"'T' Mamou" - Lawrence Fruge

Ernest Fruge was one of the most iconic Cajun fiddle players of the 1920s.  He and his close neighbor, Angelas Lejeune, recorded popular regional favorites for Brunswick records in 1929 and 1930.  However, Ernest's brother Lawrence not only played the fiddle skillfully but became one of the areas most talented accordion players.1   

T’en aller aussi loin,

Joli ‘tit monde, à ‘tit Mamou,

Rappelles-toi les paroles, ‘tit monde, 

Mais, ça m'fait du mal.

Oui bébé, tu connais,

Pour toi-même, toutes les paroles,

Tu connais que ça tu fais*, 

Joli ‘tit monde, ça me fait du mal.

Moi, je connais, joli ‘tit monde, 

Toutes les paroles je pouvais pas dire, 

Ça t’as fait, mais, à ton nègre, 

Joli ‘tit cœur, ça me fait du mal.

Lawrence Fruge
Courtesy of Cajun Dancehall Heyday

Around 1950 Lawrence formed the Tee Mamou Playboys, a band basically composed of his own family: Eula Mae Fruge on steel guitar, Luderin Fruge on drums, Joseph (J. U.) Fruge on guitar, and his son, Lawrence "Blackie" Jr., on fiddle. While playing as the Tee Mamou Playboys, they recorded "Country Boy Waltz" and "'T' Mamou" on the TNT label (#104). Although they were playing as the Tee Mamou Playboys the record label reads Lawrence Fruge & the Country Boys.1    Quite possibly a recording done at KPLC in Lake Charles by Eddie Shuler, he was known to outsource some of his recordings to Bob Tanner in San Antonio.  Better known as "Tit Mamou", it was a similar tune to Lee Sonnier's "Cankton Two Step". 

You have gone so far away,

Pretty little everything, to little Mamou,

Remember your words and what you have done,

Well, it hurts me so.

Yeh, baby, you know,

Yourself, all the words,

You know what you have done,

Pretty little everything, it hurts me so.

I know, pretty little everything,

All the words, I can't dare say,

What you've done, well, to your man,

Pretty little sweetheart, it hurts me so.

Lawrence taught four of his five children the instruments of Cajun music and they remained around the Jeff Davis Parish area, working and playing music throughout their life.1  

1. "Cajun Dancehall Heyday" by Ron Yule
2. Lyrics by Jordy A
3. Photo by Ron Yule

Release Info:
TNT-104 Country Boy Waltz | TNT 104 (1)
TNT-104 Te Mamou | TNT 104 (2)

"Widows Of The Village" - Aldus Roger

Aldus Roger was one of the most influential Cajun performers during the era when the musical genre was little known outside of the French Triangle in southwest Louisiana. The leader and frontman of the Lafayette Playboys Rogers reached his largest audience, in the 1950s and '60s, as host of a Saturday afternoon show on Lafayette's KLFY Channel 10. The Lafayette Playboys, which Roger formed in the mid-'40s, featured many Cajun musicians who went on to influence the musical genre including Johnnie Allen, Rodney Miller, Fernice "Man" Abshire, Raymond Cormier, Belton Richard, and Doc Guidry.  According to Marc Savoy:

Before that, [Cajun music] was too segregated in small places, it was too isolated. It didn't really take off like it did until Roger got on television and presented it to the masses. That legitimized it for so many people - the fact that they saw it on television, 'It's ok to be Cajun, because look, it's on television.'2

Aldus Roger and the Lafayette Playboys

Tit Maurice in Bosco

(top) Aldus "Popeye" Broussard, Ellis Richard,

Aldus Roger, Paul Baque, unknown

(bottom) Claude Sonnier, Roy Morgan

Johnnie Allan Collection,

Center for Louisiana Studies,
University of Louisiana at Lafayette

C’est les veuves de la ville,

Ils sont partis chez ‘Tit Maurice,

Ils sont partis pour avoir un bon temps,

Moi, je connais c’est les belles,

C’est les veuves de la ville,

Ils ont nous joint, c’est là-bas, chez ‘tit Maurice.

Tous les soirs, ayou tu vas?

Il y a rien pour dur,

Tout je te demande, chère bébé, viens donc me rejoindre,

Tu m’as dit tu m’aimais,

Moi, je connais c’est pas vrai,

Je suis parti, c’est là-bas, chez ‘tit Maurice.

Crowley Daily Signal
Aug 3, 1950

It's possibly one of the only releases by record producer Eddie Shuler of Aldus before he began recording with J.D. Miller.  It's Roger's rendition of Happy Fats' classic "La Veuve De La Coulee" originally recorded in 1942.  However, the song gained moderate success with Happy's re-recording of it in 1946.  The band mostly likely had Aldus "Popeye" Broussard on fiddle and possibly Claude Sonnier steel guitar.  Aldus television spot garnered lots of local attention. According to music historian Pierre Daigle:

So far as music to dance by, there can be no better, but I find that he plays a cool music, and in my opinion it does not stir the heart. Yet, despite this, Roger had a devoted following among both dancers and musicians.1

Between 1953 and 1956, Aldus and Shuler recorded the tune as "Widows Of The Village" (#106) on the Bob Tanner's label "Tanner N Texas".  It was an ode to the women that frequented the dance hall famously known as the 'Tit Maurice, located near the community of Bosco.   It was owned by Ellis Richard who, like many dance-hall owners, had a betting horse racetrack in the back.  Happy recalls the place:

This old one, the dance floor was about 100 feet by 100 feet, so it was a pretty big dance floor. The bandstand was at one end with the bar at the other end.  They had chicken wire on the windows so they wouldn't come in, in some places they had chicken wire in front of the band.3

It's the widows of the village,

They are headed to the 'Tit Maurice,

They are headed to have a good time,

I know it's the beauties,

It's the widows of the village,

They have joined us, it's over there, at the 'Tit Maurice.

Every night, where do you go?

There's nothing that's too difficult,

All I ask of you, dear baby, is to come and join me,

You told me you loved me,

I know it's not true,

I left to go, it's over there, at the 'Tit Maurice. 

1. http://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jun/02/guardianobituaries2
2. http://theind.com/article-16337-l'effet-papillon.html
3. South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous By John Broven
4. Lyrics by Jordy A

Release Info:
TNT 106-1 Lifetime Waltz TNT 106
TNT 106-2 Widows Of The Village TNT 106

"Bayou Ponpon Special" - Iry Lejeune

Iry Lejeune's musical mentor was his uncle Angelas Lejeune, one of the most popular muscians at fais-do-dos and house dances in Acadiana during the twenties.  Because Iry's parents had no money to buy an accordion, he used to visit Angelas' house almost every day to practice on his uncle's accordion while Angelas worked in the fields. By the early 50s, Iry Lejeune had worked quite a bit with Eddie Shuler and was gaining popularity locally with his recordings.  Shuler brought him into the studio around 1953 and they recorded "Bayou Ponpon Special" and released it on Bob Tanner's TNT label (#105).   It was a rendition of his cousin Angelus Lejeune's recording of the "Bayou Pom Pom One Step" in 1929 for Brunswick and even recorded earlier by Joe Falcon called "Osson". 

Oh, c'est malheureux chère

c'est malheureux te voir, autant dans les douleurs.

Oh, c'est tout le temps dur à ton pop,

ta mom t'a donnée là, je vas jamais oublier ça.

Oh, rapelle-toi, donc, de la fois

J'étais t'amener sur le pont,

Sur le pont du Bayou Pon Pon

"Oh toi t'es la seule, maman,"

Ça dit à toi, catin

Ça me fait du mal à moi.

Oh, c'est misérable aujourd'hui

Si t'es à la traîne comme ça,

Dans les chemins, toi, toute seule,

Oh, savoir qui c'est l'auteur

Oh, si t'es comme ça aujourd'hui,

C'est pas la peine tu me blàmes.

"Red River" Dave Mcenery,
Bob Tanner (holding a record),
Ray Campi, Ray Liberto

Bayou Pon Pon (spelled either "Pon Pon" or "Pom Pom") is a mythical town, somewhere in Lafourche Parish, in which comedian Walter Coquille would use as the basis for his 1929 satirical recordings. In Iry's 1953 version of the song, he spoke of the sorrow of a loved one he remembers at the Bayou Pon Pon bridge.   Other men want her stating, "Oh toi t'es la seule, maman", but he's convinced she'll be alone if he can't have her.  According to Ron Yule's interview with Milton and Odile Vanicor, the song revolves around Adeline Blanchard's visits with Iry, sitting a bridge, in which she asked him to write a song about a bridge. 

Iry Lejeune

Iry had his crack band called the Lacassine Playboys that featured fiddle player Milton Vanicor.  For this session though, Eddie brought his tape recorder to Iry's home, grabbed his guitar, and the trio recorded into the night.  For some reason, Ed didn't release this on the Goldband or Folk-Star label.  Eddie Shuler recalls working with Bob Tanner, owner and founder of the TNT label:

Well, I went to San Antonio because Bob Tanner had a pressing plant. So, I drove over there, and took a couple of my acetates with me. And I told him I’d like to make a deal for him to press my records. So, he decided he’d press ‘em himself and put ‘em on his label. And I said, "Well, okay, let’s try that." I hadn’t tried that.

Oh, it's sad, dear,

It is sad to see you in pain,

Oh, its always so hard for your pop.  

Your mom gave you away there, 

I'll never forget that.

Oh, reminds me of that time,

I took you to the bridge,

Oh, the Bayou Pon Pon bridge.

"Oh you're the only one, little mama,"

That's what they said, my doll,

It hurt me.

Oh, today is miserable,

If you're running down,

Along the road, all alone,

Oh, to know who is at fault,

Oh, if you're still like that today,

It's no use to blame me.

Although Bob's primary goal was to record and press more Tex-Mex music eventually including rockabilly, country, blues, jazz, and polka, he had pressed only three Cajun records and didn't seem to have had any sort of guiding vision like Pappy Daily or other independent labels in Texas. It was short lived.

1. Iry Lejeune: Wailin the Blues Cajun Style by Ron Yule
2. South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous By John Broven
3. http://wired-for-sound.blogspot.com/2011_11_24_archive.html
4. http://wired-for-sound.blogspot.com/2010/06/jerry-dove-on-tnt-122.html
5. SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 15.  2015 Regular Session.  Notes to commend Milton Vanicor for his passion, devotion, and his nearly eighty-year commitment to Cajun music.

Find:
Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 4: From The 30s To The 50s (Old Timey, 1972)
The Legendary Iry LeJeune (Goldband, 1991)
Cajun's Greatest: The Definitive Collection (Ace, 2004)

"Grande Mamou" - Eddie Shuler

After 1950, Virgil Bozman had stayed in touch with recording engineers in Louisiana.  The label offered to press recordings of master acetates.  Eddie Shuler was very close to Virgil Bozman who had previously tried to setup a recording label in Lake Charles called O.T. records.   By 1953, Virgil had moved back to San Antonio, selling longhorns, and working with Bob Tanner at his label called Tanner N Texas.  That same year, Eddie was ready to begin recording music again with his Reveliers, covering both country and Cajun tunes.  Shuler drove to San Antonio and requested TNT press his recordings.  Shuler states: 

Well, I went to San Antonio because Bob Tanner had a pressing plant. So, I drove over there, and took a couple of my acetates with me. And I told him I’d like to make a deal for him to press my records. So, he decided he’d press ‘em himself and put ‘em on his label. And I said, "Well, okay, let’s try that." I hadn’t tried that.

The real reason he chose TNT instead of his own Goldband records label is simple.  Shuler could sell more of his own band's material using a different label.   

I didn’t want ‘em to know that I was the artist, ‘cause the jukebox operator’s not gonna buy a record from the artist, ‘cause they never are any good, according to them. 

Oh, mais moi j'm'en va de Grande Mamou,

C'est pour voir, ma jolie, mais, petite fille.

Oh, mais chère, tit monde, chérie, 

Moi j'connais, je mérite pas ça tout ça tu fais,

ça t'as fait  z'avec moi Il y a pas longtemps, 

C’est trop tard pour t'en pleurer tous les Dimanches.

Oh mais, moi j'm'en dans Grand Mamou,

Mais, c'est pour voir ma jolie, mais, petite fille,

Qui veut pas me revoir tu les Dimanches,

Comment tu veux, mais malheureuse, mais je veux plus te voir.

Harry Choates had resurrected the tune as "Gra Mamou" for Macy's in 1950 while Link Davis' English version of "Big Mamou" solidified it's national popularity in 1952. Eddie's group took the old 1928 Leo Soileau "Basile Waltz" tune and gave it the same name in which Leo had re-recorded it for Bluebird: "Le Gran Mamou" (#103). The title refers to an area of south Louisiana known as the Grande Mamou prairie, which translates to "mammoth prairie" due to its enormous size.   According to Eddie:

I had a bunch of top notch musicians there. Hector Stutes was the fiddle player.1

With Hector Stutes on fiddle, Eddie played guitar and Norris Savoie sang vocals even though he's not credited. 

Eddie Shuler

Oh, well, I'm leaving by myself for Big Mamou,

It's to see my beauty, well, little girl.

Oh, well dear, my little everything, my dearest,

I know, I do not deserve all that you've done,

That's what you've done with me not long ago,

It's too late for you to cry on Sundays.

Oh, well, I'm leaving by myself for Big Mamou,

It's to see my beauty, well, little girl.

Who doesn't want to see me on Sundays,

It's what you want, just terrible, well, I want to see you.

In the same manner in which Shuler credited all his releases, his name usually appears as author of the song.  He'd end up trying to sell them out of his car to jukebox operators:

There was a jukebox operator down in New Iberia called Teche Novelty. They had jukeboxes in Louisiana and Mississippi. They bought all my records. Soon as I put one out, I’d put ‘em in the back of my car and go down to New Iberia, and unload down there. And they’d put ‘em on their jukeboxes.1 

1. http://wired-for-sound.blogspot.com/2011_11_24_archive.html
2. Lyrics by Jerry M and Stephane F

Find:

Hot Rod Cajun (Zeaux)

Eddie Shuler & His All Star Reveliers: Grande Mamou (BACM, 2016)

"Lifetime Waltz" - Aldus Roger

Aldus Roger and the Lafayette Playboys came to the forefront in the 1950s and hosted their own television show on KLFY in Lafayette from 1955 to 1970.  Roger, who played accordion and had other band members do the singing, developed a reputation for superb musicianship, inspiring critics to write comments like "set the standard for the modern traditional Cajun dance hall band" and "No one plays an accordion with better timing and with more perfection". 

Ah Yea!

J’ai condamné pour quatre-vingt-dix-neuf ans, tite monde,

J’ai condamné, chere tit fille, pour tout ma vie, chere,

Tu connait, c’est pas ma fault tu dit comme ça, tite monde,

Pour savoir pour quartrevignt dix neuf ans, tite fille.

Oh, observe moi bien tit fille,

Jamais encore, chere tit monde, tu va m’voir tite fille,

J’ai partie par par rapport a tes manieres, tite fille,

J’ai condamné pour quatre-vingt-dix-neuf ans.

Released in 1953 (some sources state 1956), it seems to be an issue done by Eddie Shuler.  TNT was the closest label he knew of that would press his releases.  According to author Lyle Ferb:

Although Eddie had both Folk-Star and Golband in the late 40's he still had to go out of the area to get his records pressed.  I think NY was his main source,... sometimes Memphis.  I think the TNT deal was for convenience.  Bob Tanner, owner of Tanner N Texas, was looking for records for his label and knowing Eddie, he probably had the money. More than likely, Eddie got the records pressed for free. In exchange, Tanner got his name on the label, which brought more artist and producers to San Antonio including Virgil Bozman.  Eddie got to distribute the records.  I am sure none of the artists ever got a penny.

Raymond Cormier(?), Aldus Roger,
Fernest "Man" Abshire

First recorded as "L'Abandonner" by Bartmon Montet & Joswell Dupuis in 1929, "Lifetime Waltz" (#106) was a rendition of an old Amede Ardoin tune known as "Le Valse Ah Abe". In the song, he mentions how his lover will never see him again. However, it's possible the phrase is "jamais encore, chère 'tit monde, tu vas me r'joindre, petite" which means "they'll never get back together again".  However, the TNT releases never sold well and the melody later became the more famous tune by Iry Lejeune known as "Convict Waltz" or "La Valse De Quatre-Vingt-Dix-Neuf Ans" in 1954.

I have been condemned for 99 years, my little sweetheart,

I have been condemned, dear little girl, for a lifetime, dear,

You know, it's not my fault, i'll tell you that, my little everything,

Found out it's for 99 years, my little girl.

Oh, pay good attention to me, my little girl,

Never again, dear little girl, will you see me, my little girl,

I'm leaving because of your ways, my little girl,

I have been condemned for 99 years.

Bob Tanner of TNT had several Cajun releases but the lable was short lived.  Considered one of the more difficult post-war recordings to find, it shows off some of the earliest talent in Aldus' band.

1. Cajun and Zydeco Dance Music in Northern California Modern Pleasures in a Postmodern World By Mark F. DeWitt
2. Lyrics by Jerry M, Bryan L and Marc C

Find:
Hot Rod Cajun. Vol 2. (Zeaux)

"Waltz of the Mulberry Limb" - Iry Lejeune

After WWII, small independent labels began popping up all over Texas and Louisiana including one created by Robert E Tanner and his wife Dorris.  Bob originally teamed up with Virgil Bozman after his O.T. label dried up and together, they created the very short lived Hot Rod label in San Antonio, Texas.   After that failed, in 1947, Bob and his wife built a record pressing plant in San Antonio, Texas due to the increasing amount of chicano music in the area. By 1953, they created  T.N.T. ("Tanner 'N' Texas").   

Their primary goal was to record and press more Tex-Mex music eventually including rockabilly, country, blues, jazz, and polka.   In 1953, Ed Shuler used the pressing plant to outsource the production his Iry Lejeune recording of "Waltz of the Mulberry Limb" (#105), better known as "La Branche Du Murier" done in Lake Charles.  The song is a staple of Cajun music. 

Gardez donc, chère 'tite fille,

Tous les dimanches après-midi,

Moi, j'sus là dans ma maison,

Après souffert et m'ennuyer.

Passé dans un tas de chagrin,

Misères que, toi, tu jongle,

Par toi-même que moi j'pourrais,

Passer rapport à toi.

Gardez donc quoi t'as fait,

Coupé la branche de mon mûrier,

Pour te voir passer devant,

Devant la porte chez ton papa.

Garde donc, chère 'tite fille,

Comme moi et ces 'tits enfants

Sont après s'ennuyer de toi

Dans un tas de chagrin.

Tu veux pas revenir...

Allegedly, the song was written by much earlier by Dennis McGee, known as "L'Anse de Belair".8  The story goes that a young girl cut a branch off of a mulberry tree so she could see her fiancé's brother ride by. It was this brother whom she really loved.  Author Ron Yule states that Milton Vanicor and Eddie Shuler both recorded with Iry on the tune.   Erwin Lejeune claims that Iry noticed a mulberry tree out the corner of his eye and decided to make a song about it.    

Joseph Gonzalez, Lillie G.,
 Joe Jr., Bob Tanner

So look, dear lil girl 

Every Sunday afternoon, 

I'm here in my house, 

Miserable and bored. 

Went through a lot of grief, 

What miseries, i've been thinking,

Things about yourself that I could,

Get over you.

Look at what you've done, 

I cut the branch of my mulberry,

To see you pass, 

In front of the door with your dad. 

So look, dear lil girl,

Me and the little children,

Are missing you,

They're in alot of grief.

You do not want to come back ...

During the record labels existence, only two Cajun records were produced there; Iry's by Shuler and Aldus Roger by J.D. Miller.   Even at some point in 1951, Bob used the KCOR radio station to record two of Shuler's Harry Choates records for another label called Allied.

The label also produced religious and children's music.  By 1972, Bob ended up having health problems after having a stroke and his wife managed the business for a while until a studio equipment salesman, Tom Albright, purchased the pressing plant around 1973.  He expanded it to handle all the Tex-Mex music being recorded in San Antonio and surrounding areas.  Many of his artists went on to record for major labels. 

One of the outtakes Shuler had kept of that session would later make it onto a 45RPM as "La Branche Du Murier" (#1103), both on the maroon label and yellow label. As far as Iry is concerned, it wouldn't be the only time Iry would record this tune.  Before his death in 1955, he purchased a recorder so he could record his own tunes.  He was apparently so dissatisfied with his dealing with Eddie Shuler that he decided to make his own recordings, hoping to gain control over production. Although several of these discs were made, this is the only to survive.  It contained four recordings: "Gran Mamou", Perrodin Two Step", Mulberry Branch with Agnus Lejeune Jr singing and a tune by Jimmie Rodgers.9

1. South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous By John Broven
2. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ebr02
3. Mojo Hand: The Life and Music of Lightnin' Hopkins By Timothy J. O'Brien
4. Billboard Magazine, Aug 19, 1972
5. Billboard Magazine, Aug 25, 1973
6. Billboard Magazine, Sep 8, 1973
7. MADE IN LOUISIANA.  VRCD 325.  MARC SAVOY - Accordion. DEWEY BALFA - Fiddle. D. L. MENARD - Guitar.  Liner notes.
8. Ye Yaille Chere, Traditional Cajun Dance Music by Raymond E. Francois.
9. "Iry Lejeune: Wailin the Blues Cajun Style" by Ron Yule

Find:
Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 4: From The 30s To The 50s (Old Timey, 1972)

The Legendary Iry LeJeune (Goldband, 1991)

Iry Lejeune: Cajun's Greatest: The Definitive Collection (Ace, 2003)