SWAMP POP AND CAJUN MUSIC

Folk Music has an honored place in the music world, but somehow, Swamp Pop is ignored. It came up out of Southern Louisiana, where it was born, and spread unevenly in popularity all over the U.S. The flags show in the millions. As a teen in California I remember many of the songs I saw and heard in the Swamp Pop Music Museum in Ville Platte. Great memories and traditions. I just didn’t know much about the individuals and how it developed.

French Cajuns had some strange-sounding words and names. Tongue twisters for radio announcers, so they developed suitable compilations of their names, shortened, easy. There was also some hesitation from the performers because of their unique language, a blending of English and French and some African lingo thrown in. It suited the community from which it sprung and grew but they were punished for it when they attended school.

Some of these great performers were on the charts along with Elvis Presley. I just look at Dale and Grace and hear “I’m leaving it all up to you.ooh.ooh..you decide, whatcha gonna do…”

“Graduation Night”  TK Hulin. I did not remember his name until I came here. They have a huge collection of 45′s you can listen to.

They sell out a Swamp Pop Reunion every year here in Ville Platte. Wish we had made it. All the living greats return. I hope PBS revives their music like they have the old rock n’ roll groups and folk singers. I’m going to call Sacramento PBS and see if they have plans to do it and point them to Southern Louisiana, the berceau of Swamp Pop.

They have artifacts and autographs and other things to enjoy. It is a small museum. But, it is the music that you remember.  Freddy Fenders, “Until The Last Teardrop Falls..” Warren Storm’s “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights”. Tommy Mc Clain’s, “Sweet Dreams.”  Such fun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_pophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_pop
Wikipedia has an in-depth  article on the origins of Swamp Pop (above).

We moved on to Mamou to catch Fred’s Lounge in the morning. Jim  just happened to meet Tauntie Sue coming out the back door. Jim asked if it was okay to park on the side street. She said,”No, come park at my house, I just live down the street. I can hook you up with power.”

She is such a sweet and generous soul. We visited Fred’s Lounge in 2010 and Sue was still tending bar in the lounge she and her husband opened in 1946. Fred died in 1992 and Sue has kept it going for all day Saturday, drinking and dancing to a live Cajun band that is broadcast live on radio.  She told us she quit tending bar, but she goes every Saturday, sets up and enjoys the music and the patrons. The popularity of the place started when Charles Kuralt stopped there and made a segment  about the bar for his television show. It has grown and grown ever since.

This historical plaque is posted on the building.

Jim’s visited Mamou several times but had never walked around the town. We found a square put up by the local rotary club, honoring the Cajun Music Capital of the World.

A huge mural lines one wall of the square. This is a wedding scene. I love the little boy clacking spoons to the music on the porch. Very realistic beginnings for some Cajun musicians. Making the table in the yard  ready for the food to follow. (You can double-click pictures to make them larger.)

And, on that same wall, twelve people honored for promoting and identifying the passion and spirit of Cajun music that have made Mamou the Cajun Music Capital of the World. I tell you, Southern Louisiana  is all about good music and good food and friendly people. Taunte Sue is the only woman on the wall.

We walked Main St., which isn’t very long. Manuel’s Bar across the street from Fred’s Lounge started the same year, 1946. We talked to the son of the original owner who we met on the street. This sign was on their window. I liked the “drama” part.
Tauntie Sue’s rules are No Swearing, No Fights, No dancing on the tables. We stayed all day last time, and everyone danced, drank, ate from the jambalaya cooked up out back by some volunteers, and had a great time. No one got drunk and out of line. Tauntie Sue suggested a great restaurant, right across from her Lounge. But, they weren’t open when we were hungriest and we ate Tasso stew at home instead. And some shrimp with Jack Miller’s cocktail sauce for an appetizer. Good stuff!

MY TOWN

This is my town, where wine is king with twenty-six tasting rooms on Main St. Murphys. As recently as 1969, ranchers were still running cattle down this same street,  kicking the manure off their feet and guzzling a cool one at the Murphys Hotel. When I first moved here rents were so cheap and business so slow,  two guys paid $25 a month and opened up The Office. They weren’t selling anything, they just invited people in to chat.

Now you can enjoy a champagne reception…

…or buy sophisticated, pricey goods without going all the way to San Francisco. Old timers, now gone,  would be agog at the changes. But the charm is in the mix.

You can just as readily stop by the Spice Tin and chat with Coach Shultz and enjoy a roasted chestnut, or…
sit around the coffee roaster, enjoy the wood fire,  and play checkers with your brew and sweet roll.

My friend Margo Osborn, (right) walked the streets with me for Murphys Annual Open House, always held the first Friday in December.   I like to run into old friends. We stopped to say hello to Cathy Courtright.

We started late and didn’t get to every business, but we did see seven places that had live music.

We stopped to see an Itsy Bitsy Art Show, where you can lounge around and study the pieces.

I liked this matched set of posters with  predominant colors, red and yellow.

As you move from place to place, if you get cold, you can warm your hands or feet at one of several fire rings. A new feature this year.

The breezeway at Newsom Harlow had their own fireplace and live music for folks enjoying a bite to eat with their wine.

Someone at Twisted Oak tasting room set out creative lights.
Local kids practiced their Christmas music. I heard bells, and carolers and music at every turn.

No where else will you see candles like these. The glass jar is hand decorated to hold a special candle. When it burns, you can buy a refill for your beautiful jar. A local invention.

Appealing  rag-dolls for two cute little girls. (And, I only have grand sons.)

The best eats on the street, apple dumplings and cider, chocolate or wine at Tanners.

Peace, the best Christmas gift we can have.

AN UNUSUAL SPIDER APPEARED.

Yesterday, Karen discovered an unusual spider in the yard. She had seen it several times while I was gone and it made another appearance. I've lived here 33 years and have never seen a spider like this one. If anyone knows what kind of spider this is, please let me know. It has fake eyes on what looks like a shell back. Its legs are fuzzy and it is a dull orange in the fading light. Karen says in sunlight it is bright orange and yellow. I'm not an arachnophobe, but I certainly didn't want to tangle with this one. If its an invasive species, I want to kill it. Anyone???

Murphys has its grape stomp, other places celebrate Oktoberfest, or St. Patricks Day. Most small towns have a festival of some type. They are all fun, very individual, usually featuring food and drink of some kind. We've had the privilege of attending a number of them during our 16,000 mile trip. The gator race at New Iberia, LA, in March, was one of those festivals. Just the idea of a gator race kind of sets your mind to wondering? You can't help but smile when you see them.

People bring their dogs, kids, and, well, I don't know what this reptile is, but its cute.

This young man gave me his alligator beads.

Everybody of all ages danced to the great Cajun music.

CARNE DE ESPETO, AND THE FADA

The festival is a four day event, but Saturday is the big day for most celebrants. Donna And Bob taught us the method for carne de espeto. They pronounce it cog nah spit. Donna prepared cut up pieces of pepper and onion earlier in the day. Choices are unlimited. Some people brought their own marinades and spices, but the preparation area has a container of rock salt and seasonings that are traditionally used on the meat. I could detect a bit of red pepper flakes, parsley, and thyme.

I loaded  a skewer for Jim and I. The skewer is six to seven feet long. Then Donna and I took turns with Bob cooking the meat over the pit.

When the meat is done the way you like it, its removed from the skewer at a metal table with a prong to slide the meat off the skewer. You rent the skewer when you buy your meat, then return it and get your money back.

 Eaten on "pops" a soft roll or on a flat bread called stone bread. We chose the soft roll. Donna prepared some herb butter to lightly butter the roll.  It was delicious and fun to prepare.
I visited Portugal in 2003 and enjoyed the traditional songs of the Fada. When I read in the program there would be a  Fada singer, I couldn't believe my luck. Donna, who is half Portuguese, knew nothing about the Fada.
The program for the Fada is set in a tent covered area outside the gates of the festival,  away from the sounds and noise of the main promenade. It sits next to the Madeirense Museum. We arranged a front row table and two by two visited the museum.

Portugal was my favorite country to visit for its friendly people, the cobblestone streets, something they have preserved for posterity throughout Portugal's villages and cities, its wrought iron and the Fada. I told Donna the Fada is about the life, a lament of her sailors, off to far ports, missing home, and loved ones. About love and death and happiness and sadness. In Portugal, some Fada is sung in a language so old, modern residents do not understand the words, but they love the emotion of the Fada and is often compared to opera.

 Ana Vinagre's first song gave me the chills and I was swept up in the beauty and emotion of her music. She  segued into traditional songs the audience knew and could sing with her. Very personable, she said,"... they've given me a short mike so I can't move out into the audience and be naughty." She would wink and pat the gentleman closest to her on the knee; and encourage kissing sounds from the audience during some pieces.

 During one song she had Jim kiss her on both cheeks and held his hand.

 In a word, Ana was fabulous. We spoke with her after her performance and learned that she is a local to New Bedford and runs the Hawthorne flower Shop on Dartmouth St. She has dual citizenship to U.S. and Portugal and hopes to retire in her native land. Her agent has booked her for a venue in San Jose in October and we hope to catch that show. She will email us when and where.  

The Folclorico from Friday night performed again. The group uses one instrument that is historic, we saw them in the museum.

It appears to be miniature cloth players each beating a tiny drum. The instrumentalist pushes the stick up and down and the little cloth players make a clacking sound. Colorful and enjoyable.

Donna and I had a last go at the break-a-balloon game. With only two of us playing, one of us was bound to win. My balloon popped and I got a cloth lemon doll. I gave it to Donna, our irrepressible festival guide. We had such a fun time. To see more pictures, click the link below.
http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/8110FestaFadoCarne#

CAJUN IS KING

Decisions, decisions. A wealth of music, now which affair to attend? Every morning we were in Eunice, the Savoy Music Company had a free jam of local Cajun, Blues or Zydeco musicians. Its nice to hear the musician before you decide what music to buy. They sell a wide variety of local C.D.s The sign on the door reads: No Soul, No Service.
That evening, our choice was free Cajun music at DI's with dinner, a dance at a local RV Park, or a two band program at the old, recently refurbished, historical Liberty Theatre. Its part of the National Park Complex along with the Acadian Center. The cajun accordionist played his electric instrument behind his back, up over his head and regular style. Beating the hell out of an accordion takes muscle. A very talented young man whose name I couldn't pronounce nor spell. The program was mostly in French. Young people aren't as interested in Zydeco and Cajun as the older generation. I sat next to this young man's wife. He is an exception at 31, with a two year old daughter, just getting into the game. None of these musicians make a living with their music, she told me. "They just love the tradition and the sound of home."

We watched the people dance. The women don't have to urge their husbands onto the dance floor. The men are first on their feet. They come to have fun and it was obvious they did. I fear this particular style of dance is passing the way of the older generation. Calvin Daigle taught me to dance Cajun style at Fred's. He instructed me thus:
"The lady must keep her legs stiff and slide backward. The man takes a step backwards once in awhile just to give her some relief. Its a glide. Then the two-step is the same but you still glide."
I got the hang of it. Luckily, Fred's wooden floor had some type of fine dust to assist the dancers, especially people like me who wore tennis shoes. The liberty theatre floor is wonderful old plank hardwood, excellent for dancing. They did vaudeville shows in this place at one time. Beautiful place. The entrance is unique with etched glass front doors.


We said goodbye to Eunice on Sunday and drove to Westwego for a two week stay at Bayou Segnette State Park. The weather is beautiful. Got the bikes down since the paths here are bike friendly with little auto traffic. Looking forward to New Orleans, great food, Mardi Gras and a host of other activities in the days to come.