"La Danse Carre" - Dennis McGee & Ernest Fruge

Music associated with French and American dance forms influenced much of early Cajun social life in the 1920s.  From their Anglo-American neighbors, Cajun musicians learned jigs, hoedowns, and Virginia reels to enrich their growing repertoire which already included polkas, contredanses, varsoviennes and valses-à-deux-temps.5  Similar to the contredanse (counter-dance), the Cajun French square dance embraced a loosely structured call-out routine throughout the dance number.  These Cajun dances appeared in Acadie in the 17th century and flourished throughout.  According to musician and Acadian music researcher, Devon Léger, 

"Reel de la Rivière à la Truite" from New Brunswick.  It actually corresponds to a Cajun tune.  The first and third parts of "La Danse Carre" correspond pretty closely to two different old Acadian tunes from Eastern Canada! It's clear that French songs travelled from W. France to Canada to Louisiana with Acadians, but it's been super hard to demonstrate anything with the tunes.  Another Acadian tune, called "Rabastan à Avila Leblanc", from the Magdalen Islands. These islands from the coast of Quebec were one of the last strongholds of old style Acadian fiddling, so they have a lot of the old beautiful tunes.  The second part of "Rabastan" is exactly like the third part of "La Danse Carre", which is a really interesting correlation between old Acadian fiddling from Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Cajun fiddling.6  

When George Washington Cable toured through Louisiana in 1888, he commented on the Cajun dance: When a girl was old enough to "move into society"—that is, for marriage—she was "meant to join in the contra-dance.4  Cable continues: 

The fiddler's seat is mounted on a table in the corner.  The fiddler is in it.  Each beau has led a maiden into the floor.  The sets are made for the contra-dance.  The young men stand expectant, their partners wait with downcast eyes and mute lips as Acadian damsels should. The music strikes up, and away they go!4  

Dennis McGee

Although fiddler Dennis McGee spoke little but Cajun French, he was known nationally form appearances on such shows as "Prairie Home Companion" and from stops at colleges and festivals around the country.   McGee's career spanned most of the 20th century.  When Cajun music was first being recorded in the late 1920s, he played with such artists as Amede Ardoin, Joe Falcon and Amede Breaux.2  As a fiddler, McGee was keenly aware of the popularity of square dance styles.  He recalled:

I would love to be twenty years old again.  They danced contredanses throughout my courting days.  The contredanse wasn't difficult. You just had to turn around, making little steps while you turned.5  

During a recording session in 1929, he and Ernest Fruge recorded "La Dance Carre" (#512). Directly translated to "The Square Dance", you can hear Walter Coquille, a Cajun humorist who was present at the session, calling out dance instructions. McGee recalled playing this style at house dances every Saturday and Sunday from seven o'clock until midnight, where he'd received one dollar a night. 

We played all kinds of dances.  In a dance-hall in Ville Platte, we'd play first a "danse carrée", then a waltz, then a "two-step".  The "danse carrée" was very popular back then.  They danced by six or eight pairs.  Somebody would call out "Famille en ronde" and the girl would hold the arm of her partner.  Then they'd all make a big circle and return to place.  Then two pairs would cross together.  Then they'd form two lines, boys in one line and girls in the other.  They'd go in and meet and turn, then the pair would go down the line together.3    

Leleux Dancehall, 1938
Courtesy of LOC, Russell Lee Collection

Sometimes referred to as une contredanse francaise, it seemed to fade out of popularity towards the late 1930s, in particularly the regions of St. Landry parish and Evangeline parish.  Although McGee continued to play square dances afterwards, however, Fruge never recorded commercially for a major recording label ever again.  According to music producer Christopher King, he states: 

Their recording session features this hypnotic, driving, in-your-head twin fiddle breakdown. Two violins: one playing the lead, the other playing rhythm. "La Dance Carre" not only reminds me of the Carter Brothers but also the driving, hypnotic music we would also hear all over the world.1

1. http://ngradio.gr/blog/chris-king/chris-travels-78-rpm-im-no-lyre-radio-show-no-4/.   Chris travels at 78 RPM: “I’m No Lyre” – Episode 4.   Radio show.
2. "Cajun Fiddler Dead".  CPS. 1989.
3. Dennis McGee ‎– The Complete Early Recordings.  Liner notes. 
4. Bonaventure: A Prose of Acadian Louisiana By George Washington Cable
5. Cajun and Creole Music Makers By Barry Jean Ancelet
6. Discussions with Devon Léger, March 4, 2023.

Release Info:
NO-6713 La Rille Cajen | Brunswick 512
NO-6714 La Danse Carre | Brunswick 512 

Find:
The Early Recordings Of Dennis McGee: Featuring Sady Courville & Ernest Fruge (Morning Star, 1977)
Dennis McGee ‎– The Complete Early Recordings (Yazoo, 2006)

"Blues de Basille" - Amede Ardoin & Dennis McGee

With songs like "Two Step de Eunice" and "Blues De Basille," (#531) accordionist Amede Ardoin, helped by his fiddle player and traveling companion Dennis McGee, became one of the first musicians to record Louisiana's Cajun music. Ardoin was an accordion virtuoso who, by all accounts, had an uncanny knack for improvising French lyrics with his strange high voice.1  Named after the town of Basile, Ardoin was no stranger to the "blues" that this town offered him,

One time they had a dance hall in Basile, and what saved him was some white guy who was learning how to play the guitar.  Somebody threw a big ol' rock--whoever done it wanted to hurt him bad--and the rock went through the guitar.4  

Oh comment je vas faire, catin,

Mais, ouais, ’tite fille je m’en vas à la maison tout seul,

Comment tu veux, dis, ouais, je peux faire, ’tite fille,

Si tes parents veulent pas, je te demanderais pas,

Dis, ouais, c’est toi, éou c’est tu veux je peux aller,

Mais, ouais, mon nèg, chaque fois que je vas pas c’ez toi.

Oh, mais, oui, catin; comment,

Si vous-autres peuvent faire m’en aller de toi, ’tite fille,

Moi, je te vois pas, c’est beaucoup rarement,

Je serais contente te rejoindre, te rejoindre, ’tite fille.

Oh, comment je vas faire, catin,

Dis ouais, je vas tout seul éoù c’est je vas aller,

Que tes parents veulent pas, comment je vas faire, tite fille.

Daily Advertiser
May 1, 1931

It's unlikely we'll ever know for certain what became of Ardoin. By some accounts, he wound up in a mental institution in Pineville, Louisiana. The only concrete evidence of this, however, is a death certificate issued May 30, 1941 from Pineville for a person named "Amelie Ardoin." And the certificate lists Ardoin as being 20 years older than he actually was at the time. Others say Ardoin eventually left Pineville and headed home.1  Music writer Tom Schnabel compares the song to his life and death,

Listening to it, I was reminded of a much more famous singer, the blues great Robert Johnson, who himself died of mysterious circumstances at age 27.  There is a great deal of myth surrounding Johnson’s life, as it’s been rumored that he was poisoned by a jealous girlfriend. Others say that he sold his soul to the devil in a faustian deal to become the greatest blues singer of all time. The latter story involved Johnson taking his guitar to Dockery Plantation at midnight to seal the deal, which turned out to be a meeting at the crossroads. The music of Ardoin and Johnson has a certain edge that captures the energy of their youth. Songs like Ardoin’s “Blues de Basile,” parallel the same piercing, exhortatory urgency of Johnson’s “Preaching Blues.”2  

Oh, how will I do this, pretty doll,

Well, yeah, little girl, I'm going to go home all alone,

What do you want, tell me, yeah, I can do this, little girl,

If your parents don't want, I won't demand,

Tell me, yeah, it's you, wherever you want, I can go,

Well, yeah, my friend, every time that I'm not going to you.

Oh, well, yes, pretty doll, how?

If you all can make me leave you, little girl,

I don't see you, it's very rarely,

I'll be happy to join you, to join you, little girl.

Oh, how will I do this, pretty doll,

Say yeah, I will go all by myself, where ever can I go,

That your parents do not want me, how will I do this, little girl.

Amede Ardoin

The common, accepted story is: While playing his accordion at a local farmhouse in Eunice, Louisiana, in the late 1930s, Creole musician Amede Ardoin wiped his brow with a handkerchief given to him by a white woman. Two white men angered by the exchange between Ardoin and the woman followed him outside, where they beat him, backed over him with a Ford Model A truck and threw him in a ditch. He woke up crippled, with permanent brain damage.1  Fellow musician Canray Fontenot remembers how that night changed his friend:

After that, "he didn't know whether he was hungry or not.... He was plumb crazy."1

In 2014, "Blues de Basille" crossed over, making it's appearance into the mainstream when it was recorded by jazz violinist Regina Carter on her album "Southern Comfort".3   

1. http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2011/03/amede-ardoin-cajun-zydeco-mardi-gras
2. https://www.kcrw.com/music/articles/the-zydeco-legend-of-amede-ardoin
3. https://www.newsounds.org/story/regina-carter-in-studio/
4. The Kingdom of Zydeco By Michael Tisserand

Release Info:

NO-6719 Blues De Basille | Brunswick 531

NO-6720 La Valse A Thomas Ardoin | Brunswick 531

Find:

Pioneers of the Cajun Accordion (Arhoolie, 1989)
I'm Never Comin' Back: The Roots of Zydeco (Arhoolie, 1995)
Cajun Country, Vol. 2, More Hits from the Swamp (JSP, 2005)
Mama, I'll Be Long Gone : The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934 (Tompkins Square, 2011)

"Oberlin" - Amede Ardoin & Dennis McGee

Cajun accordionist Amede Ardoin himself was a sought-after dance musician who played both white Cajun gatherings and black la-la dances and was known for his ability to improvise lyrics about those in attendance; a practice which sometimes got him in trouble. It might seems strange that a black Creole musician who left little more of a trace on the world than 34 scratchy recordings would come to be known as the father of a musical style rooted in the culture of French-Canadian exiles. In this sense, the record stands as a testament to the musical creativity happening in Louisiana during the first half of the 20th Century. Around the same time Ardoin was mastering his accordion, musicians like Jelly Roll Morton and Buddy Bolden were in nearby Storyville, New Orleans, shaping ragtime music into jazz.3 According to journalist Ed McKeon:

He played in a rhythm-heavy syncopated style and sang with a passion unmatched even to this day in Cajun and Creole song.1  

Oh, 'coute mes paroles, ye yaille,

Comment, mon je vas faire, mon j'm'en vas,

J'vas faire, j'vas faire, mon j'm'en vas, catin,

Où c'est t'as prender*, malheureuse?

Oh, quoi faire, t'as m'fais ca, maman,

Comment mon je vas faire, mon j'm'en vas,

Mon j'm'en vas, m'en vas à la maison, maman,

Mon cœur fais si mal qu'à jongler.

Oh chère!

Mon j'm'en vas, mes parents, mon j'm'en vas,

Oh, c'est tous les dimanches au soir,

Mais, les samedis, tous les samedis au soir,

Maman, j'après aller pour mon t'voir. 

Oh, oh, ye yaille, ye yaille,

J'suis loin d'la maison,

J'connais pas equand je vas m'retourner, ye yaille,

J'm'en vas, mon tout seul, mais, 'tit cœur,

Mes parents veulent pas je reste jamais avec toi,

Quique* (chose), va rester, j'ai pas d'argent.

Eli Oberstein

Along the outskirts of San Antonio in 1934, a small group of recording engineers, alongside producer Eli Oberstein, gathered various folk performers, including Amédé Ardoin, in two rooms of the Texas Hotel to make some records. Despite his stylistic affinity with the white French music of rural Louisiana, the six tunes Ardoin documented that day (for the Bluebird/Victor company) included some distinct differences foreshadowing the future of black Creole music.2  According to music producer, Christopher King, the combination white and black musicians during this time period was quite unique,

It was one of the first instances of that actually occurring in Cajun music. And it actually is a rare occurrence in pre-war music taken as a whole. But as you can hear from the recordings, they're so perfectly integrated and relaxed with each other.

Oh, listen to my words, ye yaille,

How will I do this, i'm going,

I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I'm going, pretty doll,

Where are you going to go, naughty woman?

Oh, why do you do that to me, little mama,

How will I do this, I'm going,

I'm going, I'm going home, little mama,

Oh, my heart aches thinking about this.

Oh, dear!

I'm leaving my family, i'm leaving,

Oh, it's every Sunday night,

But, the Saturdays, the Saturday evenings,

Little mama, I'm leaving to go to see you.

Oh, oh, ye yaille, ye yaille,

I am so far away at home,

I don't know when I will return, ye yaille,

I'm leaving, all alone, well, little sweetheart,

My parents never wanted me to stay with you,

Whatever, I'm staying, I have no money.

He and fiddle player Dennis McGee recorded "Oberlin", an ode to the small town in Louisiana.  Not to be confused with his "One Step de Oberlin", the Texas Hotel session marks another significant development. Although Ardoin had generally established a reputation for playing in a syncopated style more consistent with his Creole legacy than with straight Cajun music, none of his catalog of thirty-four recordings included any percussion instrument accompaniment.2 

Portions of the tune resemble Cleoma Breaux's classic recording of "Mon Coeur T'appelle".   The greatest legacy of the song would be it's usage as Iry Lejeune's "Te Mone" in the 1950s.  According to accordionist Cory McCauley,

In Oberlin, Amédée and Dennis played at a dancehall called The Golden Gate, which was located just south of town. I think this was the last stop on a circuit they would play that would bring them from Châtaignier, Eunice, Basile, Duralde, L'Anse Chaumont, Soileau and Oberlin. I've heard stories of them buying moonshine and sleeping under a tree, staying gone for two weeks at a time. Playing a dance every night. La vie de musicien!5  

1. http://www.downhomemusic.com/product/amede-ardoin-im-never-comin-back/
2. Southeast Texas: Hot House of Zydeco by R. Wood.
3. http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2011/03/amede-ardoin-cajun-zydeco-mardi-gras
4. https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=135638265
5. Discussions with Cory M - 6-8-2024
6. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

BS-83856-1 | Les Blues De Crowley (Crowley Blues) | Bluebird B-2190-A

BS-83857-1 | Oberlin | Bluebird B-2190-B

Find:

I'm Never Comin' Back: The Roots of Zydeco (Arhoolie, 1995)

Cajun Country, Vol. 2, More Hits from the Swamp (JSP, 2005)

Cajun Capers: Cajun Music 1928-1954 (Proper, 2005)

Mama, I'll Be Long Gone : The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934 (Tompkins Square, 2011)

"Amadie Two Step" - Amede Ardoin & Dennis McGee

Before there was zydeco music, early French-speaking musicians in Southwest Louisiana were creating French-Creole music. And, one of the earliest recording artists of this style was accordion player Amede Ardoin, whose life on the Creole music trail went from stardom to tragedy. Ardoin was a virtuoso on the accordion, and he wrote and recorded a series of songs from 1929 to 1934.  According to author Darrell Bourque:

He was kind of like a rock star of his own day and time.  The most repeated a line in his songs, other than wanting a girl to pay attention to him, ... this thing about not having a home, you know, being exiled.1

Oh, bonsoir, catin, ouais, je m'en va, jolie,

Moi, je m'en va, donc, moi tout seul, droite à la maison,

Moi, je voudrais si vous-autres peuvent faire,

Ouais, pour toi, qu'es aussi mal,

Tu t'en va à ta maison, toi, tu me quittes derrière.

Oh, bonsoir, catin, quoi tu veux (que) je peux faire?

Moi, je te vois, mais, t'en aller, ouais, ça me fait du mal,

Si tu vas, comment je peux faire quand je jongle à toi?

Toi, peut-être j’aurais le courage, ouais, de m’en aller.

Oh, bonsoir, catin, peur tout le temps fait ça,

C’est pour faire plaisir, catin, pourqoui à tes parents,

Quand ton neg’ radotte sur moi, je crois, toi, tu me fais ça,

Tu me fais du mal, c’est toi, catin, (qu'es) assez pour moi pleurer.

Daily Advertiser
Aug 13, 1931

It had been almost a year since Dennis Mcgee and Amede Ardoin had made their ground-breaking recordings for Columbia, which were co-pressed on Okeh. The Great Depression had taken a toll on the recording industry. November of 1930 was quite late into the Depression for recording labels to attempt marketing new Cajun music, but Brunswick decided to try one last time.  They gathered Dennis and Ardoin together and recorded a song that reflected the pain in which Ardoin was so familiar with... the loss of a lover.  While he attempts to blame her parents, he also passes blame on her as well.  Unlike Columbia and Okeh, Brunswick did not employ a special numberical series for its Cajun records.  Instead, the firm released all of these titles, which consisted of waltzes, one-steps, two-steps and blues, under the bill of McGee and Ardoin in its "Songs from Dixie" series.3  He continued to play with McGee and his black Creole neighbor Douglas Bellard into the early 1930s. 

Oh, goodnight my pretty doll, yeah, I'm leaving, my pretty,

I'm leaving, so, all alone, straight to the house,

I'd like it if you could do this,

Yeah, for you, who's also sad,

You have gone to your house, you've left me behind.

Oh, goodnight my pretty doll, what do you want (that) I can do?

I see you, well, you're going, yeah, it makes me feel sad,

If you're going, how will I handle this when I'm thinking about you?

You, maybe I'll have the courage, yeah, to go away.

Oh, goodnight my pretty doll, always scared to do that,

Trying to please, pretty doll, your parents,

When your father rambles on about me, I believe you've done that to me,

You've made me sad, it's you, pretty doll, (who did) enough to make me cry. 

The popularity of the song gave way to Happy Fats' 1935 "Les Fille De St. Martin" and Nathan Abshire's 1950 "Choupique Two Step" and his 1960 "Jolie Catin".  In the 1980s, Marc Savoy recorded a different melody giving it the same name. Because of the confusion it caused, he explains:

In the 1980s the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band recorded Arhoolie CD #316 entitled "Two-Step Amédé." Initially, the title song, which I had composed out of love and admiration of Amédé Ardoin's music, was supposed to be called "Tribute to Amédé Ardoin." Even though the submitted track list clearly described the title correctly, the producer went to press having changed it to "Two-Step Amédé" not realizing that there was already a completely different song entitled "Amédé Two-Step" by Amédé Ardoin recorded in the 1930s. My recording of "Two-Step Amédé" was never meant to be a version of Amédé's wonderful song. Instead it was my feeble attempt to compose a tune to honor his contribution to Cajun/Creole Music.2 

1. http://www.fox8live.com/story/37771315/heart-of-louisiana-the-story-of-amede-ardoin
2. https://folkways.si.edu/arhoolie 
3. Hidden in the Mix: The African American Presence in Country Music edited by Diane Pecknold

Release Info:
NO-6717-A Amadie Two Step | Brunswick 576 
NO-6718-A La Valse A Austin Ardoin | Brunswick 576

NO-6717-A Amadie Two Step | Melotone M18050
NO-6718-A La Valse A Austin Ardoin | Melotone M18050

Find:
I'm Never Comin' Back: The Roots of Zydeco (Arhoolie, 1995)
Cajun Country, Vol. 2, More Hits from the Swamp (JSP, 2005)
Mama, I'll Be Long Gone : The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934 (Tompkins Square, 2011)

"One Step Des McGee" - Dennis McGee & Ernest Fruge

Fiddler Dennis McGee was born in Bayou Marron to John McGee, of Irish descent, and Amelia Lafleur, of French and Seminole Indian ancestry.2  Dennis first began learning the fiddle from his father, his favorite tune being "Valse de Pop."  In his youth, he went to live with his grandmother, where he was surrounded by fiddle players. As with many other rural fiddlers, music was a family affair with Dennis--listening to the playing of his uncles, Ulysses and Joseph McGee, and a cousin, Oscar McGee.1   

Ler-der-de-de-da-da-ler-der-der,

De-ler-der-der-de-der-de-ler-der-der,

'Garde-le mourir, c'est trop dur, 

Eh, moi tout seul, eh, malheureuse la belle,

Eh, 'gardez-donc, oh, mais, ça t'as fais,

Moi, j'connais t'as fais, malheureuse.

Malheureuse, jolie 'tit cœur,

Regarde (ce que) t'as fais dés (que) tu passes la porte, 

T’étais là bas, c’est tout t’as fait,

Mais, malheureuse, mais, malheureuse.

Ler-der-de, 'garde-donc, r'garde belle,

Mais, 'tit galop pour aller (à) la maison,

Mais, cours toujours, mais, t'en aller,

Mais, nous tous seul, mais-là, gallop.

Theodore McGee

After working with a cousin, Ben Courville on his farm, he moved and began living with another cousin, Theodore McGee.   Theodore took him to Ville Platte to buy a fiddle and withing six months he was attracting the attention of neighbors who would come to hear him play.1  He received his first shiny red fiddle when he was 15 years old.4  According to Dennis, 

I stayed with Theodore McGee and one day he said, "Well Mac, I believe I'll buy a violin for you.  I'm going to Ville Platte."  No strings!  There was nothing on it. He bought some strings and the pegs. He knew how to play a little. He tuned it up and played "Tout Les Deux Pour La Meme".  He said, "Now, you're on your own."3  

He started out playing for square dances with eight or ten couples in country homes for the grand sum of $1 a night.4   By 1929, he scored a contract to record with Vocalion records with Sady Courville and later, with Amede Ardoin with Colombia records.  By 1930, he and fiddler Ernest Fruge teamed up and headed to New Orleans where they recorded "One Step Des McGee" (#590) for Brunswick records, in honor of his McGee musical family.  Similar to his "One Step De Chupic", Dennis introduces the verses with nonsensical phrasing.  This style of singing could be used to evoke emotions or even memories in listeners that couldn't be put into words or ones that weren't terribly specific. It allows the listener's mind to wander where it will, guided by the singer, but not forced into a specific narrative. 

Ler-der-de-de-da-da-ler-der-der,

De-ler-der-der-de-der-de-ler-der-der,

Look at him dying, it's too hard,

Hey, i'm all alone, hey, naughty beauty,

Hey, so look, oh, well, at that you've done,

I know what you've done, naughty woman.

Naughty woman, pretty little sweetheart,

Look what you did as soon as you walked through the door,

You were there, it's all due to you,

Well, naughty woman, well, naughty woman.

Ler-der-de, so look, look at that beauty,

Well, galloping to the house,

Well, always running, well, I'm going,

Well, we're all alone, well there, (let's) gallop.

1. Louisiana Fiddlers By Ron Yule, Bill Burge
2. https://64parishes.org/entry/dennis-mcgee
3. Ye Yaille Chere by Raymond Francois
4. The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, Louisiana) 12 Sep 1982
5. Lyrics by Stephane F and Herman M

Release Info:

NO-6731 La Valse De Rosalie | Brunswick 590

NO-6732 One Step Des McGee | Brunswick 590

Find:

Dennis McGee ‎– The Complete Early Recordings (Yazoo, 2006)

"La Valse A Thomas Ardoin" - Amede Ardoin & Dennis McGee

Amede Ardoin became the most influential Creole singer and accordionist, whose music provided roots for modern Cajun and Zydeco music.  In his earliest years his family played a large part of the influence.  According to Amede's nephew Milton Ardoin,

My daddy [Beaudoin Ardoin] bought an accordion to start.  He was not able to learn. Amede, you know, he was the baby one, and he gave the accordion to him.  When Amede started to play, he was on a chair and he was so small his foot was not touching to the floor.  But he learned that over and over and over, until he caught it.2  

Ardoin couldn't read and write and spoke no English.  Amede's parents, Thomas and Aurelia, were brought up during Reconstruction and became one of many land holding former slaves in south Louisiana.  Thomas Ardoin's mother, Marie Tom, was a slave, and Thomas was also born into slavery. Yet, by the time Amede was born, Thomas had acquired 157 acres of land on Bayou Nezpique.2   However, Milton recalled the tragedy that struck him as a child, 

St. Landry Clarion
Feb 4, 1899

My grandfather [Thomas Ardoin] got killed when Amede was small.  He was on the road. They reached a bridge, and they had some beef to haul.  It was old wood, and it broke, and my grandfather had his neck broken.2  

Oh, ye yaie, moi, j'ai pas de femme,

Oui, ses parents ça veut pas je se vois, malheureuse.

Oh, ye yaie, mes parents, eou je vas aller?

Moi, j'suis tout seul, mon j'ai pas de place d'aller,

Oh, ye yaie, mon j'ai pas d'argent, moi, j'ai pas de maison,

Mes parents veulent pas me voir.

Oh, 'tite fille, mais, eou toi, tu vas,

Toi, t'es pas la seule qui est contraire à ta maman,

Oh, catin, ton coeur fait du mal,

Mon, je m'ai aperçu pour Ia maniere tu fais avec moi.

Daily Advertiser
May 1, 1931

In 1930, alongside fiddler Dennis McGee, Ardoin recorded the tune "La Valse A Thomas Ardoin" (#531) in New Orleans as an ode to his late father. According to author and poet laureate Darrell Bourque,

One of the things I find fascinating is the variety of stories that circulate about Amédé, and the way they reflect the culture of the time. So when I began to run across all this information, that was exactly the kind of story that I wanted to tell, because I didn’t want to tell a story that was an interesting pocket of information, but one that connected in many ways with what we continue to have to deal with in terms of race, migration and the meaning of home.1  

Oh, ye yaille, I don't have a wife,

Yes, her parents don't want to see me, oh my.

Oh, ye yaille, my parents, where can I go?

I'm all alone, I don't have a place to go,

Oh, ye yaille, I don't have money, I don't have a home,

My parents don't want to see me.

Oh, little girl, well, where are you, you went away,

You're not the only one who is contrary to your mother,

Oh, pretty doll, your heart hurts,

I noticed that by the way you've done (treated) me.

In 1957, accordion player Lawrence Walker re-worked Ardoin's tune into the "Midnite Waltz" for Swallow Records. 

1. https://kreolmagazine.com/culture/features/amede-ardoin-and-his-legacy-a-discussion-with-darrell-bourque/#.XH_u-8BKhhE
2. The Kingdom of Zydeco By Michael Tisserand
3. NOTE: Cajun Country, Vol. 2 has song mis-titled

Release Info:

NO-6719 Blues De Basile | Brunswick 531

NO-6720 La Valse A Thomas Ardoin | Brunswick 531

Find:
I'm Never Comin' Back: The Roots of Zydeco (Arhoolie, 1995)
Cajun Country, Vol. 2, More Hits from the Swamp (JSP, 2005)
Mama, I'll Be Long Gone : The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934 (Tompkins Square, 2011)

"Myself" - Dennis McGee & Sady Courville

Dennis McGee, regarded as the "Dean of Cajun fiddlers", kept the older Acadian fiddle sounds of the 1800s alive almost into the 1990s. He was one of the earliest Cajun fiddlers to be recorded.3  According to record producer Chris King:

Getting really obsessed with how the Cajun music can affect you so deeply, I got really curious on how McGee did it. Because, not only does he do it to me, but he does it to others.  And I was wondering 'What the hell he was doing?'1  

Dis, "Bye bye" à ton papa, ta maman, mais, t'en aller, malheureuse, 

Dis ,"Bye bye", t'(es) après t'en aller,

Avec mon bien aimé, pour toujours, mais, (chére*) Joline, malheureuse, 

Dis, "Bye bye", dis, 'Bye bye" à ta maman.

J'(suis) après m'en aller, m'en aller avec mon nég', malheureuse, 

Eh, dis "Bye bye" à ton pap et ta maman, 

Pour toujours nous en aller, s'en aller, mais, là joline, 

M'en aller avec mon bien aimé pour toujours et finir mes jours.

Eh, t'es jolie, t'es mignonne et t'es bien (ai)mable, malheureuse,

Eh, t'es jolie, t'es aimable joli cœur. 

Fais pas ça, ça fait moins cœur, ah oui, m'en aller,

Z-avec tous mes chagrins, malheureuse, dis "Bye bye".

(Re)gardez-donc, mais, joli cœur, comment-donc, mais, moi j'vas faire, 

Dis après me quitter par la faute à ta maman,

Oh, yéyaie, chérie, malheureuse, 

Mais, (re)gardez donc, j'vas m'ennuyer de toi.

Sady began playing music on the violin since the age of 16 when his father quit playing.  He played with Dennis for about eight years straight.6  Before the Dennis McGee and Sady Courville ever recorded, they were invited to play on KWKH in Shreveport in 1927 as part of a promotional campaign for Cajun music.  Courville recalled the Shreveport event:

Eunice News
Mar 22, 1929

There was an old man in the community who was always promoting different things. First of all, he got us to go to Shreveport to broadcast on the radio. "Old man Marks".  He was a sort of leader, you know.  He did a lot for the Boy Scouts and different things. So he asked Dennis and me to go to Shreveport. That was the closest broadcasting station around here outside of New Orleans.  So we went over there and broadcasted and we came back over here. That was about 1927.4 

In 1929, they were approached by Sady's employer, a local furniture store owner named Mattius "Mat" Fruge, to record in New Orleans.  Fruge had originally began as a door-to-door milkman as a boy.  After receiving education in Texas, he fought in WWI and returned to Eunice working in a cotton gin.  By 1924, he became manager, and later owner, of Teer Furniture Company where Sady worked as an assistant. It becomes Fruge's phonograph and record distribution connections to companies such as Okeh, Brunswick and Vocalion which provide Dennis and Sady's first recording opportunity.   Courville recalled carrying his fiddle to New Orleans in a flour sack.7  

Dennis McGee and Sady Courville

Say, "Bye bye" to your dad (and) your mom, well, you're going, oh my,

Say, "Bye bye", you're going to go,

With my beloved, forever, well, (dear*) Joline, oh my,

Say, "Bye bye", say "Bye bye" to your mom.

I am leaving, I'm going away with my man, oh my,

Hey, say "Bye bye" to your dad and your mom,

Always, we're going, going to go, well, over there, Joline,

I'm going away with my beloved forever and live out my days.

Hey, you're pretty, you're cute and you're sweet, oh my,

Hey, you're pretty, you're sweet, pretty sweetheart,

Don't do that, that's heartless, oh yeah, I'm going,

With all my sorrows, oh my, say, "Bye bye".

So look, well, pretty sweetheart, so how, well, will I handle this,

Told you I'm leaving because it's your mother's fault,

Oh, ye yaille, dearie, oh my,

Well, so look, I'll miss you.

Eunice News
Apr 14, 1927

McGee's tune "Myself" (#5348), with Sady Courville on second fiddle, represented the story of most of his recordings, a lover discussing leaving her mother to be wed.  Sady never recorded for a major label again however, he continued to be Fruge's top salesman throughout the 1930s.5  He played his last dance in Lacassine in September of 1929 and didn't pick up playing music again until 1968.6  Dennis McGee continued his commercial recording career, performing and recording with black accordionist Amede Ardoin in the late 1920s and early 1930s in the first racially mixed duo. Their music laid the groundwork for the style and repertoire of Cajun music as we know it today.3  In the 70s, the duo reunited for a series of field recordings as well as a studio session at Swallow records in Ville Platte. 

"Myself" is done in a different tuning, GDAG, which according to folklorist Will Spires was a popular tuning for old dances in the key of G. Both the fiddle and the vocal wail out on this number and Dennis displays his effortless high, piercing singing.8 It still resonates with musicologists today. According to record producer Chris King:

When you listen to this really closely, he's tuned wayyyyy low.  That's the thing about McGee that when he would go and record something, where as most people would keep their fiddle in standard or they might cross-tune, he re-tuned his fiddle for every piece he performed, because he realized, by changing the pitch this much, or increasing the pitch this much, it affected people in this particular way.1

1. Vinyl Asides Episode 8 - Christopher King
2. https://oldtimeparty.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/himself/#more-10194
3. J'ai Ete Au Bal Vol. 1.  ARhoolie CD 331.  Liner notes.
4. Ye Yaille Chere by Raymond Francois
5. The Eunice News (Eunice, Louisiana) 14 Sep 1934
6. The Eunice News (Eunice, Louisiana)12 Jun 1973
7. The Ville Platte Gazette (Ville Platte, Louisiana) 07 Jan 1988
8. Dennis McGee ‎– The Complete Early Recordings.  Liner notes.
9. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:
NO-110 Myself | Vocalion 5348
NO-111 Vous M'Avez Donne Votre Parole | Vocalion 5348 

Find:

Dennis McGee ‎– The Complete Early Recordings (Yazoo, 2006)

"Valse A Alcee Poulard" - Amede Ardoin & Dennis McGee

Although Creole accordion player Amede Ardoin played with many fiddlers in his lifetime, including the incomparable Douglas Bellard, his most enduring creative partnership was with Dennis McGee, an orphaned white sharecropper from Eunice, Louisiana, who is credited on twenty of Ardoin’s thirty-four sides. Such interracial alliances weren’t unprecedented, but it’s likely the relationship was socially fraught. McGee probably recommended Ardoin to Columbia Records, which would make him ultimately responsible for Ardoin existing outside of his time and place.2 

Oh, ye yaille, je m'en vas.

Moi, je me'en vas, malheureuse, moi, je m'en vas, catin,

Je m'en vas, mon tout seul à la maison.

Comment je vas faire, toi, 'tite fille, ayou je vas aller, jolie?

Pour moi être capable t'rejoindre, ouais, encore,

Moi, je connais tes parent, ça veut pas, catin,

Ayou, moi je vas aller pour t'rejoindre?

Toi, jolie, fait pas ça, ye yaille,

Comment moi je vas faire? C'est si dur.

Amede Ardoin

The Columbia session was short lived and the label closed the doors to any more Cajun sessions due to The Depression.  The only name in the Cajun recording game at the time was Brunswick Records of Chicago.  In late November of 1930, the recording team made one last trip to Louisiana where they recorded Dennis and Amede; kicking off with the performance of "Valse A Alcee Poulard" (#495); a melody more familiar as "Quel Étoile".  Alcee Poulard is believed to be the husband of Amede's aunt, Oline Ardoin Poulard, who is mentioned in the title of another Ardoin song called "Taunte Aline".  McGee's backing of Ardoin's tune provided unique support that seems to be noticed to musicologist Jared Snyder.

Only "Valse a Alcee Poulard," in the cross key of A, needs the fiddle to state the chord progression while the other waltzes, played in D, barely need McGee's contribution to work.3   

Oh, ye yaille, I'm leaving.

I'm leaving, naughty woman, I'm leaving, little doll,

I'm leaving, I'm all alone at home.

How will I do this, you little girl, where am I going to go, pretty girl,

In order for me to meet you, yeah, again?

I know your parents, don't want me to, little doll,

Where am I going to meet you?

You, pretty girl, don't do that, ye yaille,

How will I do this?  It's so hard.

Although the recording didn't hit the market until over a year, the duo continued to play house dances across south Louisiana. According to record producer Christopher King,

You would primarily go to a bal de maison, or a house party, where essentially, the owner of the plantation would go out and collect the musicians in a horse and carriage and bring them to the house. And then the whole community would show up, and they would roll up the carpets and hang the chairs up on the wall.

And then Dennis McGee and Amede Ardoin would take what would be a stage, which is a little platform, and just play from, say, 7 o'clock in the evening until the next morning, essentially. Back then, they were essentially sharecroppers, but they were valued by the plantation owner not for their work-work but for their ability to entertain and to keep the morale up of all the other workers.1   

1. https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=135638265
2. https://www.oxfordamerican.org/magazine/item/244-amede-ardoin-accordion-virtuoso
3. "I'm Never Com in' Back" Amede Ardoin.  Liner notes.

Release Info:
NO-6735 Valse A Alcee Poulard | Brunswick 495
NO-6736 One Step D'Oberlin | Brunswick 495

Find:
I'm Never Comin' Back: The Roots of Zydeco (Arhoolie, 1995)
Cajun Country, Vol. 2, More Hits from the Swamp (JSP, 2005)
Mama, I'll Be Long Gone : The Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934 (Tompkins Square, 2011)