"Jamais Marriez" - Walker Brothers

In 1928, Leo Soileau had helped RCA Victor Records make a huge impact on their southern music sales across Cajun prairies with his accordion-led recordings with Mayuse Lafleur.  By 1935, the company spun off their subsidiary company Bluebird Records and began offering recording sessions to many Cajun string-band musicians such as the Hackberry Ramblers, the Rayne-Bo Ramblers, J.B. Fuselier and others.  The first of these string-bands to be invited by Bluebird were the Walker Brothers and Soileau's Three Aces.  Accordion player Lawrence Walker, who had recorded earlier in Dallas in 1929, was familiar with the music scene of the area.   How these musicians were discovered by RCA scouts has been forgotten but each one of these groups received invitations during the year.  As long as they could make it to New Orleans, they packed up their instruments and joined A&R Eli Oberstein for sessions at the field studio.   

Jeunes filles de la campagne,

Mariez-vous autres jamais

'Gardez comme moi j'ai fait,

J'ai mis dans la misère.

Tu vu (de) ton vieux nég,

Rejoindre ton pauv' vieux nég,

Qui c'est, mais, pour toi-même,

Qui c'est boo-boo t'aimes ça.

Eh, petite!

Quand j’étais jeune z-enfant, 

J’étais un bambocheur, 

Et asteure que j'suis marié, 

Ça va tout le temps pareil.

Petite, t'es trop mignonne,

Pour faire la criminelle,

Pour faire, moi, m'en aller

Tu vas voir, mais, pour toi-même, 

Je mérite pas tout ça, 

Tout ça, mais, t'es après faire. 

Petite, tu me fais quitter, 

Quitter, ouais, toi tout(e) seul.

Dallas Centennial, 1936

Walker, his brother Elton and Junior covered the old Cajun song "Jeunes Gens De La Campagne" as "Jamais Marriez" (#2195).  First recorded by Dennis McGee in 1929, it would be popularized later by Iry Lejeune in 1954 as "Don't Get Married".  Instead of addressing a young gentleman, Lawrence and Elton sung of the concerns of a young woman getting married too soon. 

The recordings made Walker a local known name among musicians and led to him playing ever more frequently in the dance-halls.  However, it was in Dallas during the great Texas Centennial the following year that the versatile French accordion player played to more Texans than he had ever dreamed.  In 1936, he entered a French accordion music contest in Rayne, competing with three other men.  To his surprise, he had won an all-expenses paid trip to the Centennial.  He was accompanied by folklorist and columnist Lauren Post, professor at Louisiana State University and head of the Louisiana Delegation for the event.

Marksville Weekly News
Jul 4, 1936

Young girls in the countryside,

Never get married to anyone,

Look at what I did,

I've placed myself in misery.

You saw your old man,

Come back to your poor old man,

Who is the one, well, for you,

Who is the boo-boo that you love.

Hey, little one.

When I was a young child,

I was a reckless one,

And now that I'm married,

It's the same thing, all the time.

Little one, you're too cute,

To be this bad,

You're making me go away,

You'll see, well, for yourself,

I do not deserve all that,

All that, well, you're doing,

Little one, you making me leave,

Leaving, yeah, all alone.

In addition to playing for the largest crowd he had ever experienced, he was scheduled to play on five different programs, including on KRLD, Dallas' Columbia radio broadcast.  Lawrence recalled:

I played the old French tunes like "Jolie Blonde", "Chere Tout Tout", and "Bye Bye La Belle", going from bandstand to bandstand over the Centennial grounds.  I'll never forget how amazed I was when Lauren Post checked the clocking device and told me I was playing to over 36,000 people.1  

Listen to sample: "Jamais Marriez" - Walker Brothers

1. RT. 1968
2. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

BS-87610-1 La Valse Des Pins | Bluebird B-2195-A

BS-87611-1 Jamais Marriez | Bluebird B-2195-B