I was talking with Greg Brown ( Brigg's Father ) recently and he told me he was directly related to the late, great, Mr. Sidney Brown.
..( clearly that's where Greg gets his accordion making skills from ( Tee Cajun Brand ) ..it was always in the genes.
I found this article below and wondered if anyone knew where, on-line, I could listen to a recording, or sample recording, of Sidney Brown and The Traveler Playboys?
Also, does anyone have a photo of, or even own , a Sidney Brown made accordion.??
Darryl, Australia.
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Sidney Brown
Sidney Brown was a fine accordion player and songwriter, the leader of the Classic Traveler Playboys band, and a pioneer Cajun accordion maker.
Brown was born in Church Point, Louisiana, in 1906 and began playing accordion as a child; largely self taught, by the age of 13 he was playing house dances and fais-do-dos. Brown formed his band, the Traveler Playboys, after moving from Church Point to Lake Charles. He became well known around Lake Charles for his rhythmic, old-timey accordion playing. Brown and the Traveler Playboys began recording for the Goldband label in the mid 1950s; their recordings enjoyed great success, with Brown's Pestauche A Tante Nana eventually becoming the third best-selling record in the history of Cajun music. His two-step "Traveler Playboy Special" is still performed by many Cajun bands.
Before World War II, Cajun accordionists favored German accordions; especially those made by the Monarch and Sterling companies. With the advent of the war, German instruments were no longer available in the United States. Both the monarch and Sterling factories were destroyed in the conflict, and after the war, many of Germany’s remaining accordion makers were isolated behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany. The only new accordions available to Cajun musicians in the post-war period were generally inferior instruments, not particularly well-made and not loud enough to be heard over the electric guitar, steel guitar and drums of a full band. With good new accordions in short supply, Brown began experimenting with accordion making, eventually producing high-quality, hand-made instruments. He not only was able to help meet the post-war demand for new Cajun accordions but also established a reputation as an accomplished repairman throughout southwestern Louisiana, keeping many old pre-war Monarchs and Sterlings alive and playing in the hands of their owners.
In 1963 Brown was forced to abandon performing due to a heart condition. He spent the remaining years of his life building and repairing accordions. He produced about 50 instruments in all, many of which are still in use. He died on August 6, 1981.
Thanks Bryan..I was suffering a brain snap..I forgot all about Neal's great site for sound files.
Hey..put aside all the technical deficiencies of the old recordings and I think Sidney and the Band punched out a good sound.
The accordion sounds strong, the pedal steel and fiddle sound really good and the vocals strong and 'on the button'.......I think his music may be a bit under-acknowledged.
I'd love to see some photos of his old accordions...might get in touch with Greg Brown and see if he can email me any...but that one with the plastic corners and all sounds a real treat!!
My neighbor has one he has let me play. white plastic corners cut from a bleach bottle. No bellows leaks but very inefficient air use compared with newer boxes. Key of "C" and either very wet or very out of tune, I'm not sure which. Diamonds in the bellows on all sides, front, back, top and bottom. Only marked "Sidney" on the face plate with a rose in each upper corner. The bass strap is made from a strip of canvas with no padding. I have tried to talk him out of it on several occasions (He owns a Master in "C" also) but so far I have had no success. My brother in law also had one at his home in Lake Arthur and it, along with the rest of the home was lost to "Rita".
Yup, that sounds kinda like the one of his I had seen. His work was crude, but considering what he had to work with in the day and the available knowledge, it aint too bad. He sure made them sound good.
Bleach bottle corners, that's funny. Irvin Lejeune told me he used to use bicycle spokes for stop rods. Anybody can use ready made parts, them old timers knew how to make do with nothing.
Daryl, I've taken pictures of close to 20 of Sidney's accordions. I have also had a couple of computer crashes since then, but I think I have some of them backed up on disk. I will try to find them and post them.
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
