What is Zydeco?

An Introduction to Classic Zydeco

Like bluegrass and Chicago-style electric blues, modern zydeco is one of those peculiar "traditional" American music styles that have been around for barely half a century. Played by French-speaking African Americans and their descendants in Louisiana and East Texas, who proudly call themselves Creoles; zydeco is dance music that taps influences from neighboring Cajun culture, from Caribbean music and from the blues, especially the R&B of the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, zydeco has had the resilience and elasticity to absorb everything from country music to hip-hop without compromising its essential sound, a propulsive drum and electric bass groove supporting accordion, guitars, sometimes a horn or two and always the rubboard, the corrugated sheet-metal vest played with spoons and bottle openers.

The word itself probably derives from the French "les haricots," after an old song called "Les haricots sont pas salé" a lament of times so hard that salt meat for the snap beans was an unaffordable luxury. Until the folklorist Mack McCormack promoted the current spelling of the word in the 1960s, it might have been transcribed from Creole dialect, on posters advertising weekend dances, as zorigo, zarico or zodico, gradually replacing the older term for a Creole dance, "la la." (In fact, there are several variations of dialect spoken by Louisiana Creoles. In the "Cajun prairie" area around Eunice and to the west, the language is French, with its unique local accent, and it spoken by Creoles and Cajuns alike. However, to the south and to the east, in places like St. Martinville, the language is more like Haitian Creole, possible the influence of Haitian immigrants who arrived in the 1800s.)

The first Louisiana Creole recordings were made by Amédé Ardoin (listen) in 1929, accompanied by the Cajun fiddler Dennis McGee. In fact, Cajun and Creole sounds are so intertwined on these recordings that one could reach the conclusion that they were one and the same. The Cajuns were French expatriates who had been expelled from Canada in the mid-to-late-1700s, and many had endured great hardship before arriving in substantial numbers in South Louisiana. While Cajun music claims the fiddle as its first instrument, and while some songs and lyrics reach back to Europe, it is equally steeped in the blues, and Ardoin's music is a common thread through both Cajun and Creole styles.

The accordion itself was a relatively recent introduction, brought to the area by Germans in the mid-1800s and quickly adopted by Mexican, Czech, Cajun and Creole musicians in Louisiana and Texas. When furniture was cleared from the front room of a farm family's house for a Saturday night dance, the orchestral sound of the accordion was loud enough to fill the space and inspire the dancers.

After World War Two, Cajun and Creole styles took divergent courses. In the 1950s, the accordion player Iry LeJeune, one of the great figures in modern Cajun music, revived Amédé Ardoin's two-steps and waltzes - a back-to-basics sound - while other Cajuns began adding elements from country music, particularly the steel guitar. On the other hand, Creole musicians began playing French songs with rhythm and blues accompaniment, de-emphasizing the fiddle in favor of the accordion.

Sometimes it was a forced marriage. Boozoo Chavis (1930-2001), from Lake Charles, made the first modern zydeco record in 1954, but is was Goldband Record's owner Eddie Shuler who decided to pair Boozoo's button accordion with the popular R&B band led by guitarist Classie Ballou. The resulting "Paper in My Shoe" is an odd record, with Boozoo's primal accordion surely playing in a different key than the band. Yet, it was a big regional hit that reputedly sold 100,000 copies after it was leased to the nationally distributed Imperial label.

Clifton Chenier, from Opelousas, took a more conventional approach for his 1955 hit "Boppin' the Rock" on Specialty. Clifton was a virtuoso of the larger piano accordion, an instrument with a full keyboard and a full range of musical possibilities, and he brought his own band, the Zodico Ramblers to the sessions in Los Angeles. In fact, Clifton saw himself more as a bluesman with an accordion that a purveyor of old French music, and it wasn't until his later recordings that he began to explore in depth the music of his Creole roots.

The music of these two men set the pattern for virtually all zydeco to follow, and one can hear either the raw, rural button accordion sound of BooZoo Chavis or the accordion-driven R&B of Clifton Chenier in virtually all zydeco today. Through the 1970s, Clifton was the better known of the two, the self-crowned zydeco king and one of the few full-time touring zydeco musicians. Indeed, Chavis had become disgusted with the music business and quit to train racehorses. When he made his comeback in 1984, leading a family band that perfectly suited his hard-grooving style, he quickly became the hottest attraction in the Louisiana and Texas dancehalls. More important, he brought young Creole people back to zydeco. Both styles are represented in this collection, as well as sounds that reach back to Creole music's earliest days.

Nathan Williams, like Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural, Jr. and Lynn August, plays the piano accordion in the style of Clifton Chenier. His "Let"s Go: is a great crowd pleaser and a perfect set opener, while his "Outside People," with its loping Caribbean groove, shows his knack as one of zydeco's best songwriters. Ironically, neither music in Clifton Chenier's style nor the piano accordion are popular in Creole dancehalls today, but Nathan is much in demand as a touring artist, and he's brought his music around the world.

(One of) The most popular zydeco entertainer today is Stanley Dural, Jr. Buckwheat Zydeco's Ils Sont Partis Band has brought zydeco to numerous national television programs, to the Boston Pops and to TV commercials for Toyota and Budweiser, among many other accomplishments. His "Zydeco Boogaloo" is played by almost every zydeco band working today, but it's his own nonstop touring that has brought his music to millions. "Hot Tamale Baby" is probably Clifton Chenier's most recorded song, and it's difficult to imagine a more pumped-up version than the one Buckwheat delivers.

Read more in the booklet that comes with the album. Zydeco: The Essential Collection (www.rounder.com)

Links

The Death of Amédé Ardoin (Historical Video on You Tube)
The story of Amédé Ardoin's death told by Canray Fontenot and others, narrarated by Alan Lomax on PBS's American Patchwork 'Don't Drop The Potato'

Cascade Zydeco

Cascade Zydeco

Zydeco

Next Dance

What is Zydeco?

An Introduction to Classic Zydeco

Links

BooZoo Chavis

Clifton Chenier

Buckwheat Zydeco

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