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Monday, January 31, 2022

"Cow Island Special" - Cliff Lemaire

A native of Cow Island, George Clifford "Cliff" Lemaire led a group during the late 1940s, playing Cajun music in the western swing style.  By 1950, he assembled a backup band called "The Swingsters" made up of local musicians from New Iberia.  Cliff and the Romeros arranged a shuffle-style tune called "Cow Island Special" (#104).  Cow Island (also known as Ile des Vacheis a small community in Vermilion Parish that got it's name from a hill in the midst of a marsh where herds of wild cattle roamed.2  

Musician Harold Romero Sr. learned at a young age to make fiddles and by the time he was a teenager, he was learning to build and repair guitars and mandolins. Harold recalled the early years,
We were pretty popular, I guess.  There was a demand for string bands.  I remember the first Saturday night we played we got $20 a piece—that was a lot of money back then.3  

Toutes mes chères catins,
Quoi faire tu brailles tout les temps?
...
...

J’ai fait des nuits ennuyant,
Et c’est toujours la cause,
De jouer l’accordéon,
Là-bas à Chez Ménard's.

Quand j’étais garçon,
C’est la, j’ai passé mon temps,
Et courtiser,
J’attend l’accordéon.

Asteure, j’sus marié,
Mais, ina une dizaine,
Que j’ai la moyère coullion,
Mais, ma vielle dit,
“J’vas t’aimer tout les temps”.

Et c’est toujours la cause,
Eh, des nuits ennuyant,
Jouer l’accordeon,
Là-bas à Chez Ménard's.

Quand j’étais garçon, 
C’est la, j’ai passé mon temps,
Et courtiser,
J’attend l’accordéon.

Asteure, j’sus marié,
Mais, ina une dizaine,
Que j’ai la moyère coullion,
Mais, ma vielle dit,
“J’vas t’aimer tout les temps”.

J’ai fait des nuits ennuyant,
Et c’est toujours la cause,
De jouer l’accordéon,
Là-bas à Chez Ménard's.

Quand j’étais garçon,
C’est la, j’ai passé,
Et courtiser,
Et aimer les filles.



Cliff Lemaire

Hot Rod record producer Virgil Bozman brought the group to the Harold Romero's Music Shop in downtown New Iberia and recorded a song entitled "Cow Island Hop".  It was an ode to the Cliff's hometown and the small club known as Menard's.  Located between HWY 82 and the Forked Island bridge, the small dance-hall was just south of the more well known Rock-A-Bye Club.  

"The Swingsters" comprised of Harold Romero Sr. on fiddle, Johnny Romero on drums, and Louis "Bee" Romero on bass.   Cliff owned a nightclub in Kaplan, owned an amusement company, became good friends with George Jones, and according to musicologist and author Lyle Ferbrache,
At one time, he played at the Louisiana Hayride and was on the bill the night Elvis changed the course of country music.1  
Cliff recorded for Khoury's of Lake Charles in the mid 1950s but left the music business soon after for a career in auto sales.



All my dearest dolls,
Why do you cry all the time,
...
...

I have lonely nights,
And it's always the reason,
To play the accordion,
Down there at Chez Menard's

When I was a boy,
It's there, I passed my time,
And courted,
Waiting for an accordion.

Right now, I'm married,
Well, it's been 10 years,
Since I've had foolish ways,
But, my old lady says,
"I'm going to love you forever."

And it's always the reason,
On these lonely nights,
To play the accordion,
Down there at Chez Menard's.

When I was a boy,
It's there, I passed my time,
And courted,
Waiting for an accordion.

Right now, I'm married,
Well, it's been 10 years,
Since I've had foolish ways,
But, my old lady says,
"I'm going to love you forever."

I have lonely nights,
And it's always the reason,
To play the accordion,
Down there at Chez Menard's

When I was a boy,
It's there, I passed by,
And courted,
And loved the girls.



Harold Romero

While running their music store during the day, the three Romero brothers later created their own group called the "Teche Playboys" which played everything from country music to rock n roll.  They played at places such as the Showboat Club in New Iberia an the Lafitte Club in Abbeville.3   Bee Romero would continue on throughout the 50s playing rockabilly music with his band called the Down Beats. 








  1. Discussions with Lyle F
  2. http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/vermilion/history/cowisl.txt
  3. The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, Louisiana) 20 Mar 1996
  4. Lyrics by Smith S

Release Info:
Rou Li Aie | Hot Rod 104
Cow Island Special | Hot Rod 104

Saturday, January 15, 2022

"New Orleans Waltz" - Nathan Abshire

One of the most colorful and greatest Cajun musicians of all time was the late Nathan Abshire. Abshire’s unique style—best heard on the likes of “Pine Grove Blues,” “Mama Rosin,” “Shamrock Waltz,” and even Joe South’s “Games People Play”—came from blending traditional Cajun music with Louisiana Creole and blues music, music other early Cajun musicians largely disdained or ignored. He also ignited his performances with a spirit and joy for life that few musicians could match.


Ah, 'tite fille, moi j'm'en vas, chère,
Moi j'm'en vas, m'en aller dans la maison.

Ah, 'tite fille, tu vas voir, chère,
Tu vas voir ton erreur, ça va tout le temps.

Ah, 'tite monde, c'est malheureux, chère,
Malheureux de te voir t'es, là.

Ah, 'tite fille, t'écoutais, chère, 
T'écoutais tous les conseils de tous les autres.


Nathan Abshire
The 1949 tune is an ode to the Crescent City called "New Orleans Waltz" (#110).  A melody popularized in the 1930s by Norris Savoy, Norris recorded the same melody in 1947 as "La Valse de Meche".    Nathan and Norris recorded briefly with Warnes Schexnayder and Happy Fats at a New Orleans recording session in 1935.  It's fitting that Nathan chose this title instead, reminiscing about his days playing music with the group in the Big Easy. 

The band consisted of Nathan on accordion and vocals, Will Kegley on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, Jim Baker on bass, and Ozide Kegley on drums. Recorded for Virgil Bozman's OT Records, supported by George Khoury, he would record some of his earliest post-war material for this label.  It didn't take long for Khoury to see Nathan's potential and sign him on his own label, Khoury's Recordings.  Eddie Shuler recalls Bozman:
He sold cow horns.  In fact, I still have one of his cow horns over the entrance to my door there that he gave me back at that time. I let him sing on my radio show. Anyway, he went then and teamed up with George Khoury and then he went out and found Nathan Abshire.  They used the radio station's disc cutting facilities because that's the way they made their commercials.2


Oh, little girl, I'm leaving, dearie,
I'm leaving, I'm going home.

Oh, little girl, you will see, dearie,
You will see your mistake, always how it is.

Oh, my little everything, it's terrible, dearie,
Sad to see how you are, over there.

Oh, little girl, listen, dearie,
Listen to all the advice of others.



Masters were cut onto aluminum-based acetate-covered discs, which were then sent to a processing plant.  Many of the metal plating work for Virgil's records were done by the Charles Eckart Co. on Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles.  This firm in turn probably sent the metal parts to a Los Angeles pressing plant to manufacture the discs, since there were no such plants in Louisiana.3  

Eventually, Nathan re-recorded the melody as "La Valse De Meche" in 1973 for La Louisianne Records with Bessyl Duhon on rhythm guitar, Rufus Thibodeaux on bass, Joe Thibodeaux on drums, record producer Carol Rachou on triangle, and Merlin Fontenot on fiddle.

Towards the end of his days, Abshire adopted the motto “The good times are killing me.” It was the title of his last Swallow LP and he had it spelled out in gold mail box letters on his accordion case. 



  1. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/masters-of-louisiana-music-nathan-abshire/
  2. http://arhoolie.org/eddie-shuler-goldband-records/
  3. Cajun Honk Tonk Vol.2.  Liner notes.  
  4. Lyrics by Stephane F


Release Info:
New Orleans Waltz | OT Records 110-A
French Blues | OT Records 110-B

Find:
Cajun Music - The Early 50s (Arhoolie, 1969)
Bayou Two-Step - Cajun Hits From Louisiana 1929-1962 (Jasmine, 2015)

Sunday, January 2, 2022

A New Year And Retrospective Thoughts

Can you believe it's been 8 years since the blog began?  A project, one that was started to collectively place the obscure history of this beautiful music in one place, has grown immensely.  It moved from a personal repository of songs, lyrics and history to a website that people around the world have contributed to and helped inspire.  It has allowed musical families to share their history with others, allowed me to meet some wonderful people along the way, and acquire long lost information about some of the most crucial components in our culture's history.  This site has helped fill in the gaps and provide a more complete picture of how the music started and evolved. 

Continuing on into 2022, the density and frequency of the articles will change, however, the energy and passion about early Cajun music remains. This blog project has spawned future ideas for other projects, some too amazing to ignore. As we sit back and pour through everything, hopefully soon, more interactive things come about.  

The biggest hope is that it has helped others continue their research journey by chasing after the source material that has driven much of this, and encouraged others to get immersed into the early Cajun music history like never before.   There's plenty more songs to cover and you are encouraged to pick up where this blog leaves off by reading through some of the great sources provided in each article. 

After 8 years, I'm pleasantly surprised in the overall interest I've received and excited so many that have reached out to help guide the project.  If you have anything to contribute, as always, feel free.  Bonne année et allons écouter!