Welcome to old and new friends who are interested in discussing Cajun and other diatonic accordions, along with some occasional lagniappe....
CAJUN ACCORDION DISCUSSION GROUP
These would be on my "desert island" list, though obviously the list will differ for you depending on what kind of music you like.
6 would be compilations by various artists:
(in no particular order)
1. Floyd's Early Cajun Singles -- a good collection of the hits on 45 rpm for Swallow records. Some Aldus Roger, Lawrence Walker, Austin Pitre, Adam Hebert, Rodney LeJeune etc.)
2. Louisiana Cajun French Music from the Southwest Prairires, Vol. 1 (Rounder) -- with Balfa Brothers, Austin Pitre, and Edius Naquin
3. Louisiana Cajun French Music from the Southwest Prairies, Vol. 2 (Rounder) -- with Bois Sec Ardoin and Canray Fontenot, Isom Fontenot, Aubrey Deville, Cyprien and Adam Landreneau
4. Legendary Masters of Cajun and Creole Music: Les Haricot son pas salé (Cinq Planetes) -- with Adam Fontenot, Bois Sec Ardoin and Canray Fontenot, Nathan Abshire, the Balfa Brothers, Alphee and Shirley Bergeron, Ed and Bee Deshotels, Ambrose Thibodeaux
5. Folksongs of the Louisiana Acadians (Arhoolie) -- these came originally in 2 lps but now they are on one CD. This has some of the strongest stuff by Austin Pitre with Milton Molitor and by Wallace Cheese Read. Also Isom Fontenot, Adam & Cyp Landreneau, Shelby Vidrine, etc.
6. J'etais au bal (Swallow) -- this is the one with Balfa Brothers, Nathan Abshire, the Carriere Brothers (Bébé and Eraste), Delton Broussard and the Lawtell Playboys, Sundown Playboys, Clint West and Clifton Chenier. It includes the first and perhaps strongest recordings by Octa Clark and Hector Duhon with Valse des Meche and Bosco Stomp. The Creole stuff is amazing!
4 would be by single artists/bands
7. This is Mamou Radio (Sonet) -- the KEUN Mamou Hour Cajun Band with Sady Courville, Roy Fusilier, Preston Manuel, Joe Bradford. The commercials with Revon Reed and Sady Courville make this very special to me. This is some of the first Cajun music I got into.
8. You Can't Go Wrong if You Play it Right (Field Span) -- later recordings with Octa Clark. David Greely, Rick Michot, and Steve Riley play great backup.
9. More Authentic French Acadian Music Ambrose Thibodeaux (La Louisianne) -- that's the yellow album with La Louisianne Two Step, Long Point Two Step, Poor Hobo, Lacassine Special, War Widow's Waltz, etc.
10. Nathan Abshire and His Pine Grove Boys (Flyright) -- this is the one made from singles recorded for J.D. Miller's labels in the 1950s-60s, including Popcorn Blues, Banane a Nonc Adam, Grand Bois, Good Time Two Step, Mardi Gras Song, Gabriel Waltz, Dreamers' Waltz, etc.
Those are my choices today. On another day I would have probably chosen something by Iry LeJeune, Eddie LeJeune, the Swallow or the Khoury recordings of Nathan Abshire, Harry Choates Devil in the Bayou, the Arhoolie compilation of Cajun String Bands from the 30s, the lp of Austin Pitre's singles with Swallow, the CD of Adam Hebert's singles with Swallow, the Lawrence Walker collection on La Louisianne, the yellow Aldus Roger lp, etc.
The April 2011 Dewey Balfa Cajun & Creole Heritage Week
