These biographical notes about Pee Wee Broussard are on lp Flyright 610, Acadian Two Step, 1988. Notes by Bruce Bastin:

"Chester Isaac 'Pee Wee' Broussard' was born in Henderson, Louisiana on February 20, 1920 into a musical Cajun family. His father, Sosthène Broussard, played mandolin and clarinet as well as accordion, while his grandfather played accordion and fiddle. Two brothers played guitar: Jules played rhythm (and was a member of Pee Wee's Melody Boys not long after recording these sides), and Jim played 4-string guitar.

By the time he was nine years old, young Pee Wee used to go and sit in his neighbor's field and listen to them playing the accordion. He learned to play on his father's instrument and by the time he was twelve he was playing at local fais do-dos, where they would pass a hat at the end of the evening and then he would make $2 -$3 per night: "that was big money back then!," as he told Johnnie Allan (personal communication).

Ned Guilbeau, a DJ on a New Iberia radio station, arranged Pee Wee's first session at J.D. Miller's studio at the old M&S Electrical Shop on North Parkerson Street in Crowley, as he liked Pee Wee's playing. There were two sessions: the first in 1952 produced The Waltz that Carried Me to My Grave, as a tribute to his wife who had recently died, The Pee Wee Special, Chere Tu Tu, and Creole Stomp. The second session, which showed that the first two 78s must have sold well enough to please both Miller and Pee Wee, produced La Valse du Bayou Blanc and a tribute to Miller's little shop/studio, M&S Special. For the sessions Pee Wee's Melody Boys comprised himself on accordion, Kaiser Perez on fiddle, Walter Guidry on steel guitar, one Johnson on rhythm guitar, and Nathan Latiolais on drums.

Pee Wee Broussard continued to record, cutting both for George Khoury in Lake Charles and Carol Rachou in Lafayette, while he continued his day job as an automobile mechanic at Charlie Lamar's Mechanic Shop in Lafayette... Although he played the accordion on Miller's releases, he also played fiddle, steel and rhythm guitar, and upright bass.."

I was thrilled to see Pee Wee perform on fiddle with Aldus Roger at the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival some years ago. Truly some legendary musicians. I wish I knew more about them.

Thank YOU
Le Piquant

Thank you Neal, I had tried to find out but couldn't.

Copié, imprimé et glissé dans le livre d'A. Savoy. Merci Neal.

(A propos de bio, autre chose. Is Raymond François still living? Where is (was) he from? Is he still playing? What band(s) does he play regularly with? Any recordings you know of? About his name: is it a common name in Louisiana? I don't remember hearing that name there).

Christian

I don't know whether Raymond Francois is still living. He was from Patasa, a village or community that is not even on the map anymore, somewhere between Eunice and Church Point and Crowley. Link 1 is to a great Web site by Carencro High School on Acadia Parish communities, but even IT doesn't list Patasa. By the way, Ambrose Thibodeaux named a song Patasa Two Step on his yellow album, More Authentic Acadian French Music on La Louisiane. (Long Point Two Step was another song-community tie; and Milton Molitor's Maxie Waltz; and Pee Wee Broussard's Valse du Bayou Blanc, etc.)

Francois is not a common last name around there. Not from Acadia but an ancestor came directly from France as an "indentured servant." Raymond Francois can be seen in the video Cajun Visits, playing with Dewey Balfa, I believe, and also with his father Leopold Francois, who must have been quite a comical character. Web link 2 goes to FolkStreams' version online. That's Mr. Leopold on the Web site. (I had some technical problems getting the video to work on Internet Explorer 6, so take caution!) Go to around 20:33. The visit continues with Dewey Balfa going to the home of Robert Jardell in Lyons Point, another community in Acadia Parish.

Bien merci pour tout ça. I could only watch ten minutes of the documentary, then the picture froze and I could only get the sound (probably due to my outdated slow connection).
I enjoyed Dennis McGee's stories. I could listen to him for hours (had never heard of that custom with the handkerchief. ).

Christian

I am Raymond’s great niece. He is very much alive, living in Lafayette, La.