I live in the Washington DC area so I have been listening to Dick Spottswood's radio shows for 20 years. He is phenomenal!

His shows are now archived at the WAMU Web site, I think.

He usually plays some bluegrass, old time country, blues, jazz, calypso, gospel, Cajun/Creole, Irish, Mexican, etc. It's a free education! I don't know what in the world we will do when he retires.

Iry did not record the Lawtell two-step or Pauche Town Special...if I had to guess about those two titles I would guess they were Lionel Cormier and the Sundown Playboys.

I only know of 25 released recordings.

An interesting note is that there are recordings of Iry doing Grand Mamou, Perrodin 2-Step, and Mulberry Branch--(this recording is with his brother Agnus Jr. doing the vocals), and also some Jimmie Rodgers songs that he sang. I have never heard these recordings and as far as I know, they have never been released commercially. These recordings were made by Iry himself with a Meissner Phono Radio Recorder and PA System recorder model 9-1065. From my understanding these recordings were made to disc right from the machine...other discs were made, but this 4-song disc was the only one to survive.

Thanks for the info, Chris! Those would be nice to hear, but I wonder what condition they are in? Did you hear about that from Ervin? RC? You seem to know quite some detail, such as the recording equipment used.

I am helping Ron Yule on a book he is writing entitled "Iry LeJeune: Wailin' the Blues Cajun Style." It is not out yet, but I have a rough draft in which I found all those details. The book is AWESOME, I think. The information comes from his family, (Ervin and others), and the Vanicor family, (primarily Milton Vanicor), Taped interviews done in 70s by Sam Tarleton (he interviewed Ervin and Wilma (Iry's widow), J. B. Fusilier (who was in the accident that killed Iry) and Eddie Shuler. There are many other sources and the information is really eye-opening. Maybe it's just because I lived in the area and knew the people who knew him--he was such a legend and I heard about him every time I picked up and accordion and played around the Lacassine area. I couldn't put the book down. My part in the book is to try to describe Iry's playing style. I am having a tough time. I could demonstrate it must easier than describe it in words. Any suggestions y'all might have would be greatly appreciated. I think I am finished with my description, but if anyone can add something I might have left out, I still have a day or so.

Can't wait to read that! Sounds like something not to miss! Keep us posted on the release and where to get it.

Wish I could help you describe how Iry played and what he meant, but it would take a poet. What a mighty guy! Not the only one, but right at the top.

This excerpt from the link above pretty much sums up my feelings on his music. To me it is one talent to learn to hit the right buttons at the right time, but whole 'nother art to make emotion come out of an instrument like Iry did. For those who havent seen the Carencro high school site, it has some interesting stuff.

"According to Daigle, "In my opinion, the highest point of Cajun music was reached in (Iry's) music, ... (Aldus) Roger plays a cool music, a music so perfect that it carries your feet along if you care to dance to it. But it does not bite and bum and blister the heart as does Iry's music. In Iry's music is alt the cruel loneliness of our Cajun history. Not only the loneliness at the time of our exile, but the later years of poverty the poor little tenant shacks in cotton fields and along forests, with their mud chimneys, or the big sad old houses with a stairway to the attic and their mournful shutters in the gables. ... It's all there in Iry's music," "

Hi Bryan,

That is a GREAT quote and I agree with it. Ron is already using that quote, however. I am trying to add to and expand on what has already been said. The most common denominator in everyone's comments seems to be the "emotion" or "lonesome" sound that satuarates his music.

I guess I'll read more when the book comes out, but since I am just a fledgling player I was wondering about the mechanics of his playing. Is there anything different or unusual there? Just curious.

Iry and Nathan Abshire are the reason I've spent the last five years attempting to master the Cajun accordion instead of doing something usefull like making a decent living. There are slicker players for sure but pyrotechnics never move me in any particular way. Iry and Nathan (and Amede Ardoin) played and sang like their lives depended on it. That's the yardstick I use to measure any artist. Life was mostly hell and they provided the soundtrack for it. But along with the angst there was also humour and a great deal of joy in their work, qualities that make this music so compelling for many of us. The accordion was the vehicle they used to transcend the harsh reality they found themselves in. Can't wait to have the book in my hands.
Charlie

hiya charlie....
this is precisely why we love playing music with you.....where ya been at? why aren't you beating our door down to get some gigs goin?????
ha!
see you soon....
roger

Robert Johnson.

Did Iry go to the crossroads also? Somewhere down a stretch from Lacassine?

(This is a joke so no flame throwers on this OK?)

Peace,
Griff


He said, "I grew up on the shores of Lake Erie, in a small drinking village with a fishing problem."

I believe, "Lawtell Two-Step" and "Pauche Town Special" may in fact be Iry LeJune Jr. recordings, with the "Jr." "accidently" left off. If I recall correctly, the tape I had Jr.'s "Evangeline Special" on, the recording was credited as just "Iry LeJune".

Eddie Shuler wasn't the most organized and/or honest person now, was he?

Iry LeJeune, Jr. is a pseudonym that according to Ron Yule, that was Eddie Shuler's brainchild. Eddie Shuler wanted to continue to capitalize on the legend of Iry LeJeune even after he was killed. Ron says it was Ervin. It wouldn't surprise me if other people played on the recordings...and Eddie just labeled the records Iry or Iry Jr. The artists themselves might not even be aware of it. Neither of these songs were THE Iry LeJeune.

I will see if Ron can put a paragraph or two RE the whole Iry LeJeune Jr. ordeal because he doesn't say a word about it as it currently reads.

I also wouldn't be surprised if Joel Sonnier were the player labeled Iry Jr. on at least some of those recordings I have heard.

I got the 26 song info from this article about Iry, but I don't know for sure if there was 26 or 25 songs. I was sure someone here would know the story. CM's story about the missing recordings is neat. I will be waiting to hear about the books release.

http://www.cajunfrenchmusic.org/biographies/lejeune-i.htm