Lee Sonnier of Rayne, a local musician. However, with all the building space, he chose to use some of the building to sell musical instruments.  This led to making records. Having already recorded string band leader, Happy Fats, Miller decided Lee's accordion talent was a reasonable addition. He recalls:

The jukebox operators around town came to me wanting Cajun French records.  There weren't many available, only Harry Choates' "Jole Blon".  The records of Joe Falcon had been discontinued. I figured heck, we'd try to make some of our own.1

Moi, j'connais, moi, j'm'en va, chère 'tit fille, malheureuse,

Dans la platin(?) avec un autre, mais, pour toujour,

Moi j'connais, tu va venir, chère 'tit fille, malheureuse,

Avec ton negre pas longtemps, mais, chère mignonne.

Tout les jours, tu m'aimie, moi j'connais, (...........?) 

Qui m'aime, chère 'tit fille, malheureuse,

Moi, j'm'en va, pour toujour, j'connais (les) promets, malheureuse,

Moi, j'connais tu va venir (à grand mèche).

Lee Sonnier

In 1948, Miller gathered the group at his new recording studio at the M&S Electrical shop.  After purchasing a tape recorder, Miller recorded the group performing the traditional "Dans Le Grand Meche" on Miller's new Fais Do Do label featuring Happy Fats on vocals and bass.   It was a slightly different take on the traditional melody of "Grand Texas".  Backing him up was Lawrence "Blackie" Fruge on fiddle and Eula Mae Fruge on guitar.  Miller had recorded the group with his own equipment in his shop.  Taking the time and effort to get a good recorded sound, he said:

I went to Houston to the Gates Radio Supplies. They had just received three Magnecord tape recorder, it seems like it was the PT-6 model. You could carry it around, so I bought that, three microphones and a three volume mixer.  I think I was helped by my electrical background.  I had a sense of something. I didn't go by the book because I went by these two things.... my ears.2  

J.D. Miller

I know, I'm going to leave, dear little girl, oh my,

In the lowlands with another, well, forever,

I know, you are going to come, dear little girl, oh my,

With your man not long ago, well, dear cutie.

Everyday, you loved me, I know, (........?)

Who loved me, dear little girl, oh my,

I'm leaving, forever, I know the promises, oh my,

I know you are going to come (to the marsh).

1. Interview with J.D. Miller. Stacey Courville. CPS. 1983.
2. Slim Harpo: Blues King Bee of Baton Rouge By Martin Hawkins

Release Info:

-A Dans Les Grand Meche | Fais Do Do F-1002-A

-B Chere Catan | | Fais Do Do F-1002-B

Find:

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

"Chere Petite Blun" - Vincent & Cagley

Fiddle player and Cajun drummer, Crawford Vincent, came from a musical family.  His grandfather, Theozime Vincent, who had come from France, was known to play dances in the Gueydan area as early as the 1870s.   Crawford not only learned from his grandfather, but also from a local fiddler named J.B. Fuselier.  However, Crawford's biggest influence came from listening to and playing with the Hackberry Ramblers.1

Will Kegley grew up in a sharecropper family where he and the Clement family grew up together. Accordion player Terry Clement believes this is where Will learned how to play the fiddle.   By the late 1930s, Will and a guitar player from Jennnings named Ernest Thibodeaux.    Will Kegley's biggest connection to the music was when he helped find Nathan Abshire to lead the Pine Grove Boys.   

Crawford Vincent

Oh 'tit monde, tout ça, mais, t'es après faire, 

Si loin, 'tite fille, de moi de toi,

Oh, tout le temps, après 'garder, ouais, pour toi, 

Ça on appelle ma chère,  jolie petite brune.

Oh tout le temps, de t'voir, mais, aussi loin, 

Avec un autre, 'tite fille qui m'aimait pas. 

Oh, de t'voir, avec un autre, avec un monde,

(Je te) promets, 'tit monde, ça fait de la peine.

Crawford and Will were popular musicians that played often together in other groups such as in Shuk Richard's Louisiana Aces.1  They duo came together in 1952 to recording for George Khoury's new record lable Lyric where they waxed "Chere Petite Blun" (#605), adding Cecil Farrell "Benny" Fruge on piano.  Sadly, the rest of the musicians during the session is unknown. Khoury's lack of attention to detail produced a title with the word "brun" misspelled along side Kegley's name written as "Cagley".

Will Kegley

Oh, my everything, all that, well, you've done,

So far away, little girl, I am from you,

Oh, all the time, looking, yeah, for you, 

We call my dear, pretty little brunette.

Oh, all the time, seeing you, well, so far away,

With another, little girl, who doesn't like me,

Oh, seeing you with another, everywhere,

(I) promise you, little everything, it hurts.

However, in tragic turn of events, Will's reputation would be cemented as a rough musician. In June of 1954, while playing with the Pine Grove Boys, he stabbed steel guitar player Atlas Fruge in a fit of rage over the jealously surrounding his wife Oziet.   He was sentenced to Angola for 18 months but only served a year.   Afterwards, he filled in with other bands such as Andrew Cormier's Rambling Aces.1  

1. Cajun Dancehall Heyday by Ron Yule
2. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:
A Chere Petite Blun | Khoury's/Lyric 605-A
B Lawtell Two Step | Khoury's/Lyric 605-B

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