"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)

"Casa Blanca Waltz" - Nathan Abshire

Nathan Abshire made his first recording debut in 1935 alongside Happy Fats' string band.   He resurrected his recording career in 1949 with his famed "Pine Grove Blues" recording which carried him through the 1950s.  As Nathan Abshire's recording career with Lake Charles record salesman George Khoury was winding down, so was George's interest in Cajun music.   By 1956, the band continued to market itself as the Pine Grove Boys and found themselves covering popular tunes to keep the crowds coming.  Named after the small Casa Blanca Bar in Westlake, Louisiana, "Casa Blanca Waltz" (#647) was an ode to this short lived place that Nathan and his band frequented.  

Eh, 'tite monde, tu m'a quitté, 

Tu m'a quitté, pour t'en aller avec un autre,

Eh, chère, ça m'fais du mal,

Je parti mon aller sur les lames.

Eh, 'tite monde, c'est pas la peine,

Si jamais quoi te reviens pour m'rejoindre,

Mon je vu peux jamais, tous t'es voir, catin,

Les paroles tu m'a dis sont trop dur.

Eh, 'tite monde, tu m'a dis,

Pouvez p'us jamais veux, mais, te m'rejoindre,

Eh, catin, j'ai pris ça,

J'ai pris ça c'est dur que j'ai parti.

Eh, 'tite monde, j'ai parti,

Moi aller, sur le lames dans les misères,

Aujourd'hui, 'tite monde, tu voudrais mon cœur,

T'es trop tard, mon je veux plus jamais tu voir.

His band in 1956 consisted of possibly Jake Miere on steel guitar, Ernest Thibodeaux on guitar, Cleveland Deshotel on bass, and Shelton Manuel on drums.  Fiddler and vocalist Dewey Balfa, relatively unknown at this time, helped the band recreate the old classic melody entitled "Over The Waves".  It had entered the Cajun dance-hall repertoire eight years prior with Oklahoma Tornadoes fiddler, Floyd Leblanc.  It's popularity peaked in south Louisiana in the 1960s as Joe Bonsall's closing song each night. 

Nathan Abshire with the Balfas

Hey, my little world, you left me,

You left me, to go away with another,

Hey, dear, that makes me feel bad,

I left to go over the waves.

Hey, my little world, it's not worth it,

If you ever come back to join me,

I'll never ever see you, pretty doll,

The words you told me are too harsh. 

Hey, my little world, you told me,

You could never want, well, to join me,

Hey, little doll, I took it,

I took it hard, therefore, I left.

Hey, my little world, I left,

I'm going over the waves into misery,

Today, my little world, you would like my heart,

You're too late, I never want to see you again.

Eunice News
June 22, 1961

The dance-hall era of Cajun music began to fade in the late 1950s.  To keep the music going, Nathan purchased a nightclub in 1960 with Dorselee Deshotel called the Rainbow Club in Basile, Louisiana.  With the arrival of rock and roll, Cajun music as a whole had little chance of being heard much beyond Louisiana until 1964, when fiddler Dewey Balfa very reluctantly agreed to appear at the Newport Folk Festival. To his great surprise, he received not scorn but adulation from the huge audience, and he returned home convinced that Cajun music was not something just for the old folks back home, but potentially had great international appeal.  Nathan would go on to record more tunes with the Balfa Brothers for several years afterwards.

 

1. http://louisianadancehalls.com/dance_hall/casa-blanca-club/
2. http://www.fiddlingaround.co.uk/cajun/
3. Lyrics by Herman M

Release Info:

647-A Lu Lu Boogie | Khoury's KH-647-A

647-B Casa Blanca Waltz | Khoury's KH-647-B

"Sulphur Two Step" - Lacy Adaway

Of all the accordion led recordings of the late 1940s, one stands out as a curiosity.  It was a 1949 pressing by record producer Virgil Bozman on his own O.T. label.  Virgil's foray into country music and Cajun music simultaneously culminated into this obscure recording session with a local western swing outfit known as Lacy Adaway And His Ranch House Boys.   

Lacy was a native of Sulphur, Louisiana and fought in WWII.  When he returned, he got a job working as a pipe fitter in the oil industry and formed a group with his Ranch House Boys, possibly an ode to Johnny Gimble.  Around 1949, the band recorded two sides, one being an instrumental entitled the "Sulphur Two Step" (#108). 

The surprising element in the recording is that the instrumental is led purely by an accordion player.  Immediately, Nathan Abshire fans will recognize the sound of his old Monarch accordion, prominent on many other O.T. releases.   At several points throughout the song, a keen listener will notice Nathan's iconic yelp: "Hah!".  Is this a lost recording of Nathan Abshire?   If so, why did Virgil attempt to merge these two artists?  

Lacy Adaway

Clearly, artistic differences were at play.  The audio seems to suggest tension between Nathan and the other musicians in Lacy's band since there's no evidence they knew Cajun music.  Nathan repeats the same droning riff throughout the song, keeping Lacy's band from having to guess turns and chord changes.   The flip-side contains a country tune by The Ranch House Boys.  Although the accordion is present, Nathan's playing is barely audible—fading in and out occasionally.  

Although the mashup was a failure, Virgil didn't seem to care. By this point, Nathan's own group, the Pine Grove Boys, was gaining popularity and his recordings were taking off in the jukeboxes.  Lacy's career, however, never materialized much further than a few recordings produced around Lake Charles.  His band recorded again for George Khoury in the early 1950s and afterwards, it seems they disbanded.  In the 70s, Lacy carried around his "famous" guitar, one played by Hank Williams Sr. 

Release Info:

Louisiana King | OT 108-A

Sulphur Two-Step | OT 108-B

"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)

"Lu Lu Boogie" - Nathan Abshire

By the mid-1950s, the country found itself absorbed in rock n roll and Cajun accordion players adapted to the new sound in various ways.  In early 1955, Nathan Abshire and his Rhythm Five recorded a jumping, jiving instrumental in which he called the "Lu Lu Boogie" (#647).  His "Five" at the time consisted of Nathan on accordion, possibly Dewey Balfa on fiddle, possibly Jake Miere on lead guitar, possibly Ernest Thibodeaux on rhythm guitar, and possibly Shelton Manuel on drums.  Believed to be named after Leleux's Dance-hall near Estherwood, the club was owned by locally-known fiddle luthier Lionel Leleux's grandfather, Ernest Leleux.   His dance-hall was located in the community of the family's namesake.  

Leleux's Dance-hall, 1938
Russell Lee Collection, LOC

When young Lionel Leleux began playing music in 1927, he teamed up with the young Nathan Abshire.  They rotated between playing at Leleux's Dance-hall and the Martinez Dance Hall in Morse.  Neither had transportation, so one week, Lionel walked the 12 miles to Morse; the following week, Nathan hiked it to the community of Leleux.2   According to a 1941 Louisiana brochure by the Work Projects Administration, "Leleux is little more than a post office, general store, and combination saloon and dance-hall, where fais-dodos, or Cajun “breakdown” dances, are held each Wednesday evening."1   
  

Ernest Leleux, 1938
Russell Lee Collection, LOC

Ernest's dance-hall featured the likes of Dennis McGee and Sady Courville in the earliest days and was the chosen location for U.S. Farm Security Administration's photographer Russell Lee.   In 1938, he took some of the most iconic photos of post-Depression life in the Cajun prairies, including dancers dancing to the popular string band: the Alley Boys of Abbeville.    His photos taken in Leleux's Dance-hall are located today in the Library of Congress. 

Another possible origin for the name could have bee Lulu's Dancehall, located southwest of Gueydan, not far from where Nathan lived.  Lastly, it could have been a reference to local man named Lester "Lu Lu" Faulk that lived in the southwest area of Vermilion Parish; an area which contains the road named Lu Lu Rd. 

1. Louisiana; a guide to the state, compiled by workers of the Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration in the State of Louisiana ... sponsored by the Louisiana Library Commission at Baton Rouge.
2. The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, Louisiana) 26 Jul 2009

Release Info:
Casa Blanca Waltz | Khoury's KH-647-A
Lu Lu Boogie | Khoury's KH-647-B

Find:
French Blues (Arhoolie, 1993)

"La Valse De Boutte Dechuminen" - Nathan Abshire & Rayne-Bo Ramblers

End Of The Road Waltz!   It's one of Happy Fats and Nathan Abshire's very first recordings.  Happy was always interested in music from the earliest years.  It all started in the early 20's when Happy was earning his summer spending money by shining shoes of Rayne businessmen.  He recalls getting his first guitar through a pharmacy in Rayne owned by Walter McBride:

I made a deal with Mac, though. I traded him a sack of rough rice that Mama gave me for the guitar.1  

In those days, rice sold for approximately per sack, so Happy Fats felt he got the better of the bargain.

Ma 'tite fille ça t'as fait avec moi,

Tu m'a quitté, mais, aujourd'hui,

Fallait écouter tous les conseils de nous autre.

Malheureuse, tu peux voir, que mon j'suis tout seul,

Aujourd'hui dans la misère,

Et les chagrins par rapport à tes manières.

Malheureuse, mais, quoi tu veux?

Happy Fats

By 1935, he had teamed up with accordion player Nathan Abshire to record for Bluebird records creating some of the earliest Cajun-country music. Happy and Nathan were backed by Warnest "Tee Neg" Schexnyder on guitar and Norris Savoy on fiddle. They recorded "La Valse De Boutte Dechuminen" (#2178), a corrupted spelling of bout du chemin or "end of the road".   It was Happy and Nathan's version of the Breaux Brother's "Ma Blonde Est Partie".   It would become one of many recordings using this familiar melody, one that Abshire had been playing since at an early age.  He recalled:

I was six years old when I started to play French music.  I put [the accordion] on my lap and I started playing with it.  It was my uncle's.2    

My little girl, what you've done to me,

You left me, well, today,

Should have listened to the all the advice of others.

Oh my, you can see, that I'm all alone,

Today, I'm in misery,

And suffering because of your nasty ways.

Oh my, well, what do you want?

Nathan Abshire

When Nathan got a chance, he would sneak into his uncle's room and play the accordion, but the marks left on top of the furniture gave him away.  

He was working....and we have them old closets which we put clothes in, that's called an armoire.  And he hid it on top and it would mark.  He would put that accordion between the marks and I would not see that.  And when he would go to work, I would get the accordion and start playing. When he'd come back, he'd give me a good whip again.   I would never say a word.  When he'd go back to work, I'd go get the accordion and start playing again. That went on about two months and he'd whip me twice a day, but I never stopped.  He got mad at me and sold it to me for $3.50.2  

1. Interview with John Uhler.  1954. CDS.
2. "The Good Times Are Killing Me".  PBS, 1975.
3. Lyrics by Stephane F and Jordy A

Release Info:

BS-94412-1 One Step De Laccissine | Bluebird B-2178-A

BS-94413-1 Le Valse De Boutte Dechuminen | Bluebird B-2178-B

"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)

"Boora Rhumba" - Nathan Abshire

It's the Cajun version of "La Cucaracha" with the famous Dewey Balfa on vocals singing this Tex-Mex standard.   Although the term 'rhumba' began to be used by American record companies to label all kinds of Latin music between 1913 and 1915, the history of rhumba as a specific form of ballroom music can be traced back to May 1930, when Don Azpiazú and his Havana Casino Orchestra recorded their song "El manisero" (The Peanut Vendor) in New York.  The film "Rumba", released in 1935, brought the style to the attention of the general public.

Between 1954 and 1957, southern bands were getting introduced to sounds of Cuba,  creating a short lived "country mambo" sub-genre.  With artists such as Tex Williams, Hanks Snow and Bob Wills, they recorded tunes such as "They Were Doin' The Mambo ", "That Crazy Mambo Thing ", and "Too Much Mambo".2   

La cucaracha, la cucaracha, 'gardez-donc les cheveux de cet animal là. 

J'aurais jamais cru, j'aurais jamais vu que sa maman l'avait jamais peigné.

La cucaracha, la cucaracha, 'gardez-donc la gueule à cet animal là. 

J'aurais jamais cru, j'aurais jamais vu que sa maman l'avait jamais lavé.

1950
Altas Fruge, J.B. Fuselier, Nathan Abshire,
Jim Baker, Preston Manuel

By the beginning of 1956, the rhumba was all the rage around Nashville.  Several artist wrote songs about the tango, including Jimmie Rodgers' and Hank Snow's "The Rhumba Boogie" and Ernest Tubb & Red Foley's "Too Old To Tango".3   In July of 1957, Nathan's "Boora Rhumba" (#649) hit the market, attempting to jump into the rhumba craze that swept through country music.  It didn't last long and neither did the interest in this song, making this one of the most obscure recordings by Abshire.   

Abshire's band at the time consisted of Dewey Balfa on vocals and fiddle and Jake Mier or Darius Leblanc on steel guitar, Junior Benoit on guitar, and  Thomas Langley on percussion. The "animal" referred to here as "la cucaracha" by Balfa could be a euphemism for an unkempt woman.     

La cucaracha, la cucaracha, look at the hair of this animal over there,

I can't believe that I've ever seen that her mom ever combed it.

La cucaracha, la cucaracha, look at the mouth of this animal over there,

I can't believe that I've ever seen that her mom ever washed it.

Why a would the term 'rhumba' have anything to do with this traditional Spanish-Mexican folk ballad?    It was clear the band wasn't versed in the culture to know the difference.  It probably didn't matter to Khoury either who was only interested in selling records, waiting to capitalize on this short lived market.  It was pressed very late in his Cajun discography and done in such a rush, the labels on each side of #649 are reversed.  He even used a different label color, most likely signifying he used a different pressing plant.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhumba
2. http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/04/hillbilly-mambo.html
3. http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/05/country-tangos.html
4. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:
K-649-A Boora Rhumba | Khoury's 649-A  (label reversed on 78)
K-649-B Carolina Blues | Khoury's 649-B (label reversed on 78)

Find:
Cajun Honky Tonk: The Khoury Recordings Vol. 2 (Arhoolie, 2013)
Bayou Two-Step - Cajun Hits From Louisiana 1929-1962 (Jasmine, 2015)

"One Step De Morse" - Nathan Abshire & Rayne-Bo Ramblers

Happy Fats kicked off his first recording session with 12 songs for Bluebird records, including six lead with an accordion.  Afterwards, he maintained a busy schedule of produce sales and late-night music performances.  Following his marriage, Happy Fats was employed by a local produce company buying frogs, chickens and eggs from farmers in the area. On the weekends, he and his band traveled about Southern Louisiana playing for dances.

During the first session in 1935, he took his group along with Cajun accordion player Nathan Abshire to record an instrumental about a small town in south Louisiana called "One Step De Morse" (#2174).   Morse is a railroad town in Acadia Parish not far from Nathan's childhood home.  Happy recalled:

We were contacted by [RCA] Victor through a fellow here in Rayne by the name of Hillman Bailey.  This fellow, Hillman Bailey, he had a radio shop here and a music store, and he had contact with the Werleins of New Orleans.  And we were brought to New Orleans for the first time, and we recorded there in the old St. Charles Hotel.3

Nathan Abshire

Happy had Nathan backed up with himself and Warnes Schexnyder on guitars, and Norris Savoy on fiddle. However, during the mid-1930s, the interest in Cajun accordion-led bands was waning.  Happy dropped the accordion from his lineup and watched his Cajun string band sound take off.

We finally booked enough dances to permit me to quit working, so I enlarged the band and we did seven or eight engagements a week.2 

Nathan himself felt the affect of losing out during the string band craze.  Dance-halls and recording companies were no longer interested in the old accordion sound.

There was one time the accordion went away.  There was no more accordion here in Louisiana. I started to play the fiddle. I'd walk about 20 miles to go play a dance for $3.  No electricity, nothing.   A guitar, a fiddle and some triangles. Home brewed beer.  Home brewed whiskey in them days.4 

Overtime, the name of Happy and Nathan's melody would be forgotten. Lawrence Walker would re-work the tune, into the well known "Mamou Two Step", adding it's signature bridge section.  Nathan also reworked his song into what he called the "Musical Five Special". 

1. Negotiating Difference in French Louisiana Music: Categories, Stereotypes ... By Sara Le Menestrel
2. Interview by John Uhler. 1954.  CDS
3. South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous By John Broven
4. "The Good Times Are Killing Me".  PBS, 1975.

Release Info:
BS-94409-1 La Valse De Riceville | Bluebird B-2174-A
BS-94410-1 One Step De Morse | Bluebird B-2174-B

Find:

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