"Point De Lou" - Nathan Abshire

Nathan Abshire was born in the small town of Gueydan and his father, mother and uncle all played insturments.  Although his father was an accordionist, Abshire claimed nobody taught him, he just picked it up himself.  Abshire spoke little English.  He was unable to sign his own name, yet he composed many wonderful Cajun songs, and was right at the top of the tree as a singer, accordionist and bandleader.1   

J’étais à là, z-au bal, j'ai fait le serment de p(l)us te voir, 

Courtiser les veuves, j'connais ça fait du bien,

Dans la courtise* cousins, 'tit monde, mais, je suis comme ça, 

Toi, qui veux m'aimer, j'connais ça me fait du mal.

J’étais à là, z-au bal, mais, j'suis-z-habillé encore, 

J'vais seulement pas te voir pour courtiser les veuves,

Toujour courtise*, j'suis comme ça pas, toi tu veux me rejoindre,

Mais, ça fait du mal, j'connais ça peut pas durer.

Nathan Abshire

The song was likely an ode to a small community in Acadia Parish named Pointe Aux Loups, between Iota and Eunice.  It translated to Wolf Point because of all the wild wolves that roamed the area.   Recorded between 1953 and 1954, "Point De Lou" (#645) was influenced by one of the earliest versions of the melody, Iry Lejeune's "J'ai Ete Z Au Bal". It's based off of a children's tune known as ""The Rabbit Stole The Pumpkin" by John Bertrand & Milton Pitre in 1929, with words added by Joe Falcon in his 1934 recording of "Ne Buvez Plus Jamais (Never Drink No More)".   

I was there, at the dance, I swore I'd see you some more,

Courting all the single ladies, I know that it's good,

Courting your cousin*, my little everything, well, I'm like that,

You, who wants me to love you, I know it feels bad.

I was there, at the dance, well, all dressed up again,

I'm not only there to see you, but, to court the single ladies,

Always courting*, I am not like that, you want to join me,

Well, it hurts, I know that it cannot last.

Nathan changed the name from the Musical Five and his band became the Rhythm Five after several of his band members left.  He had to put together a rag tag team of musicians and friends in order to keep playing, mostly due to the Kegleys leaving the group.  Because of the nature of Nathan's lineup changing, it's quite difficult to pin down the musicians during this period.  The session possibly had Cleveland Deshotel on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, possibly Jim Baker on bass and Shelton Manuel on drums.  Yet, to this day, the vocalist of this wild and raucous recording is unknown.  

1. Boppin' By The Bayou - Rock Me Mama.  Liner Notes.
2. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

2258 Texas Waltz | Khoury KH-645-A
2259 Point De Lou | Khoury KH-645-B

Find:
Nathan Abshire & the Pine Grove Boys - French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)

"Grand Mamou" - Nathan Abshire

While he mirrored the midcentury infatuation with country-flavored honky-tonk music—fiddle-driven and slide-guitar-embellished—Nathan Abshire later helped lead a resurgence of more traditionally crafted Cajun music with the sound of the old-time button accordion reinstalled at its center. This was the music that had fueled both bals des maisons (house parties) and fais do-dos (weekend dances) in the old days.2   

After the war, Nathan's big break came when Ernest Thibodeaux and Wilson Granger convinced the Avalon Club owner, Quincy Davis, that the band needed an accordion player.   Wilson recalled:

That’s where I met him, when I started playing with him. I had heard of him. I know he was from Riceville. Nathan didn’t know much of anything. When they (Quincy Davis) went and got him to play music, he was fixing stoves. Cooking stoves. You know, there’s not a big business in fixing stoves.  Davis had him on the radio five days a week. He got very popular.1   

Eh, mais, t'en aller à grand Mamou,

C'est pour voir les belles 'tites blondes, mais, malheureux.

Eh, jolie 'tite fille, criminelle,

M'a quitte pour t'en aller z-avec vaurien,

Moi je te souhaite tout le malheur que tu peux avoir,

Tu connais j'mérite pas ça, mais, t'après faire. 

It wouldn't be long before Quincy found record label owner Virgil Bozman and convinced him to record Nathan and his band to help promote his Pine Grove Club near Jennings.  Bozman took advantage of this agreement and recorded at least ten songs for his Oklahoma Tornadoes label, starting in May of 1949 at the local KPLC radio station in Lake Charles.  One of these songs was the popular 1935 Leo Soileau tune called "Grand Mamou" (#106). It was a song that Leo had recorded earlier as "Basile" with Mayuse Lafleur in 1928.

Nathan Abshire
Trent Oubre Studio
www.trentoubre.com

His band during this recording is believed to have consisted of Will Kegley on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, Jim Baker on bass, and special vocalist Roy Broussard.  After the OT recordings were produced, many musicians began comparing his style to the more popular  Cajun accordionist Iry Lejeune.  When Nathan's first fiddler, Wilson Granger, was asked to compare his style against Iry Lejeune, he stated:

Nathan played the smoothest accordion, in my opinion, than anybody else.  Iry was a hell of an accordion player.   He could play two-steps like nobody else. But Nathan was easier to follow than Iry, put it that way.1  

Hey, well, you're going to big Mamou,

It's to see the pretty little blondes, well, oh my.

Hey, pretty little girl, it's terrible,

I'm leaving for you went away with a scoundrel,

I wish you all the misfortune you can have,

You know I didn't deserve that, well, what you're doing.

Nathan continued to record, and travel, into his later years.  In 1970, he and the Balfa Brothers performed "Grand Mamou" during a Cajun concert in New York City. 

1. Wilson Granger interview. Andrew Brown. 2005.
2. https://64parishes.org/entry/nathan-abshire
3. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

106-A Grand Mamou | OT 106-A

106-B Lake Charles Two Step | OT 106-B

Find:

Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings Vol. 2 (Arhoolie, 2013)

"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)

"Lake Charles Two Step" - Nathan Abshire

By late 1949, Nathan's band was driving the new Cajun honky-tonk sound with Will Kegley on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, and Jim Baker on bass. Based on Amede Ardoin's "One Step Des Chameaux", Nathan covered the song with a new set of lyrics entitled "Lake Charles Two Step" (#106).  It was a melody that became very popular in 1950 in which led Jimmy Newman and Herman Durbin to record their version entitled "Fais Do Do Two Step".   As Nathan's popularity began to soar on the radio and in jukeboxes, his local presence in dance-halls increased as well.  According to fiddler Wilson Granger, who recorded and filled in with the band,

We would play [at the Crystal Grill] five nights a week.  That used to be between Lake Charles and Sulphur.   We'd play an hour on the radio every day, on KPLC.  Saturday night, we'd go to the Avalon Club; Sunday night, we'd play at Lawtell, Step Inn Club.  They had two clubs there, Step Inn Club and the Green Lantern Club.  Sometimes, we'd go play in Riceville on a Sunday night. We played seven nights a week.1  

Oh, chère 'tite monde, pourquoi, mais, te comme ça?

C’est tout rapport à toi et tes vilains manières.

Oh, ye yaille, 'tite monde, connais tes après malfaire,

Tes tout temps après me quereller, pourquoi que je mon va.

Oh, ye yaille, 'tite monde, tu as tout mes aujourd’hui,

Toi tes voul ton negre, connait que t’es voul l'voir.

Earl DeMary, Wilson Granger,
Eldrige Guidry, unknown on drums,
Nathan Abshire, and Ernest Thibodeaux

Although producer Virgil Bozman tried to sell the record from the back of an old hearse, sales were scarce and finding a copy of this recording after 1949 seemed to be harder and harder.  Record collector and writer Lyle Ferbrache discovered one and used it on his iconic Cajun Honky Tonk Vol.2 CD.  He states:

Until a copy turned up on eBay ten years ago, this record was thought not to exist. So why is it rare? The bass back beat is over cooked and might have had trouble with the big sixteen-inch speakers on the jukeboxes.2  

Oh, dear little world, why, well, you like that?

It's all about you and your nasty ways.

Oh, ye yaille, little world, I know you're doing wrong,

You're always quarreling, that's why I'm leaving.

Oh, ye yaille, little world, you have me today,

You wanted your man, know that you'll see him.

 

1. Wilson Granger interview. Andrew Brown. 2005.
2. Post War Cajun 78 RPM Nuggets by Lyle Ferbrache
3. Lyrics by Herman M

Release Info:

Grand Mamou | OT 106-A

Lake Charles Two Step | OT 106-B

Find:

Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings Vol. 2 (Arhoolie, 2013)

"Iowa Two Step" - Tan Benoit

Cajun accordion player Clifton "Tan" Benoit had frequented the same dance-halls that the Pine Grove Boys with Nathan Abshire were playing at. When record producer Virgil Bozman discovered Nathan, he also found Tan to be a popular artist in his own right and in 1949 decided to record him on his new Hot Rod label.  Certainly, the OT and the Hot Rods were competing with George Khoury's own releases and Bozman was making a pest of himself.   Ten titles of Virgil's Hot Rod label were released out of San Antonio, with two of them credited to Nathan Abshire's band.  Other artists on the label were comprised of Nathan's band mates, guitarist Ernest Thibodeaux and fiddler Wilson Granger.

Ouais, petite, malheureuse,

Comment tu crois moi, j'peux faire, 

Moi, j'peux faire tout seul, 

Seul à la maison.

Eh, 'tite monde, jolie,

(Oh mon Dieu)* il est bonne pour toi,

Ça t'as fais, 'tite monde,

Ouais, il y a pas longtemps.

Clifton "Tan" Benoit

Using the melody of Amede Ardoin's "Eunice Two Step", Tan recorded a tune he entitled "Iowa Two Step".  Iowa was a community established by mid-western Americans between 1880 and 1910, who moved to south Louisiana looking for cheap land for farming and logging.   Over the 30 year period, dozens of families read the advertisements in the mid-west newspapers and migrated south.  Today, the towns around Jeff Davis parish and Calcasieu parish, such as Iowa, Welsh, and Jennings, are populated by the descendants of these turn-of-the-century landowners from Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa.

Benoit, a native of Jennings, who lived near Gueydan, played many instruments including fiddle, guitar, harmonica and even the drums.  According to researcher Lyle Ferbrache:

Benoit played many instruments including the drums and accordion. He lived close to Ernest Thibodeaux and Will Kegley when they lived in Jennings and Ernest remembered playing with Tan.  My best guess is that sometimes Nathan Abshire didn't make the radio shows and Tan would fill in with his accordion.1    

Yeah, little, miserable woman,

How do you believe I can do this?

I can do this all alone,

Alone at home.

Hey, little everything, pretty one,

My God*, it's good for you,

That you did, my little everything,

Yeah, it won't be long.

Daily World
Nov 21, 1967

His two sides were cut with all the usual Abshire band members at their loudest and best at KJEF studio in Jennings although Tan's vocals are less than exceptional.1    He's backed by either Will Kegley or Wilson Granger on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, either Virgel Bozman or Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, and Sadie ‘Ozide’ Kegley on drums.  He continued to play music in the community throughout the 60s, having participated in music contests in the area.  

1. Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings, Vol. 2.  Liner notes.
2. Lyrics by Smith S

Release Info:
VB-1 Iowa Two Step | Hot Rod HR-101
VB-2 Bayou Chico Waltz (Wilson Granger) | Hot Rod HR-101

Find:

Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings Vol. 2 (Arhoolie, 2013)

"Musical Five Special" - Nathan Abshire

Nathan Abshire was a Cajun accordionist who made his home in Basile, Louisiana.  A self-taught musician, he was in great demand as a performer, first at house dances, then at local dancehalls, and eventually at music festivals all over the country.  In the 1930s, he played with Creole musician Amede Ardoin, who had a great influence on Abshire's music. In 1949, Nathan, backed by Earl DeMary's Musical Aces, recorded the acclaimed "Pine Grove Blues" in Lake Charles. It was an attempt by bar owner Quincy Davis to get new found attention on his struggling dancehall, the Pine Grove Club.


By 1953, Quincy Davis had gotten the publicity he wanted and Nathan was left on his own.  According to Bernella Fruge, she believes that's when Davis insisted on exclusive rights to use the Pine Grove Boys name in relation to the Avalon Club.  Looking for an alternate and influenced by DeMary's band, Nathan renamed his group the Musical Five.   Together, they recorded the "Musical Five Special" (#631), an instrumental cover of the Joe Falcon song "Fe Fe Ponchaux". While Cleveland "Cat" Deshotel had begun playing with Nathan around the same time, it's believed to be Will Kegley on fiddle.  Will would end up playing with Nathan during those early years before the band picked up Atlas Fruge and Jim Baker and Shelton Manuel.  According to Will's grandson, Chad Crochet, he had heard stories of younger Will building and selling fiddles in exchange for whiskey.  

After a notorious fight between Will and Nathan's steel guitarist Atlas Fruge, which left Altas with a stab wound, Will was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but only ended up serving a few months.  When he returned, Atlas had left the band and Will picked up right where he had left off.   However, it wouldn't be long before he found more trouble.  Kegley eventually moved from Lake Charles to the other side of the Sabine, playing in Orangefield and Port Neches, Texas.  He decided to leave after tangling with Davis, a man who had done prison time and supposedly had connections to the mob.4  

Will Kegley and Nathan Abshire

Stories about Kegley's pension to fight Davis after drunken sprees at the Avalon are notorious, however, many only remember his fine fiddling skills.3  When famed fiddler Doug Kershaw formed his group and the Continental Playboys played bars and dances around the Lake Arthur area, they wound up as regulars on radio station KPLC. He recalled Will Kegley as the founding influence in his earliest years:

We learned songs from local musicians like the fiddler Will Kegley.2,5

Cajun accordionist Ray Abshire recalled Will backing him up.

Kegley was the master at 'basing' behind the accordion.  When playing with Will, I sometimes turned to make sure he was still playing.  He was so good he just blended perfect with the accordion.4  

Today, Will's fiddle can be found in the Nashville Hall of Fame museum.

   

1. Discussions with Chad Ray Crochet
2. http://www.fiddle.com/Articles.page?Index=27&ArticleID=18818
3. Louisiana Music by Lyle Ferbrache
4. https://therecordlive.com/2009/08/13/the-lost-waltz/
5. "Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music" by Ryan Andre Brasseaux

Release Info:

Musical Five Special | Khoury's KH-631-A

Avalon Waltz | Khoury's KH-631-B

Find:

Nathan Abshire & the Pine Grove Boys - French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)

"Two Step De Avalon" - Elise Deshotel

Elise Dehotel's Louisiana Rhythmaires were very popular between Basile and Lake Charles. Deshotel, together with family members, had previously played with Nathan Abshire in south Louisiana venues including the Avalon Club, a place owned by the rough and tumble Quincy Davis. Doug Kershaw recalls playing at the club:

Me & my brothers, Pee Wee & Rusty would play the afternoon dance at Club Avalon in Basile then either Iry or Nathan Abshire would play the night dance. Quincy could be rough if he had to, but he looked after us kids.  When he re-opened the Broken Mirror in West Lake, he let us play there.

Elise jumped into the recording arena around the same time Nathan had brought back the accordion into Cajun music.  Deshotel's six song session, comprised of three vocals and three instruments, was the first in which Dewey Balfa took part on fiddle, as well as handling all the vocals.  The instrumentals from the session were assigned as the "A" sides and stomping accordion pieces dominated by Maurice Barzas. As researcher David Sax mentions:

"Two Step De Avalon" in particular, with it's wonderfully heavy handed drumming from Deshotel's wife Esther, seems to bring to mind a wild early morning encore near closing time at the Avalon Club.1  

"Avalon" seems to be a slightly different take on Lawrence Walker's "Creole Stomp". Elise had himself on guitar, Maurice Barzas on accordion, Dewey Balfa on fiddle, Rodney Balfa on guitar, and Esther on drums.  The band members fluctuated often and by this point, Atlas Fruge was added on steel guitar.  Sadly, his astounding steel guitar playing and Balfa's fiddle are barely heard here. 

KSIG in Crowley
Elise Deshotel, Cleveland "Cat" Deshotel,
Atlas Fruge, unknown girl, unknown guitar,
Eldridge "Coon" Guidry

1. Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings, Vol. 2. Liner notes.

Release Info:

Two Step De Avalon | Khoury's KH-619-A

La Valse De Courage | Khoury's KH-619-B

Find:

Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings Vol. 2 (Arhoolie, 2013)

"Hathaway Two Step" - Nathan Abshire

"Hathaway Two Step" (#103) is one of the more obscure Nathan Abshire instrumentals from his earliest post-war years.  The recording's location is not known, but believed to be done in Lake Charles like many of his earlier O.T. sessions with record producer Virgil Bozeman and George Khoury.    Their business contemporary, record producer Eddie Shuler, had met Nathan early on while Shuler was touring with his own band. 

I went out there to Midland, where Nathan was from at that point. He was living somewhere around Midland. I played in a club out there in Midland. I already had a record out on Iry LeJeune at this point. They had this guy that wanted to sit in with my band because I had a a popular string band. I said, "Well what is his name?" They said, "His name is Nathan Abshire". I said, "What does he play?" "He plays the accordion." I said, "Oh, one of them things, huh?" He came in and, man, them people just went crazy over that thing.1 

Nathan Abshire

The 1949 song is based on a 1929 recording by three obscure musicians named Harrington, Landry & Steward, entitled "Le Stomp Creole", a song that some consider a one-step.  The melody resembles is a slow, modified version of Joe Falcon's "Fe Fe Ponchaux", not all that different from Bixy Guidry's "I Am Happy Now".  Hathaway is a small town in Jeff Davis Parish; a locale attributed in other Abshire songs such as the "Hathaway Waltz".

Record producer Bob Tanner had started Hot Rod Records briefly before he began his TNT label.   We do know Eddie Shuler had recorded his own songs and chose to issue them on Tanner's TNT label.  Eddie recalls:

I sent them to Tanner. He wanted a Cajun record.  I let him have the other stuff to get him to put out a record on "Eddie Shuler". He put out the Cajun stuff and the Eddie Shuler stuff. 1

Crowley Daily Signal
Jul 26, 1969

Quite a bit of this recording's history is lost.  Nathan's band had Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, either Wilson Granger or Will Kegley on fiddle, and maybe Earl DeMary on guitar with possibly Elridge "Coon" Guidry on bass.  It's quite possible Bozeman and Khoury recorded Nathan in 1949 but Bozeman released it at Tanner's plant after their split in 1950 (maybe as late as 1953). One lingering question remains: Is it possible that Shuler actually recorded Nathan's band without Virgil and Khoury; releasing it for Tanner to press it in San Antonio?   It seems highly unlikely.  

1. http://arhoolie.org/eddie-shuler-goldband-records/
2. Image by Bill McClung

Release Info:

HR 103(1) Chere Te Mon | Hot Rod 103

HR 103(2) Hathaway Two Step | Hot Rod 103

Find:

Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings Vol. 2 (Arhoolie, 2013)

"La Valse Da Courage" - Elise Deshotel

During World War II, a 16-year-old Dewey Balfa left home to work in a Texas shipyard followed by a stint in the Merchant Marines. He maintained his chops with Texas swing, containing a heavy swing influence, and maybe it was here, being away from home where he felt the missing connection with his cultural music. In 1948, he returned to Louisiana and formed the Musical Brothers, a popular string dance band, with brothers Harry, Will and Rodney. By then Dewey had blossomed into a virtuoso with his accurate, flowing style and was often requested to gig with other musicians.1 

Ton papa et ta maman m’a toujours dit, chère,

Pas te quitte, ouais, notre amour d'être gouverné,

Quoi faire donc, ‘tit monde, t’après faire ça, chère, 

Tu connais je mérite pas tous ces misères.

Quoi faire donc, ‘tit monde, toi, tu fais ça, chère,

T’après m'quitter, mon tout seul dans les misères,

Tu connais, ‘tite fille, avant longtemps, chère, 

Tu voudras t’en revenir, découragé.

Atlas Fruge, Will Kegley, Nathan Abshire, 
Cleveland "Cat" Deshotel, Elise Deshotel

During this early period, Dewey met musician Elise Deshotel.   Elise Deshotel and fellow accordion player, Maurice Barzas, teamed up with the young fiddle player named Dewey Balfa in a makeshift recording studio in Opelousas.   One the Dewey's earliest releases with Elise Deshotel, "La Valse De Courage", (#619), recorded in 1951 was Dewey's take on the well-known 1928 Joe and Cleoma Falcon tune "Waltz That Carried Me To My Grave".  The tune manifests itself in other original forms such as Bixy Guidry's "La Valse Du Bayou" and the Breaux Brothers "La Valse des Pins".  It has a melody that seems to borrow from Nathan's "La Valse de Bayou Teche" but steers itself in a slightly different direction.  Meant to be "La Valse Découragée", it tells of a love interest who has left, leaving the lover discouraged.  The recording had Dewey's brother Rodney Balfa on guitar, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, and Ester Deshotel on drums.  In 1953, Iry borrowed Cleoma's tune for his better known "La Valse de Grand Chemin".

Your dad and your mom always told me, dear,

Don't you let, yeah, our love be controlled,

Why did you do, my little everything, all that you've done, dear,

You know I do not deserve all of this misery.

Why did you do, my little everything, what you have done, dear,

You have left me, all alone in misery,

You know, little girl, before long, dear,

You'll want to come back, discouraged

In the ’50s, Dewey’s notoriety was reaching new heights. Around the same time, he began his lifetime association with Nathan Abshire, the jovial, soulful accordionist who rightfully has his own place in the annals of Cajun music. But just as music was making a come back, the Balfas considered it be a celebratory past-time, not taken seriously as a profession. In order to support a growing family, at various times Dewey worked as a farmer, an insurance salesman, a school bus driver, a disc jockey and a furniture store owner.1  It wouldn't be until the 1960s when Dewey would try to revitalize his recording career with Floyd Soileau. 

1. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/masters-of-louisiana-music-dewey-balfa/
2. Discussions with Lyle F.
3. Lyrics by Jordy A

Release Info:
A Two Step de Avalon KH-619-A Khoury's
B La Valse de Courage KH-619-B Khoury's

Find:
Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings, Volume 1 (Arhoolie, 1995)

"French Blues" - Nathan Abshire

While many remember Nathan Abshire after the war, helping create the resurgence of Cajun music, most are unaware his start began much earlier in the 1930s. By 1935, Abshire teamed up with guitarist Leroy "Happy Fats" LeBlanc and his Rayne-Bo Ramblers, whose line-up was a fluctuating one and began to record with them, as an accordionist – vocalist on 4 songs.  

This New Orleans session was split between Fat’s Rayne-Bo Ramblers and the Hackberry Ramblers, giving, among others, "French Blues" (#2177).  An Abshire arrangement based on Amede Ardoin's "Les Blues De Crowley", the song would achieve classic status during the later years. An itinerant studio was set up by the technicians of Bluebird (whom misspelled his name "Nason Absher") in a time when the majors of the recording industry were showing an interest in ethnic music. 

Oh! tu m’a fait du mal tit monde

Oh!

Tu pres ma quitté, j’vas tout temps aimé.

C’est malheurse de m'voir.

Avec deux mains j'pourrai pleurer.

Ah Haa!

Nathan Abshire

Abshire was especially taken with the spirited playing and singing of Creole accordionist/singer Amede Ardoin.  Ardoin’s influence was especially evident on Abshire’s first recording in 1935, "French Blues."  "French Blues" is a generic name Nathan gave to this lazy, swingy instrumental, with a few bluesy call-outs. While most won't recognize the song as traditional blues, it was what the Cajuns used to express the limited blue notes that the accordion could mimic. In this early version, you can hear Happy Fats and Simon "Warnest" Schexnyder on guitars and Norris Savoy on fiddle. It was a quasi-instrumental with Nathan interjecting different phrases throughout the song. According to author Ryan Brasseaux:

Like the Breaux family and Lawrence Walker, Nathan composed his blues numbers from the cross-cultural fodder that nourished Cajun music's evolutionary mechanisms.1

Little did he realize that his abilities would shine after the war when asked to bring the accordion back.  When the Pine Grove Boys needed an accordion player in the late 1940s, their memory of Nathan playing in these early years sealed their decision to invite him to join.  Nathan resurrected the tune he remembered and at the KPLC studio, Earl Demarcy and Nathan recorded his "French Blues" for George Khoury and Virgil Bozman's O.T. record label (#110).  The 1949 session would re-launch Abshire's music career. The group consisted of either Ernest Thibodeaux or Earl Demarcy on guitar, Atlas Fruge on steel, Jim Baker on bass, Oziet Kegley on drums, and either Will Kegley or Wilson Granger on fiddle.

Oh! you did me wrong, my little world.

Oh!

You're leaving me, yet, i've always loved you.

It's so sad to see me.

I could cry with both hands.

Ah Haa!

Like his "Pine Grove Blues", he would re-record the tune a slew of times throughout the 60s and 70s.  The group recorded a live session at The Frontier Bar in Basile, Louisiana in 1966 with the Balfas backing him up.  By 1968, the crew entered the Swallow Studios in Ville Platte, Louisiana and re-recorded it again. By 1973, Carol Rachou grabbed a triangle and with Merlin Fontenot on fiddle, Rufus Thibodeaux on bass, Joe Thibodeaux on drums, and Bessyl Duhon on guitar, they re-recorded the tune once more, entitling it "Le Blues Francais" for Carol's La Louisianne Records label. 

French Blues - 1935

French Blues - 1949

1. Cajun Breakdown : The Emergence of an American-Made Music By Ryan Andre Brasseaux
2. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/masters-of-louisiana-music-nathan-abshire/
3. http://www.bopping.org/nathan-abshire-pope-of-cajun-accordion/
4. Lyrics by Jerry M and Raymond Francois

Find:
Cajun Music - The Early 50s (Arhoolie, 1969)
Pioneers of the Cajun Accordion (Arhoolie, 1989)
Nathan Abshire & the Pine Grove Boys - French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)
Cajun Louisiane 1928-1939 (Fremeaux, 2003)
Cajun Capers: Cajun Music 1928-1954 (Proper, 2005)
Bayou Two-Step - Cajun Hits From Louisiana 1929-1962 (Jasmine, 2015)

"Choupique Two Step" - Nathan Abshire

Nathan Abshire was the first in the family of six children.  His parents, also musicians, played accordion, and two of his brothers, known to have been top-notch accordion players, gave it up when still young.3  Abshire was especially taken with the spirited playing and singing of Creole accordionist and singer Amede Ardoin, and Ardoin often invited Abshire to play with him.2  

“Every Saturday we used to go to John Foreman’s saloon. I’d see Amédé Ardoin coming down the way. He’d say, ‘Abshire, you’ve got to help me tonight.’ I’d say. ‘Amédé, I can’t help you.’ ‘Oh yeah,’ he’d say, ‘We’re both going to play. I’ll play for awhile, you play for awhile.’ I’d say, ‘I don’t feel much like going Amédé.’ But I’d go and we’d sure make some music. As far as that goes, we made some great music.”2

Oh, jolie parti, c'es partie à Choupique,

C'es parti, jolie catin, 

Pour voir des belles 'tit blondes.

Aye! C'es Choupique!

Oh, jolie catin, jolie sa m'fais du mal.

Oui, ces drole qui tu m’a dit,

Jolie, sa m'fais du mal.

Oh, jolie catin, jolie tu m'fais du mal,

M'fais du mal, catin du mal,

J'vas pleurer pour toi.

Nathan Abshire
by Todd Kruse
http://pictify.saatchigallery.com/user/tjkruse

The choupique (pronounced "shoe pick") is a trash fish, known outside Louisiana as the bowfin, which isn't eaten much but can be found plentiful around Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. Choupique is also the name of a rural community north of Eunice, Louisiana, not far from a small stream called "La Coulée Choupique".

George Khoury, the owner of Lyric label, recorded Nathan's "Choupique Two Step" (#610) in 1951 but chose not to co-release it on his Khoury's label until years later when he re-released many of these pressings on 45 RPM.  The band consisted of his typical lineup of Nathan on accordion and vocals, Will Kegley on fiddle, Atlas Fruge on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, Jim Baker on bass, Ozide Kegley on drums. It could very well be a version of Happy Fats' "Les Fille De St. Martin" that Nathan had remembered from their first session together 16 years earlier.   All of these are based on Amede Ardoin's "Amede Two Step".

Church Point News
Dec 12, 1961

Oh, my pretty went away, went away to Choupique,

She left me, my pretty doll,

Going to go see the pretty little blondes.

Aye! Choupique!

Oh, my pretty doll, pretty, you hurt me,

Yes, it's odd what you said,

Pretty, you hurt me.

Oh, my pretty doll, pretty, you hurt me,

You hurt me, my doll, it hurts,

I'm going to cry over you.

1. Louisiana Music, Vol. 1 by Lyle Ferbrache
2. http://www.offbeat.com/articles/masters-of-louisiana-music-nathan-abshire/
3. Pine Grove Blues: Swallow LP 6014. Liner notes.
4. Lyrics by Jerry M

Find:
Nathan Abshire & the Pine Grove Boys - French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)