"Hudson Breakdown" - Cleveland Mire

The Jolly Boys was a group created by Cleveland Alphonse Mire from Bosco. A contemporary of Aldus Roger, together, they both headlined some of the same dance halls, festivals, and even had radio shows on KLFY.  With Mire on accordion, his accompanying musicians varied throughout the years with Theo Dugas on fiddle, Johnny Credeur on guitar, Willie Porterand on drums, and Louis "Blackcat" Domingue on steel guitar.  Sideman guitarist and vocalist, Roy Morgan, spent many years with the band as well as guitarist L.J. Daigle. 

Hé, tite fille, tu connais, mais, hier au soir, 

Tout partout où mo(i) j'ai été pour, t’étais pas là,

Hé, 'tit cœur, tu connais j'ai pris ça dur, 

Pris ça, mais, assez dur que moi j'alle à la maison.

Hé, petite, quand même tu veux, mais, t'en revenir,

'Garde à toi, mais, j'veux plus te voir à la maison mais-avec moi,

Oh, 'tit cœur, tu connais c'est toi la cause,

Si moi et toi on est si loin de toi, mais, malheureuse.

KLFY Lafayette, LA
Theo Dugas, Cleveland Mire, Bill Corcoran
Roy Morgan, David Roger, Willie Porter

The song is based loosely on Joe Falcon's "Au Revoir Cherie".   However, it would be Iry Lejeune's "Evangeline Special" which really made the melody shine.   Steel guitarist Black Cat Domingue ran the local Hudson auto dealership in Lafayette.  According to family, Cleveland loved his Hudson automobile, however, he always complained about how it broke down.   When the vehicle died upon arriving at the studio, out of frustration, Cleveland cleverly renamed the tune "Hudson Breakdown" (#1033).

Hey, little girl, you know, well, last night,

Wherever I was, you weren't there,

Hey, little sweetheart, you know I took it hard,

Took that, well, hard enough that I'm sitting at home.

Hey, little one, anyway you want, well, you can come back,

Look at you, well, I don't want to see you at home anymore, but with me,

Oh, little sweetheart,  you know that you're the cause,

Such that me and you are so far, (so far away) from you, well, it's terrible.

Daily Advertiser
Mar 11, 1955

Recently, in 2014, an archive tape of the band playing at the Reno Club in Kaplan during the 1950s surfaced.   It is the earliest known video footage a Cajun band.  You can see all the band members of the Jolly Boys early on.  The tape is part of the Louisiana Dancehalls research project at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

1. "Acadian All Star Special" by Bear Records
2. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:
Prison Waltz | Feature F-1033-A
Hudson Breakdown | Feature F-1033-B

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

"Love Sick Waltz" - Aldus Roger

Aldus Roger was born in the small town of Carencro, near Lafayette, a musician's son who began playing the one-row diatonic accordion the locally preferred type of the instrument aged eight. By his mid-teens he was playing in public, but during the 1930s popular taste in rench-speaking south Louisiana swung away from the accordion to a string-band sound, closer to Anglo-American country music. It was not until the instrument enjoyed a revival in the 1950s, thanks to players like Iry LeJune, Nathan Abshire and Roger himself, that he made his mark with his band the Lafayette Playboys.2

Demandant ton p’tit cœur chère p’tite fille,

Il faut l’emmener à la maison z’avec moi,

Garde tout le temps mais bien te soigner, jolie fille,

Ou je te demande de t’en revenir avec ton nég.

Un(e) p’tit(e) bouclette de tes petits cheveux que j’aime autant,

Une p’tite caresse qui travaille aussi dure,

Mon petit cœur qui est si cassé juste pour toi,

Viens t’en donc avec ton nég à la maison.

Johnny Credeur, Phillip Alleman,
Fernest "Man" Abshire, Aldus Roger,
Oran "Doc" Guidry

While his contemporary and fellow accordionist Lawrence Walker favoured a smooth sound, "Aldus's music was loud. More into full force," as singer/historian Johnnie Allan remembered. According to J.D. Miller in a 1984 interview, 

Back there in 1946, when I set my studio up, there was very little to setting up a recording studio.  If I recall correctly, ...i believe I do, I had three microphones, I had a 4 channel Ampeg mixer, I had an audio amplifier, and a mono recorder.  It didn't take any time at all to setup anything, .... we were in business.

Roy Morgan

During the early 1950s, he and his band walked into the J.D. Miller studio in Crowley and waxed the "Love Sick Waltz" (#2004) for Feature records.  His song featured the vocalist and guitarist Roy Morgan, who played with many bands during the 1950s including Joe Falcon and his Silver String Band.

Asking your little sweetheart, dear little daughter,

You must come home with me,

To always look after you, well, take care of you, pretty girl,

Or I'll demand you return with your old man.

A small ringlet of your little hair that I love so much,

Lightly caressing it, it's difficult to handle,

My little heart is so broken, only for you,

Come back with your old man to his home. 

Crowley Daily Signal
Nov 18, 1961

For 15 years Roger had a television show on KLFY in Lafayette, and he made records for all the south Louisiana labels specializing in Cajun music, such as Goldband, Cajun Classics and, especially, La Louisianne, for whom he recorded numerous singles and three albums.2

1. Lyrics by Stephane F
2. http://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jun/02/guardianobituaries2
3. Photo identification by Michael Dupuy

Find:

Acadian All Star Special: The Pioneering Cajun Recordings of J.D. Miller (Bear Family, 2011)