Southwest Louisiana's main musical genres - Zydeco, Swamp Pop,
and Cajun/Creole, are musical heritages rich with personalities
and reverence for tradition. This area has many artists and
songs that have become international hits, won Grammy awards,
and become highly sought after by collectors. The lyrics and
rhythms of the songs themselves remind the listener of the past,
and the institutions developed and abandoned along the way.
Telling the difference:
Cajun tends to sound more like early country, with the use
of steel guitar, fiddle, the triangle, and acoustic guitar.
One of the most influential Cajun singers is DL Menard, who
has been called the Cajun Hank Williams. Cajun music is typically
a waltz or two step.
Creole is very similar to Cajun in substance and lyrics, but
the rhythms tend to be more pronounced, and vocals are more
Zydeco sounds more like gospel or R&B, with artists adopting
a James Brown kind of persona, and instrumentation involving
more electrical instruments (guitar and bass), keyboards,
the washboard, and horns, and are well suited to the jitterbug.
Swamp Pop is more of a combination of many influences, and
the bridge between Zydeco, New Orleans second line, and rock
and roll. The song structure is pure rock and roll, the rhythms
are distinctly New Orleans based, the chord changes, vocals
and inflections are R&B influenced, and the lyrics are
Creole and Cajun music draw from similar influences of French,
German, Native American, and Spanish music, with the Creole
adding the rhythm and accompaniment of the Caribbean and Africa.
Creole and Cajun developed together and drew from each other,
blurring the lines. The most common differentiation between
the two is that, in the early days, Cajun was performed by
whites, and Creole was performed by African Americans. By
the 1960s, the two forms had combined so much as to be nearly
indistinguishable from each other. The term Creole, as it
applies to music, is nearly extinct, as younger generations
tend more toward zydeco.
In southwestern Louisiana in the 1800s, the fiddle was the
most popular Cajun instrument, though German immigrants spreading
outward from central and eastern Texas and New Orleans soon
brought the accordion as well. African American farmhands
at the time sang a rhythmic type of work song called juré,
which mixed with Cajun folk music to form la la, a central
component of Creole music. La la was primarily rural, played
at parties also known as la las, and found in towns in the
prairie regions like Mamou, Eunice and Opelousas.
In 1901 (see 1901 in music), oil was discovered at Jennings
and immigration boomed. Many of the newcomers were white businessmen
from outside of Louisiana who attempted to force the Cajuns
and other minorities to adopt the dominant American cultural
forms, even outlawing the use of the French language in 1916.
Despite the law, many Cajuns still spoke French at home, and
musical performances were in French. Even today, some of the
current older generation is more comfortable speaking French,
though they are bilingual.
Commercial recording of Cajun music began in 1928 (see 1928
in music). These early songs were mixtures of la la, contredanses,
reels and jigs and other folk influences from black, white
and Native American traditions. In the late 1930s and 1940s,
country music became the dominant influence on Cajun music,
and bass and steel guitars were used. Modern Cajun music has
begun taking on the influence of jazz and modern country music,
resulting in a more polished sound.
A performance by Dewey Balfa, Gladius Thibodeaux, and Vinesse
LeJeune at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival was one major reason
behind a "revival' of interest in traditional Cajun music
in the mid 1960s. In 1968, the Council for the Development
of French in Louisiana or CODIFIL was founded. In 1974, CODIFIL
started an annual festival that came to be known as Festival
Acadiens. It is still held in Lafayette.
A new respect for Cajun culture developed in the 1990s. Children
like young phenom Hunter Hayes got into the music again, inspiring
everyone. The most well known Cajun band outside of Louisiana
is probably grammy winners Beausoleil, who have joined many
country artists in the studio, and served as an inspiration
to the Mary Chapin Carpenter hit, Down At the Twist and Shout.
Recommended Listening: Cajun
D.L. Menard - The Back Door
Belton Richard - Un Autre Soir D'ennui
Jimmy C. Newman - Lache Pas La Patate
Iry LeJune - Evangeline Special
Wayne Toups - Johnny Can't Dance
Creole musicians were inspired by the blues and jazz to update
la la with wild R&B rhythms, thus forming zydeco.
Zydeco's rural beginnings and the prevailing economic conditions
at its inception are reflected in the song titles, lyrics,
and bluesy vocals. Zydeco's most visible feature is the vest
frottoir, also known as the rubboard or washboard. Originating
in Africa, the vest frottoir was re-introduced to Louisiana
in the 1930s. In 1954, Boozoo Chavis recorded "Paper in My
Shoe". This is considered to be the first modern zydeco recording,
though the term "zydeco" was not in use yet (see 1954 in music).
After Chavis left the music business, Clifton Chenier became
the first major zydeco star and also led to the invention
of the word zydeco in 1965. One of his hits was "Les Haricots
Sont Pas Salés" (The Snap Beans Aren't Salty) and les
haricots (snap peas) was corrupted to zydeco.
In the mid-1980s, Rockin' Sidney briefly re-popularized zydeco
music nationwide with hit remake of the classic tune "My Toot
Toot". This led to the resurgence of Zydeco artists, and spawned
a new crop of innovators. Chris Ardoin, Beau Jocques, and
Zydeco Force added a new twist to traditional Zydeco by tying
the whole sound to the bass drum rhythm to accentuate or syncopate
the backbeat even more. This style is sometimes called "double
Recommended Listening: Zydeco
Beau Jocque - Cornbread
Chris Ardoin and Double Clutchin'-Lake Charles Connection
Clifton Chenier - Hot Tamale Baby
Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas - Steady Rock
Swamp Pop's heyday lasted from the late 1950s through the
early 1980s and includes national hits, re-recorded for Louisiana
sensibilities, by local artists, on local labels. Although,
some original swamp pop songs have caught on with a national
audience, such as I'm Leaving It Up To You by Dale & Grace,
and All These Things by The Uniques. The influence of Swamp
Pop can be traced up to Born On The Bayou by Creedence Clearwater
Revival, New Orleans Ladies by LeRoux, and the songs of Fats
Domino and Percy Sledge.
Recommended Listening: Swamp Pop
Rufus Jagneaux - Opelousas Sostan
Rod Bernard - This Should Go On Forever
Charles Mann - Red Red Wine
Tommy McLain - Sweet Dreams
Warren Storm - Graduation Night
Small, local record labels proliferated from Houston, Texas
to New Orleans, specializing in recording and distributing
local acts. Labels such as Jin, Swallow, Maison De Soul, and
Bayou continue to record and distribute Cajun, Zydeco, Creole,
and other south Louisiana music. Many of the original versions
of classic songs are still being made and distributed.
One of the most successful label owners was Floyd Soileau.
Soileau started as a local DJ in Ville Platte, Louisiana in
the mid 1950s, and soon decided he would rather help make
music than play it. He started most of the labels listed in
the previous paragraph. He and his record shop are important
pieces of Louisiana's music history.
Some of the earliest recordings of Cajun music that exist
were done the 1920s by noted historian Alan Lomax of farmhands
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