"Lacassine Waltz" - Anatole Credure

Anatole Credeur played around the Black Bayou area south of Lake Charles and in Lake Charles as the Black Bayou Band. Members included his wife Ada on triangle and father Levi on jug, Theo Young on guitar, and Sidney Granger on fiddle.   Anatole and his band played along side the Broussard family of Lake Arthur, a family that most notably included famed Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw. 

Eh, toi, la belle,

Chère, fais pas ça-z- avec moi aujourd'hui.

Eh, toi, la belle!

Chère, fais do-do, 'tit bébé, dans la Louisiane.

Eh, toi, la Belle!

Chère viens m' rejoindre donc, cela était avant longtemps.

Sidney Granger, Anatole Credeur,
Tieho Young, Ada Gauxtreaux Credure,
Levy Credure

In late October 1929, Anatole, Sidney, and Theo traveled to Dallas, Texas, and recorded four songs for the Brunswick label including the song "Lacassine Waltz" (#).  Lacassine is a small bayou near Lake Arthur with the mouth of the river in the town with the same name.  Legend has it that the community was visited regularly by different tribes of the area, including the Atakapa and Choctaw people. Game was abundant here, and the Indians called it their "hunting ground", or, in the Choctaw language, La Cassine.  According to Monsignor Jules Daigle, it was named for a small house built by an Indian chief in that location.2  Similar to Columbus Fruge's "Pleur Plus", and Angelas Lejeuene's "Valse De La Lousianne", it was a tune that inspired Iry Lejeune's 1954 "La Valse de Cajun".  

Hey you, babe,

Dear, don't do that to me today.

Hey you, babe,

Dear, go to sleep, little baby, (here) in Louisiana.

Hey you, babe,

Dear, so come back to me, it'll be (this way) before long. 

Bayou LaCassine, 1948
Courtesy of LSU Libraries Special Collections

Much of Anatole's history was lost to time and he never maintained a recording career.  Author and musician Ron Yule eventually tracked down the family in 2008 and gave them the opportunity to hear his music for the first time.   According to Anatole's granddaughter Jeanne Elliott,

When I heard the first song, I just started sobbing.  I know him now.  I’m just sorry my mom’s not alive to see it.  It was a lifelong dream to be able to find this.1  

1. https://www.iberianet.com/news/connecting-through-music/article_6f51fabd-d6cc-5670-9373-8f85764fe36c.html
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacassine,_Louisiana
3. Cajun Dancehall Heyday by Ron Yule
4. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

003 DAL-559 Lacassine Waltz | Brunswick 383

004 DAL-560 Black Bayou One Step | Brunswick 383

Find:

CAJUN-Rare & Authentic (JSP, 2008)