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Clifton Chenier

In the history of popular and vernacular music it is usually hard to pinpoint the genesis of a new genre or style on one particular individual. Many musicologists acknowledge today that blacks in Louisiana adopted the accordion before their white Cajun counterparts. Modern zydeco music even includes Caribbean and Latin rhythms along with strains of modern rock and pop. Clifton Chenier did not create zydeco a credit generally given to Amédé Ardoin, a diatonic accordionist who in 1929 cut the first zydeco record though he certainly codified the way this Louisiana Creole music is still played in the bayous and beyond. Bypassing the old fashioned diatonic button squeezebox and mastering the chromatic piano accordion, Clifton Chenier developed fresh approaches to traditional French folk songs and the blues. Starting out in the bayous of southern Louisiana, he became an international superstar with his Red Hot Louisiana Band. Clifton Chenier was born June 25, 1925, in Opelousas, St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, his father, Joseph Chenier, was a local musician who played the accordion at home and at dances known as fais dodos. As a child, Clifton worked on a farm outside Opelousas and was interested in music. He learned the basics of accordion playing from his father, and by the time he was 16 years of age, he was playing the accordion, accompanied by his older brother Cleveland, who played the frottoir (washboard or rub-board) with a metal bottle opener. The frottoir was adapted by early African American Creoles as a rhythm instrument. Clifton and Cleveland began performing at house dances, where the furniture was often moved aside to make room for the dancers. In time, Clifton shifted from the small diatonic accordion he had learned from his father to the larger and more flexible piano accordion. In time, the percussion in Clifton's bands grew more complex, and he added electric guitars, bass, drums, and saxophone to play larger clubs, dance halls, and juke joints between Houston and New Orleans. As he matured, Clifton developed his own musical style, one that combined elements of traditional French Creole music with the stylization of rhythm and blues. In 1942, Clifton went to Lake Charles to play in the Clarence Garlow Band. Three years later, he married his wife, Margaret, and in 1946 he moved to Houston to work in the postwar boom. He soon began performing again at area dances with his brother. In 1954, recording scout J.

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Book Review

Way Down In Louisiana

Read "Way Down In Louisiana" reviewed by James Nadal


Way Down In Louisiana Todd Mouton 302 Pages ISBN: # 978-1-935754-73-2 University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press 2015 Of all the states which comprise America, Louisiana is one of the most diverse when it comes to acculturation, specifically when applied to music. With the convergence of Spanish, French, and African settlers in an area already populated by indigenous people, a new regional identity through the process of creolization, was established. Acadiana, the region ...

182
Album Review

Clifton Chenier: Sings the Blues

Read "Sings the Blues" reviewed by Derek Taylor


Everyone has a list of those unsung musicians who strike a special chord. Names unknown to the public at large whose contributions go almost completely unrecognized or are overshadowed by others in their immediate orbit. Near the top of my own list sits Cleveland Chenier. Like the lots handed Nat Adderley and Tommy Turrentine, Cleveland almost always found himself eclipsed by brother Clifton, the King of Zydeco. This despite his being an integral agent in many of his sibling’s numerous ...

271
Album Review

Clifton Chenier: Live! At Grant Street

Read "Live! At Grant Street" reviewed by Derek Taylor


Clifton Chenier may not have invented Zydeco, but most aficionados will agree that he was the undisputed King of the music during his lifetime. Gargantuan chops on the accordion and an aptness for adroitly blending the ingredients of the genre (Creole, Cajun and Blues) into a wholly personal pastiche assured his ascendancy to the throne. Fortunately Chris Strachwitz’s Arhoolie label was on hand during much of the monarchy to document his abilities in a variety of settings. Playing Norman Granz ...

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Sings the Blues

Arhoolie Records
2004

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Live! At Grant Street

Arhoolie Records
2001

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Bogalusa Boogie

Arhoolie Records
1976

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