"Country Girl" - Abe Manuel

Coming from a musical family, Abraham "Abe" Manuel watched his brother Joe help form the Melody Boys with famed local fiddler Harry Choates.  By 1949, Harry was on his own and Joe and Abe teamed up to form a new band with many of Harry's old band members.  The group started touring southern and eastern Texas and south-west Louisiana, using both their own names as well as obscure pseudonyms.

Tout les veuve de la coulée, 

Sont partie z-au village,

Pour acheter de coton jaune a la boutique.

Pour achter des coton jaune,

Pour fait des 'tite mémines,

Pour amener la belle 'tit fille au bal à soir.

All the country gals have gone,

To buy some fancy clothes from town,

They will see the country boys this Saturday night,

They will flutter their little eyes,

Wear lipstick or knot some ties,

Trying to get those poor old boys this Saturday night.

Tout les veuve de la coulée, 

Sont partie z-au village,

Pour acheter de coton jaune a la boutique.

Pour achter des coton jaune,

Pour fait des 'tite mémines,

Pour amener la belle 'tit fille au bal à soir.

They'll go to the fais-do-do,

Where the pretty boys all go,

They'll dance away their cares and do things light,

Gunna turn on all their charm,

As they dance in boyfriend's arms,

When they go a-steppin' on a Saturday night.

Louisiana Hillbillies, KTAG, 1954
Bradley Stutes (steel guitar), Dottie Manuel (guitar),
Amos Comeaux (drums), Abe Manuel (fiddle),
Wiley Barkdull (piano)

By 1954, Abe married into another musical family and his wife Dottie assumed the role of guitarist and part-time vocalist in the band. Her father Jules "Chun" Vincent was a Cajun fiddler from Cameron Parish. The band had a show on KTAG as well as a radio spot on KAOK.1  Together with Buston Olsen, Jerome Stubbs on steel guitar, Merton Thibodeaux or Popeye Broussard on piano, and Ronald "Tinky" Bisette on bass, they covered the famous Happy Fats' original "Le Veuve De La Coulee" as "Country Girl" (#1098) in 1955 for J.D. Miller's Feature Records.

Daily World
Apr 28, 1954

All the widows of the gully,

Have gone to the village,

To buy yellow cotton at the store,

To buy yellow cotton,

To make little bloomers,

To bring the beautiful little girl to the dance tonight.

All the country gals have gone,

To buy some fancy clothes from town,

They will see the country boys this Saturday night,

They will flutter their little eyes,

Wear lipstick or knot some ties,

Trying to get those poor old boys this Saturday night.

All the widows of the gully,

Have gone to the village,

To buy yellow cotton at the store,

To buy yellow cotton,

To make little bloomers,

To bring the beautiful little girl to the dance tonight.

They'll go to the fais-do-do,

Where the pretty boys all go,

They'll dance away their cares and do things light,

Gunna turn on all their charm,

As they dance in boyfriend's arms,

When they go a-steppin' on a Saturday night.

Abe's recording career eventually faded away and he continued to perform until the mid-1960s when Miller invited him to join Cajun fiddler Rufus Thibodeaux for a recording session as a tribute to the late Harry Choates. 

1. "Cajun Dancehall Heyday" by Ron Yule
2. Lyrics by Herman M

Release Info:

Hippy-Ti-Yo | Feature 1098

Country Girl | Feature 1098

Find:

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

"Personne M'aime Pas" - Leo Soileau

Leo Soileau was one of the pioneer fiddlers of recorded Cajun music. His recordings with the remarkable accordionist, Mayuse Lafleur, sold well locally, but some very traditional fiddle duets made with a cousin, Alius Soileau, did not sell as well. He also recorded a lot of blues and some jazzy numbers. As American pop music began making inroads into the prairies and along the bayous of Louisiana, Leo Soileau began recording songs in English, as well as country and pop songs translated into French! He was one of the first Cajun artists, along with the Hackberry Ramblers, to cross over and reach a wider English-speaking market, while keeping his young audience at home happy and dancing to the latest music.1  

Ouais, mais, personne pour m'aimer,

Moi, je connais, ouais, ça fait pas rien, ouais,

Oh, non, mais, personne m'aime pas,

Ouais, ça fait (rien), mon nègre, chère.

Moi j'suis orphelin, ni mère ni père,

P'us personne pour (m') soigner,

Hé oui, je prends ça dur, chère,

P'us personne, ouais, pour m'aimer.

Oui, oui, oui, mon nègre,

Oh, mais, 'garde-donc à moi-même, chère,

Oh, ouais, ça fait pitié, chère,

Oh, ouais, toujours, moi tout seul.

Leo Soileau and his Rhythm Boys, 1944.
George T-Chalk Duhon, Crawford Vincent,
Leo Soileau, D.W. Bollie Thibodeaux,
Desbra Fontenot
Courtesy of the
Johnnie Allan Collection
UL Lafayette Center of Louisiana Studies

Soileau's influences came from many different places. "Personne M'aime Pas" was a French take-off of the popular song "Nobody's Darling But Mine"  It must have been quite a sensation since Cleoma recorded the tune as "Pas La Belle De Personne Que Moi" that same year.  It was translated from the song by Jimmie Davis, "Nobody's Darlin' But Mine."  

His band consisted of Julius ‘Papa Cairo’ Lamperez on steel guitar, Floyd Shreve on guitar, Tony Gonzales on drums, and probably Harold ‘Popeye’ Broussard on piano. Together, they headed to Dallas, Texas in December of 1937 for one of his last recordings. 

Port Arthur News
Dec 3, 1944

Yeh well, nobody loves me,

I know, yeh, it doesn't matter, yeh,

Oh, non, well, nobody loves me,

Yeh, it doesn't matter, my friend, darling.

I am an orphan, neither a mother nor father,

No one, yeh, to look after me,

Hey yeh, I'm taking this hard, dear,

No one, yeah, to love me.

Yes, yes, yes my friend,

Oh well, look at myself, dear,

Oh yeah, it's pitiful, dear,

Oh yeh, always alone.

Soileau remained active in the early '40s, recording with Leo Soileau's Rhythm Boys. Dropped by Decca when the label decided to stop recording Cajun musicians at the beginning of World War II, the group continued to perform at the Silver Star Club in Lake Charles for eight years. Shifting to the Showboat Club in Orange, TX, the band continued to play together for another two years. Although Soileau and the group appeared frequently on the radio, they never recorded again. In the late '40s, Soileau left music to work with his brothers in a general contracting firm in Ville Platte. He died in August 1980.2 

1. J'ai Ete Au Bal Vol. 1.  ARhoolie CD 331.  Liner notes.
2. https://www.pandora.com/artist/full-bio/leo-soileau/ARZbKjv4drvdfqc 
3. Lyrics by Jordy A

Release Info:
63069-A Personne N'Aime Pas | Decca 17042 A
63067-A Valse D'Amour | Decca 17042 B

Find:
Leo Soileau: Louisiana Cajun Music Vol. 7 (Old Timey, 1982)

"O.S.T. Gal" - Leroy "Happy Fats" Leblanc

Like Western swing, Cajun swing helped redefine the rural Southern experience, an experience based on interaction and exchange. Varied cultural currents flowed freely throughout the Bayou Country. Individuals only had to reach out to access the cultural innovations and mass culture available at their fingertips.1 Happy Fats and his swinging fiddler, Harry Choates, were keenly aware of the music's popularity and had no problem performing throughout south Louisiana and Texas. The duo recorded an upbeat tune in 1940 entitled "O.S.T. Gal" (#8537) for Bluebird records.  His group had Sandy Lormand on guitar, Joseph "Pee Wee" Broussard on banjo, Ray Clark on steel guitar, and Harold "Popeye" Broussard on piano.  Harry's fiddle rides, Sandy's electric guitar slides and Popeye's honky-tonk piano sound really made this recording shine. Based on an old 19th century tune known as "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers", a blackface minstrel spiritual made famous by the Fisk Jubilee Singers and later by Vernon Dalhart & Carson Robison, it was used in other recordings such as the Jolly Boys of Lafayette's "Old Man Crip".  

1924 Travel Log

Met me a girl at the O.S.T.,

Thought sure was a hum-dinger,

I soon asked her to put a ring,

Upon her little finger.

Chaste and pure, she assured be true,

She'd would wed me soon,

We'd go down to my old town,

And spend our honeymoon.

Bought me a ring and bought me a cow,

And I bought me a Model T Ford,

Saved nineteen dollars and twenty cents,

Just to pay our board.

Barely clothed, up bright and early,

My gal, I went home to bring (her),

She stepped up with a dozen children,

Hanging on her apron string.

Says "Hello daddy, we're glad to see you,

Mama sure is due,

We can't see how she ever fell,

For a guy with a mug like you."

Puttin my Ford in reverse,

Sure was nothing could stop her,

Now I know I'll never be,

That dozen children's papa.

Says "Hello daddy, we're glad to see you,

Mama sure is due,

We can't see how she ever fell,

For a guy with a mug like you."

Puttin my Ford in reverse,

Sure was nothing could stop her,

Now I know I'll never be,

That dozen children's papa.

Rayne Acadian Tribune
Mar 1, 1940

O.S.T. is references the O.S.T. Dancehall located in Rayne, LA.   Many Cajun bands played there with many Cajun "gals" arriving to enjoy a good time.  The name O.S.T. is shortened for the Old Spanish Trail, named so after a colonial Spanish highway that connected San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL.  The old route, now mostly made of HWY 90, passed through New Orleans, Lafayette, Crowley, and Rayne.  Happy recalled: 

The club I played longest at was the old O.S.T. club here in Rayne.3  

Harold Broussard remembered traveling on the way to record with Happy Fats and Harry Choates.  When the band was offered a recording contract with RCA (Bluebird), they loaded up Happy Fats' 1934 Chevrolet with instruments. The stand-up bass was strapped to the car's roof.  The Rayne-Bo Ramblers triumphantly rolled into Dallas and performed a very successful recording session in the studios of the Jefferson Hotel.  On the return trip, a gust of wind blew the bass fiddle from the roof of Happy Fats' Chevrolet sending the instrument crashing into a dozen pieces to the highway between Dallas and Shreveport. Everyone bailed out of the car including Harry and retrieved the scattered pieces from the roadway. The instrument was returned to Rayne and miraculously repaired.  According to Broussard, the sounds it produced were better than ever.  "We must have had angels on our shoulders."2  

O.S.T. Nite Club
Courtesy Lisa Smith Soileaux and Tony Olinger

By the late 1930s, RCA Victor and it's subsidiary label, Bluebird, were exhausted with the releases of Cajun-French songs and Happy used the opportunity to push more of his English speaking music to the masses.  It wouldn't be until over a year and a half before he would re-enter the Bluebird studios in Dallas, TX in October 1941.  In his last session in Dallas, he recorded 8 songs, half of them American hillbilly tunes and half of them Cajun French tunes.   However, by the time they were ready for release, Bluebird dumped all but one of the Cajun recordings in favor of the English ones. 

1929 Travel Log

It didn't matter too much since not long after the 1941 recording session, the US entered WWII and Cajun music ceased to be recorded by any label for the next 4 years.

1. Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music By Ryan Andre Brasseaux
2. "Poor Hobo: The Tragic Life of Harry Choates: A Cajun Legend" by Tim Knight
3. South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous By John Broven
4. Lyrics by Jordy A

Find:
Harry Choates: Five-Time Loser 1940-1951 (Krazy Kat, 1990)

Cajun Fiddle King (AIM, 1999)
Devil In The Bayou - The Gold Star Recordings (Bear Family, 2002)