"La Fille La Vove (The Widow's Daughter)" - Iry Lejeune

One would be hard pressed today to find a Cajun band without an accordionist at its head.  But if it hadn't been for a nearly blind musician from Point Noire, the accordion would be only a museum piece in south Louisiana and Acadian music itself might be as extinct as the dinosaurs.  This style of music is still going strong years after Iry Lejuene made his recordings.1 

Eh, criminelle, 

Misérable, la malheureuse.

Oh, la fille de la veuve,

Cette-là là elle si belle et aussi aimable,

Avec toupet qui'tait aussi bien taillé,

Blâme-donc voir ta pauvre vieille maman avant ton negre

Oh, Tchic et Phine, 

T'en aller chez Madame Do Doon,

Voler les prunes dans les pruniers,

Et c'etait voir la chère fille de la veuve.

Iry Lejeune

"La Fille La Vove (The Widow's Daughter)", (#1219) followed the same traditional melody that once made "Jolie Blonde" a hit.   A cover of his cousin Angelas Lejeune's recording of "La Valse de La Veuve", it was recorded during a session with just Iry singing and playing alone.  With no band backing him up, one can hear his playing style uninhibited.  During an interview, Angelas was asked who the fille de la veuve (daughter of the widow) was.  He recalls:

She was the daughter of a man we called "Doo Doo" Matte.  She later became Mrs. Dave Ledoux (Emma Matte). But at the time the words were composed, she lived with her mother. Her father was dead. They lived in Pointe Noir.13   

Hey, it's criminal,

Miserable, terrible woman.

Oh, the widow's daughter,

That she's so beautiful and so kind,

With a forelock that was also cut well,

So, blame your poor old mother before your old man.

Oh, Tchic and Phine,

You're going to Madame Do Doon's house,

To steal the plums in the plum trees,

And that was in order to see the dear widow's daughter.

Daily Advertiser
Feb 26, 1950

After Iry's death, the interest in his music grew.   Eddie Shuler, Goldband producer, decided to start re-releasing his music on LPs throughout the 60s. However, Eddie felt necessary to modify the recordings.  He had Robert Bertrand overdub both fiddle and guitar on songs like "Vove" as well as other Goldband recordings.  Interestingly enough, if you listen carefully at around the 40s mark, you'll hear Robert Bertrand miss a note in which he startlingly exclaims "Bullshit!"

Chris Strachwitz, of Arhoolie records, regretted the day when he told Shuler that the Goldband recordings lacked "bottom" due to the primitive studio conditions.  Thereupon, Eddie proceeded to reissue many of his pristine 1950s recordings, sacrilegiously, with plodding bass guitar overdubs.2  The bass track overdubs were allegedly done by Jo-El Sonnier, and remained that way until Ace Records, re-released all of Iry's material using the original 78 RPM transfers.  According to Jo-El Sonnier,

I also played rhythm guitar and upright bass behind some Iry LeJeune recordings as well.  Again I thought I yelled loud over Iry playing and singing but I had no control to tell Eddie to [turn] my instrument's volume down as I was overdubbing over the pre-recorded tracks.  There was no bass guitar [on] the original recorded tracks but later I was asked to add my guitar rhythms and bass guitar [on] one take.4   

1. "Iry Lejeune rescued traditional Cajun music" by Gene Thibodeaux. The Church Point News.  Oct 11, 2008.  
2. Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers By John Broven
3. Tears, Love, and Laughter: The Story of the Acadians by Pierre Daigle
4. Discussions with Jo-El Sonnier by Jeremy R.  

Release Info:
-1 La Fille La Vove | Goldband G-1219-1
-2 Convict Waltz | Goldband G-1219-2

Find:

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