"La Prison" - Virgil Bozman

John Hardin “Virgel” Bozman. He was a rustic singer/guitarist (born in Oklahoma) and part-time comedian who sometimes billed himself, with tongue-in-cheek, as “The Arkansas Sinatra“. He seemingly was also a house painter. He  had apparently been a staple on the San Antonio country and western music scene for some time.  Virgel Bozman was an eccentric Texas bandleader who became fascinated by Cajun music.1  

He had already recorded a Hillbilly record for Bill Quinn, "Griding For My Darling", which was virtually impossible to locate even when it was new. A 1945 contract for Bozman exists, so he may have had an unknown release on Quinn’s earlier Gulf label, or the sides could have become the later Gold Star release.1  However, once Quinn scored a huge success with Choates' "Jole Blon", Bozman couldn't help but take notice. 

Oklahoma Tornadoes, 1947
Floyd Leblanc, Iry Lejeune, Ben Oldeg,
Bennie Hess, Virgel Bozman

Bozman revamped up Bennie Hess' band as the Oklahoma Tornadoes in 1947 with new musicians of the caliber of Cajun fiddler Floyd LeBlanc. Together they came up with a viable French-English novelty "La Prison"(#1332). Somehow Quinn failed to see the potential of the song and buried it on the flip-side of "The Hokey Pokey" – a piece of pure corn by the Gold Star Trio. But the song still caught on as it was flipped over on the jukeboxes in several regions, and copies show up today with mint "A" sides and plowed "B" sides. With the right promotion, the record had the ingredients to become at least a regional hit in the hillbilly market. Bozman was not deterred and began to feature Cajun music more prominently, although he himself could not speak French outside the words that were scribbled on paper for "La Prison".1  Fiddler Wilson Granger stated:

He sang that "La Prison". He sung that in French, but what they did, it's just a few words, you see.  That's easy to say. But outside of that, he didn't speak French, no.2  

Well, I left for Louisiana about a year ago,

Started out through Texas while traveling with a show,

I landed in old Houston feeling mighty fine,

Until I met that woman and now I'm doing time.

Dans la prison, le "hell" avec ça,

Moi je m'en 'viens à la maison,

Dans la prison, le "hell" avec ça,

Moi je m'en 'viens dans vingt-quatre ans.

...

Corpus Christi Caller-Times
May 28, 1953

The significance of "La Prison" lies in understanding how Cajun music's impact on Texas musicians was starting to become apparent. After Texas-resident, Harry Choates, made "Jole Blon" so popular, people like Virgel and Floyd became aware of the music's marketability.   Cajun musicians didn't realize it but the genre was about to take off once more.  Recordings like this one sparked people like Virgel to pursue other Cajun artists to record and kicking off his interest to setup his own label.  So much so, that same year, he and Floyd convinced Bennie Hess to record Iry Lejeune's first session producing the monumental "Love Bridge Waltz" and eventually helped resurrect one man's career in 1949 by having him wax a well-known song on Virgel's fledgling O.T. record label:  Nathan Abshire and his "Pine Grove Blues".1    

In prison, to hell with that,

I'm going to return to my house,

In prison, to hell with that,

I'm going to return in twenty four years.

1. http://www.bopping.org/blues-for-oklahoma-virgel-bozman-o-t-and-hot-rod-records-1949-1952/
2. Wilson Granger interview. Andrew Brown. 2005.
3. Cajun and Creole Music Makers By Barry Jean Ancelet
4. Lyrics by Smith S

Find:
Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 4: From The 30s To The 50s (Old Timey, 1972)
Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings Vol. 2 (Arhoolie, 2013)