"La Cote Farouche De La Vie" - Marie Falcon & Clopha "Shuk" Richard

What many people aren't aware of is that acclaimed Cajun accordionist Joe Falcon had a large musical family, which included his niece Marie Solange Falcon.   Marie, backed by Clopha "Shuk" Richard's band, had a short lived recording career in 1952.   An admirer of her aunt Cleoma Breaux Falcon, she had no problem jumping into the music business.   She had played with many musicians and lived in Cajun dance-halls playing music for years.  George Khoury had her record a very popular country song that year, in French, called "Le Côte Farouche De La Vie" (#621).  The song is fitting for the wild and boisterous female guitarist and vocalist.

Vous serait pas lire mes lettres, se j'ai écrit les 

Tu me demandes de pas ta appelez de sur "phone", 

Il y a quelque chose de vous dit, oui, asteur chere, 

Je l'ai écrit dans les mots dans c'ette chanson. 

Savais pas bon dieu a fait des anges "honky-tonk", 

J'aurais tu connu que m'a jamais faites une femme, 

T'as quitte, oui, le seul l'amour qui t'aimé, chere, 

T'en aller sur la borde la vie farouche. 

Les lumière du le place du soir t'a attiré,

A la place éyoù vin et whisky flux,

Bien, êtes-vous d'être le bébé d'un autre de Pointe d'Eglise,

Oublier l'amour des yeux que t'as jamais connais. 

Savais pas bon dieu a fait des anges "honky-tonk", 

J'aurais tu connu que m'a jamais faites une femme, 

T'as quitte, oui, le seul l'amour qui t'aimé, chere, 

T'en aller sur la borde la vie farouche. 

Eddie Richard, Jay Dartez,

Clopha "Shugg" Richard on accordion,
Marie Solange Falcon on guitar,

Jack Brock (MC)

It is a Cajun rendition of Hank Thompson's 1952 "The Wild Side Of Life". It carries one of the most distinctive melodies of early country music, used in "Thrills That I Can't Forget" recorded by Welby Toomey and Edgar Boaz in 1925.2  The song's roots go back to when William Warren was a boy and A.P Carter of the Carter Family was collecting old traditional folk songs for the Carter Family to record.  One of those songs was "I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue Eyes," which was a hit for the Carter Family in 1929.  In 1934, Marie's aunt, Cleoma Breaux, was a huge fan of the Carters and had used the melody for her "Mes Yeux Bleu". Influenced by her aunt, Marie sung the song in Lake Charles backed up by Shuk Richard on accordion, Will Kegley on fiddle and Crawford Vincent on drums.    

You would not read my letters, if I wrote them,

You asked me not to call your phone,

This is something you said, yes, right now, dear,

I wrote the words in this song.

Didn't know the good Lord made honky-tonk angels,

I should have known that you never made a woman,

You're leaving, yeah, the one that loved you, dear,

You're going to the wild side of life.

The lights of the night have lured you,

At a place where the wine and whiskey flows,

Well, you are the baby of another from Church Point,

Forget the lovely eyes you've ever known.

Didn't know the good Lord made honky-tonk angels,

I should have known that you never made a woman,

You're leaving, yeah, the one that loved you, dear,

You're going to the wild side of life.

J.D. Miller, showing his #1 hit
"It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"

Roy Acuff heard the same tune but with different lyrics from a band called The Black Shirts. Acuff recorded the song as "The Great Speckled Bird," a song inspired by the 12th chapter and 9th verse of the Book of Jeremiah. In 1952, Jimmy Heap and his band the Melody Masters first recorded the song on the Imperial label. The band's piano player, Arlie Carter, is credited as the song's co-writer.  Heap said in a 1971 interview with Ray Campi that the Melody Masters' version sold about 10,000 copies before Hank Thompson picked it up as the "B" side of his single "Crying In The Deep Blue Sea."

Louisiana recording producer and songwriter J.D. Miller heard Hank's song on his car radio and immediately wrote lyrics for a female response to the song. He submitted his lyrics to Decca Records, which contacted Kitty Wells about recording it. Ms. Wells, semi-retired at the time, was not all that interested in the song, but her husband convinced her to record it anyway since she would be paid a session fee for stepping into the studio. Her song "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," became a number one hit in 1952, and stayed there for six weeks.1

1. http://www.texasescapes.com/ClayCoppedge/A-Classic-Walk-on-The-Wild-Side.htm
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_Side_of_Life
3. Lyrics by Jerry M

Release Info:
La Cote Farouche De La Vic | Khoury's KH-621-A
Jole Brun | Khoury's KH-621-B

Find:

Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings, Volume 1 (Arhoolie, 1995)
Bayou Two-Step - Cajun Hits From Louisiana 1929-1962 (Jasmine, 2015)