"Chinaball Special" - Veteran Playboys

Hailing form the same Pointe Noire area west of Church Point that produced the remarkable Lejeune clan of singers and musicians, Alphée Bergeron had played before the war (including alongside Amede Ardoin and Mayuse Lafleur), but like many of his contemporaries, he had put aside his accordion for two reasons: first, because he felt he should tend to the serious business of raising his family and second, because accordion driven Cajun music had faded from the scene.  In the years following WWII, many were growing uncomfortable with the widespread loss of ethnic identity caused by social stigmatization.  Legendary Cajun musicians such as Iry Lejeune, Lawrence Walker, Austin Pitre and Aldus Roger launched a renaissance of Cajun music culture.  Another of these pioneers was Alphée Bergeron.2 

Hé, jolie petite blonde, j'aimais tant, 

Oh, petite mignonne pour moi, 

Hé, pour faire donc toi t'as eu pour me quitter moi comme ça.

Hé, 'tite fille, mais gardez donc de ma maison, 

Hé, mignonne,(je) m'ennuie de toi, 

Hé, pour faire donc je pourrai pas te revoir une fois encore.

Hé, petite, moi j'voudrais, mais, te demander, 

Oh, c'est bien éyou t'as été?, 

Ouais, parce que moi je suis misérable quand je vais à Duralde asteure.  

Shirley Bergeron, Bill Matte, Adam Hebert,
Raymond Lafleur, Alphee Bergeron,
Wallace Lafleur

In 1947, the musical climate had changed. He dusted off his instrument and formed his aplty-named Veteran Playboys.  He teamed up with fiddler Adam Hebert, a veteran himself, in 1948 in which they recorded the "Chinaball Special" (#1012), named after a dance-hall they frequented called the Chinaball Club in Bristol, Louisiana.  It featured a melody commonly associated with the song "B.O. Sparkle" by Leroy Broussard.  According to author and collector, Lyle Ferbrache,

This is truly one of the great post-war records. It was the first super group of Cajun music.  Adam Hebert sings and plays fiddle with  Alphée Bergeron playing accordion.  Alphée's son, Shirley Bergeron, Bill Matte and Raymond Lafleur played in this great band as well.  In time, all the members went on to their own successes.1   

 

Alphee Bergeron

Hey, pretty little blond, I loved so much,

Oh, little cutie for me,

Hey, so what's done, you had to leave me like that.

Hey, little girl, well, so look, I'm home,

Hey, cutie, I miss you.

Hey, so what's done, I won't be able to see you again.

Hey, little one, I would like, well, to ask you,

Oh, it's good wherever you are?

Yeah, because I am miserable when I go to Duralde, right now. 

Alphée gave up farming after Hurricane Audrey wiped out his crops in 1957.  However, he was still able to make a living as a musician and continued to play music alongside Adam Hebert and Bill Matte.  

Adam Hebert

Hebert was a gifted song writer whose music is at the center of traditional Cajun repertoire.  Adam constructed his first fiddle as a child out of a chocolate box and screen wire, later progressing to one his brother made out of a cigar box and horse hair. When his father overheard him playing for his sister and her beau in the parlor, he realized Adam's talent and ordered a real violin out of the Montgomery Ward catalog.  Adam, then began playing hose dances at age 13 and later recalled how he approached singing,

Some musicians just count from their mouth when they sing, they just speak. I approach my music not from my mouth, it comes straight from my heart.3  

Alphée continued to play in bands until the the 1970s and quit when he got sick.  His son Shirley, who was also an accomplished musician, stated,

Daddy was a very comical fellow and very serious at his work as a farmer. He was a hard working accordion player at the dance jobs. He played until he got physically unable to keep up But his music lives on through the records.  His music is still popular.4  

1. Post War Cajun 78 RPM Nuggets – Lyle Ferbrache
2. Barry J. Ancelet.  The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, Louisiana) 17 Sep 1997
3. Adam Hebert.  The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, Louisiana) 12 Oct 2010
4. Daily World (Opelousas, Louisiana ) 12 Apr 1991
5. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:

Eunice Waltz | Fais-Do-Do F1012

Chinaball Special| Fais-Do-Do F1012

Find:

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

"Eunice Waltz" - Veteran Playboys

When the Second World War finally came to a close, the returning veterans of southwest Louisiana wanted to hear the music of their youth.  One of the leading bands of that era was Alphée Bergeron and the Original Veteran Playboys.  They played traditional Cajun music every night of the week for three years straight.  Alphée was a sharecropper by day and accordion player by night. He was from the community of Pointe Noir, near Church Point in Acadia Parish.1  

Moi j'm'en va d'la maison, 

J’suis parti en larme, mais, tu vas voir encore,

Toi, 'tite fille, toi, tes ma pardonné, 

C'est de la peine que j'ai (pour) toi pour toujours.

J’suis parti en larme, mais, tu vas voir encore,

J'suis condamné par les paroles de ma catin

Te condamné pour quatre-vingt-dix neuf ans,

Dans les bals*, chere-là, m'joindre pas jamais.

T'as jonglé tout mes parents,

(Je) pense à toi, c'est des mauvaises paroles, catin,

Faudra je prends mes chagrin pour mourir,

Toi, tite fille, t’es peut remercier ton papa et ta maman.

Shirley and Alphee Bergeron

At the age of eight he, he started playing the accordion and at the age of twelve, he was playing house dances.  He played his first house dance with Joe Cormier in the Tasso community.  He was a close neighbor with accordion player Angelas Lejeune.4 

Alphée son, Shirley, was a quick study and soon joined his father’s band while still in school.  Shirley was eager to learn and soon began singing in his father’s band.  He also learned to play the electric steel guitar—his favorite instrument.  The typical week would start Tuesday nights with a short performance at KSLO radio, then to the Deuce Club in Lewisburg.  Shirley recalled,

"The second night, Wednesday, was the Rose Garden Club in Nuba. Thursday night, we'd perform at the Side Inn in Church Point.  Friday night's performance was at Jake's Place in Church Point, and on Saturday night....man, there's so many places. I was going through high school at the time. Man it was rough. "2  

In 1948, Alphée and fiddler/vocalist Adam Hebert formed a band called the Veteran Playboys because of two of the group members were veterans.3  They recorded one pressing on J.D. Miller's Fais Do Do label including song "Eunice Waltz" (#1012), a version of Amede Ardoin's 1929 recording "La Valse Ah Abe".  The rest of band included Raymond Lafleur on guitar, Wallace Lafleur on guitar, Bill Matt on drums and possibly Willard Matt.

Daily World
Mar 23, 1951

I'm going back home,

I left in tears, well, you will eventually see,

You, little girl, you've forgiven me,

It's because of the pain that you've given me forever.

I left in tears, well, you will eventually see,

I'm condemned by the words you said, pretty doll?

You've condemned me for ninety-nine years,

Good riddance, dearest, never join me again.

I'm reminiscing about all my parents,

Thinking of you, because of the terrible words, my pretty doll,

I have to keep my sorrows until I die,

You, little girl, you can thank your father and your mother. 

Shirley Ray Bergeron became one of the best singer-songwriters of Cajun Music.  Adam Hebert would continue on, forming a group called the Country Playboys. 

 

1.  J’AI FAIT MON IDEE (I MADE-UP MY MIND) By William Thibodeaux 11/12/2013
2. Daily World (Opelousas, Louisiana )12 Apr 1991
3. The Ville Platte Gazette (Ville Platte, Louisiana) 10 Jun 1993
4. https://www.cajunfrenchmusic.org/documents/8AlpheeBergeron.pdf
5. Lyrics by Herman M and Stephane F

Release Info:

Eunice Waltz | Fais Do Do F-1012-A

Chinaball Special | Fais Do Do F-1012-B

Find:

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