Early Cajun Music: "Creole Hop"

Thursday, January 9, 2020

"Creole Hop" - Joe Manuel

Creole Hop! It was a rendition of the famous Cleoma Breaux tune "Ils La Volet Mon Trancas". Joe, familiar with the tune from the years playing it as "Hackberry Hop" with Leo Soileau, sang the song in 1947 with Harry Choates as "Hackberry Hop" for Jimmy Mercer's Cajun Classics. Two years later, he recorded it himself for the Joe Leibowitz's DeLuxe label, entitling it "Creole Hop" (#6039), naming if after the small town in Cameron Parish where many of the Manuels lived.

Hé le Hip et Taïau, ouais, qu’a volé mon traineau, chérie,

Quand ç’a vu j’étais chaud, ouais, ç’a r’venu mon traineau,

C’est les filles de Créole, ouais, qu’a volé traineau, chérie,

Quand ç’a vu j’étais chaud, ouais, ils ont r’venu mon traineau.

Hé le Hip et Taïau, ouais, qu’a volé mon gilet, p’tite fille,

Quand ç’a vu j’étais chaud, ouais, ils ont r’venu mon gilet,

C’est les filles de Créole, ouais, qu’a volé gilet, ouais,

Quand ç’a vu j’étais chaud, p’tite fille, ils ont r’venu mon gilet.

Crowley Daily Signal
Oct 11, 1949

Every Friday afternoon, he ran a radio show on KSIG called T-Joe Manuel & Radio Stars featuring the best western string band tunes of the time. His group consisted of probably Eddie Caldwell on guitar, Abe Manuel on fiddle, Dusty Rhodes on steel guitar, and Crawford Vincent on drums. It was essentially the same setup and lineup that Abe had on his recording of "Hippy Ti Yo".

Hey, the Hip and Taïau, yeh, that stole my sled, darling,

When they saw I was hot, yeh, they returned my sled, darling,

It's the girls of Creole, yeh, that stole my sled, darling,

When they saw I was hot, yeh, they returned my sled.

Hey, the Hip and Taïau, yeh, that stole my vest, little girl,

When they saw I was hot, yeh, they returned my vest,

It's the Creole girls, yeh, that stole my vest, yeh,

When they saw I was hot, little girl, they returned my vest.