"Lawtell Waltz" - Harry Choates

One of the earliest independent labels to appear on the Texas and Louisiana music scene was Gold Star records.  Owner and producer Bill Quinn knew how to get talent: pay them well and they'll come to you.  He paid $100 and $200 per side and of course this was a great attraction for many a wandering minstrel.1   Harry Choates' band was no exception.  After recording successfully with Bill Quinn at his studio, he was invited again in 1947 with his band.  Although Harry got paid handsomely, his band members recall getting paid with a Mexican dinner.  With Reagan Parchman on steel guitar, possibly Junior Keelan on bass, Amos Comeaux on drums, and Johnnie Manuel on piano, they recorded the tune "Lawtell Waltz" (#1335), named after the small town of Lawtell, Louisiana. 

Oh malheurese, moi j'connais, mais, m'a soûler,

Oh, mais, chère 'tit fille, mérite pas ça, pour quoi, 'tit fille.

Oh, malheurese, tu connais, tu même-toi, chere,

Oh, mais, moi j'connais-z, (a) pauvre vieux nègre, a pas longtemps.

Amos Comeaux, Junior Keelan, 
Harry Choates, Johnnie Manuel, 
Ronald Ray "Pee Wee" Lyons, poss. W.M. Floyd
Bear Family Records

Like most small companies, Bill could not afford much publicity and promotion and all his shipments went out C.O.D. which explains the relatively poor distribution of the label.   It was a real "down home" operation, often even some of the acetate masters would not come out of the electroplating tank, something went wrong, and Bill explains many of the missing numbers in his catalog by this electro-chemical fail. 

Oh my, I know, well, I'm getting drunk,

Oh, well, dear little girl, don't deserve that, oh why, little girl?

Oh, my, you know, yourself, dear,

Oh, well, I know, (your) poor old man, not long ago.

The Shreveport Times
Aug 1, 1951

In later years, Bill would record other blues artists around the Texas area, but many were small-time musicians.  In the case of a record by a new artist, Bill would press maybe 100-300 copies and include a few with each shipment to distributors, but if there was not such of a response, he would never press any more.  Many specific Gold Star discs are almost impossible to find for this reason.1

1. http://arhoolie.org/the-houston-record-men/

Release Info:
1335-A Bayou Pon Pon | Gold Star 1335-A
1335-B Lawtell Waltz | Gold Star 1335-B

Find:
Harry Choates ‎– The Fiddle King Of Cajun Swing (Arhoolie, 1982, 1993)
Devil In The Bayou - The Gold Star Recordings (Bear Family, 2002)

"Hippy Ti Yo" - Abe Manuel

Abraham "Abe" Manuel was a hillbilly fiddle player that dabbled in both country music and Cajun music, covering popular tunes of the region.  In the early 1940s, he played with Leo Soileau at the Avalon Club in Basile.  No strangers in the music business, Abe Manuel Sr. toured and appeared at the Louisiana Hayride and the Grand Ole Opry with Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell. For a time, he was one of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys. He ended up playing with Chuck Guillory, Carrol Broussard, and even possibly Harry Choates with his brother Joe.  Broussard, who played steel guitar with Harry, recalls that Abe filled in on fiddle for Harry when he "went off to get cured".1   

Lake Charles American Press
Mar 3, 1954

C'est le Hip et Taïaut, ouais, 

Mais, qu'a volé mon traîneau, ouais, 

Quand il a vu j’étais devenu chaud, cherie,

Il a ramené mon traîneau. 

C'est les filles de Bosco, ouais, 

Qu'a volé mon gilet,

Quand il a vu j'suis d'venu chaud , chérie, 

T'as ramené mon gilet.

C'est le Hip et Taïaut, ouais, 

Mais, qu'a volé mon traîneau, ouais, 

Quand il a vu j’étais devenu chaud, cherie,

Il a ramené mon traîneau. 

C'est les filles de Bosco, ouais, 

Qu'a volé mon gilet,

Quand il a vu j'suis d'venu chaud , chérie, 

T'as ramené mon gilet.

Abe Manuel Sr.

Recorded in 1954 at J.D. Miller's studio in Crowley, Louisiana, Abe's Louisiana Hillbillies consisted of Abe Manuel on fiddle, Bradley Stutes on steel guitar, Dorothy "Dottie" Vincent on rhythm guitar, Amos Comeaux on drums, and either Wiley Barkdull or Cecil Farrell "Benny" Fruge on piano.  In the song, it's quite possible "Pitre et Bosco" is actually "filles de Bosco", similar to the lyrics in Leo Soileau's "Hackberry Hop".  Either way, the song is clearly taken from the well-known "Ils La Volet Mon Trancas" sung by Cleoma Breaux in 1934.   

It's Hip and Taïaut, yeah,

That stole my sled, yeah,

When they saw I had become hot, cherie,

They brought my sled back.

This the girls of Bosco, yeah,

That stole my vest,

When they saw I had become hot, cherie,

They brought my jacket back.

By 1965, Abe was living in Lake Charles and became vice-president of the Southern Association of Country and Western Music.   Years afterwards, Abe and his wife Dottie were owners of Manuel's Cajun Store in Milton, Tennessee for years. That store became a restaurant, and Abe Manuel Sr. found his calling. On summertime Friday nights at dusk, most of the town bring lawn chairs over to the restaurant, sit down in the road, and eat friend alligator and crawfish étouffée while watching the Manuels and their friends play Cajun country music on the porch.  

1. Louisiana Fiddlers By Ron Yule 
2. In the Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music By Nicholas Dawidoff
3. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.music.country.classic/Hh9-IIB9nt4
4. May 21, 1965 Lake Charles American-Press from Lake Charles, Louisiana · Page 5

Find:

Acadian All Star Special - The Pioneering Cajun Recordings Of J.D. Miller (Bear, 2011)

"Devil In The Bayou" - Harry Choates

One of the stranger, spookier recordings that Cajun fiddler Harry Choates ever created was a haunting instrumental he laid down in Houston for Gold Star records.  Far from anything he had done before, one of Harry Choates’ most enduring compositions was the 1948 "Devil in the Bayou" (#1340).  Not a great hit in its day, the song somehow embodies the stereotype of sinister, supernatural Louisiana.  The manic violin coupled with a relentless piano backing and interspersed with demonic laughter, has a spooky appeal to modern listeners.  More than novelty, it demonstrates Choates’ extraordinary musical ability, achieving a huge range of sounds on the fiddle.3  

He was backed up by three of his original Melody Boys, Pee Wee Lyons on steel guitar, Johnnie Manuel on piano and Wilbur "Pee Wee" Maples on guitar, but replaced the other members with Grady Mann on bass and Amos Comeaux on drums.   The bizarre song is another one of Choates' original pieces. Played entirely in the key of A minor (virtually unheard of in hillbilly and Cajun music), author and researcher, Andrew Brown states:

"Devil" reminds one more of the soundtrack to an early horror movie than a country record, with Choate's sinister laughs accompanied by bassist Grady Mann's screams.5  

It had no commercial potential, but record producer Bill Quinn released it anyway.5    According to writer Thomas Townsley,

"Devil in the Bayou" continues to fascinate [Harry's] contemporaries and intrigue listeners. Demons are often a common topic in Cajun-Creole folklore. Among the most famous (and creepy) stories of haunted bayous is the account of feu follets.1  

According to the book, Swapping Stories: Folktales From Louisiana, feu follets  (known as will-o'-the-wisps in American culture) were reportedly unexplained glowing apparitions seen floating along the bayou at night. Many believed these glowing balls of light were demons that wandered the bayou, seeking to lead people astray into the dark. Choates in his song "Devil In the Bayou" brings to light the anxieties and terrors felt by the early superstitious Cajun peoples living along the bayou.1   

Harry himself succumbed to "demons" his whole life, mainly through the effects of his drinking. Legend has it that Harry never owned an instrument in his life; all his music was made on a $7.00 fiddle he borrowed from a friend and never bothered to return.2  He had the ability to drink most dedicated boozehounds under the table and the musical genius to blow just about anybody off of the bandstand.4  According to Brown,

There are a lot of musicians I talked to whose only remembrance of Harry is just this notorious alcoholic drunken bum guy. A lot of people don’t remember anything else but him just getting rip roaring drunk off his ass.4  

In 2002, Andrew Brown commemorated the recording by using it on his Harry Choates CD project, calling it "Devil In The Bayou".

1. http://neworleansreligion.blogspot.com/2013/03/cajun-devil-folklore.html
2. The Best of Country Music by John Morthland
3. https://www.waveglobe.fm/harry-choates-fiddle-king-cajun-swing/
4. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/harry-choates/
5. Devil In The Bayou by Andrew Brown.  Liner notes.

Release Info:

1340-A Rye Whiskey | Gold Star 1340-A

1340-B Devil In The Bayou | Gold Star 1340-B

Find:

Harry Choates ‎– The Fiddle King Of Cajun Swing (Arhoolie, 1982, 1993) 

Devil In The Bayou - The Gold Star Recordings (Bear Family, 2002)

"Dragging The Bow" - Harry Choates

One of Harry Choates' best demonstrations of his talent was ability to show off his solo fiddle rides on certain tunes.   Here, in early 1948, he takes the opportunity with his band to record for Bill Quinn's Houston-based Gold Star label one of his more well known instrumentals called "Dragging The Bow" (#1343).

His band had shifted some players and by 1948, the group consisted of Wilbur "Pee Wee" Maples on guitar, Red Fabacher on steel guitar, Junior Keelan on bass, Amos Comeaux on drums, and Johnnie Ruth Manuel on piano.  Throughout the song, you could hear him shift the attention to his friend Francis "Red" Fabacher by calling out his name.   Red had earlier worked with his brother Joseph in the group called Jolly Boys of Lafayette. He met Harry around the time both were helping Happy Fats during the early 1940s.

Red Fabacher, Ronald Ray "Pee Wee" Lyons,
Johnnie Ruth Smyrl, Harry Choates,
Amos Comeaux, Curly Maples

Originally recorded by Henry Hartley and the Travelers as "Raggin' The Fiddle", it's a cover of the famous western swing player Curt "Dott" Massey's 1935 Vocalion recording called "Draggin’ the Bow".  Most likely, Harry picked up the tune while playing with Shelley Lee Alley & his Alley Cats, given they recorded the tune in 1938 as "Alley Cat Stomp".  Harry had previously recorded it with Happy Fat's Rayne-Bo Ramblers in 1940 for Bluebird and their subsidiary Montgomery Ward label, calling it "Lake Charles Shuffle". The song title refers to the action of a smooth fiddle player.  While the phrase has mysterious origins, it most likely refers to a player's ability to keep the bow constantly on the strings, while moving from string to string, in one sweeping fashion. 


Goldstar would end up selling the masters to Pappy Daily's "D" records which re-released the song (#1024), sometimes changing the name slightly, such as "Draggin The Fiddle" (Starday #273, D 1023)  and "Drag That Fiddle" (Starday #258).

Harry's lifestyle was erratic.  According to Red:

I drank when I was on the bandstand, but [Harry] drank all day long.

Daily Advertiser
Feb 19, 1941

1. Country Music Originals: The Legends and the Lost By Tony Russell
2. http://www.vithefiddler.com/draggin-the-bow-fiddle-tune-a-day-day-110/

Find:
Fiddlin' country style (Melodisc, 1961)
Harry Choates ‎– The Fiddle King Of Cajun Swing (Arhoolie, 1982, 1993)
Harry Choates - Jole blon: The Original Cajun Fiddle of Harry Choates CD (D, 1999)
Cajun Fiddle King (AIM, 1999)

Devil In The Bayou - The Gold Star Recordings (Bear Family, 2002)