"Tout Que Reste C'est Mon Linge" - Amede Ardoin & Dennis McGee

"All That Remains Is What I Have On".  In the 1920s and '30s, Amédé Ardoin was the zipper of Cajun and Creole music. While he was performing, the two genres - though distinct - came together in a groove that shared his repertoire and style. After his death, they wandered apart, further and further as the two went along. Ardoin's influence on both genres is so formidable that he appears on both Cajun and zydeco compilations and is sometimes incorrectly listed as a Cajun. Breaking Jim Crow era barriers, he routinely played with Cajun musicians.1

Oh, oh Joline, (pour) moi d’être croyable avec tes parents,

Oh, petite, oh, j’ai passé à la porte, 

Oh, mais, moi, je t’ai pas vue.

Oh, catin, tu devrais pas faire ça,

T’auras jamais bonheur, éyoù tu vas aller?

Oh catin, t’as écouté ta maman et ton papa, je vas partir.

Moi, je m’en vas, oh petite,

Oh, tous les dimanches et les samedis,

Au soir pour aller au bal*,

J'connais pas ça, éyoù j'vas te 'joindre,

J'jongle à toi, pour moi être capable aller 'vec toi.

Oh, moi, j'm'en vas, moi tout seul,

Oh, Joline, moi, je m’en va, oh, moi tout seul.

Oh, petite, c’est la manière, toi, t’as,

Toi comme ça, je peux pas t’empêcher,

T’auras pas bonheur pour tout ça t’après faire à moi Joline.

Daily Advertiser
Aug 27, 1931

Ardoin along with his accompanying fiddler, Dennis McGee, left in 1934 to San Antonio and recorded "Tout Que Reste C'est Mon Linge" (#2192) at the Texas Hotel. Not only did Ardoin's life greatly influence Cajun and zydeco music, so did his death. The details surrounding Ardoin's death are the stuff of legend in every sense of the word. Accounts differ. It's almost too much to believe. Some versions only agree that he is dead.1 Author Ryan Brasseaux compares his death to Robert Johnson and Jimi Hendrix but speculates Ardoin would have made a comeback during the 1960s' folk revival:

I imagine Amédé's career following the same trajectory as, say, Mississippi John Hurt. I imagine that he would have faded into obscurity as musical tastes changed.1

Oh, oh Joline, to gain credibility with your parents,

Oh, little one, oh, I passed by your door,

Oh, well, I didn't see you.

Oh, pretty doll, you shouldn't have done that,

You will never have happiness, where will you go?

Oh, pretty doll, you heard your mom and your dad, I'm going.

I am leaving, oh, little one,

Oh, every Sunday and Saturday,

At night, going to the ball,

I don't know, all alone, I'm going to join you,

Reminiscing of you, of me being able to go with you.

Oh, I'm going away, I'm all alone,

Oh, Joline, I'm leaving, oh, I'm all alone.

Oh, little one, it's the way you, you are,

You're like that, I can't stop you,

You will not be happy because of all of this you're doing to me, Joline.

Author Nate Knaebel states it in a different way:

Cajun music never made it too far out of the swamps of Louisiana and certainly never touched the world like the blues. And even if the sounds that Ardoin recorded failed to capture the imaginations of a bunch of white British guys decades later, his career poses some interesting parallels to Robert Johnson’s. Neither man was the very first to play their respective genre of music, yet they provided primary texts to be studied by anyone wishing to play them going forward.2

In 2009, author Ryan Brasseaux used the record for the cover of his book "Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music". 

1. http://theind.com/article-16337-l'effet-papillon.html
2. http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6308
3. Lyrics by Jordy A

Release Info:
BS-83858-1 Sunset | Bluebird B-2192-A
BS-83859-1 Tout Que Reste C'est Mon Linge | Bluebird B-2192-B

Find:

Cajun: Rare & Authentic (JSP, 2008)

Mama, I'll Be Long Gone : The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934 (Tompkins Square, 2011)