"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)