Playing around with Jim Pettijohn's version of Bayou Teche in C and D

Pat, thanks for posting these, brother! You learned it a hell of a lot quicker than I did, it sounds great. And now you make me want a Falcon

Hmm, posted a comment last night and it disappeared.

Awesome Pat, that's not an easy song. I didn't know there were older prodigies.

Thanks Patrick,
Great performance.
Makes it a lot easier to learn this song.
Thanks for posting.

Thanks guys,Jim, it's no secret I really like your playing and versions of tunes.Everywhere I play this tune, people love it.Bryan,you and Melodron,I think like this tune a lot too.I had to take it apart very slowly,and even then,it's just a simple version of Jim's.I had to do something after Jamey sounded so good at Balfa camp.
Hey,I thought it would be fun to hear the tune on the Falcon and Acadian,in C and D.Any thoughts on the two accordions?I would like to hear ya'lls version too
P.S.Jim I hope you don't get tired of me playing all you tunes LOL

Do my ears deceive me?
This sounds exactly like the Elton two step to me.

Did someone change the name since Amede played it?

DP

I believe it was Autin Pitre who first recorded it as Bayou Teche, but not sure. Most of Amede's songs changed names when others recorded them.

does any one have an example of the Elton Two step they could post

Patrick,

I have a copy from Cajun Capers....Ame'de' & Denus McGee

Send me your email address and I will send you a copy... for some reason I cannot post it...

Hey Bob,I still remember those great Jams at Balfa Camp.send to cindy_omire@yahoo.com

Well, Pat...I have an Acadian in D and it sure does sound VERY much like your D. I also have a Falcon in C and there is definitely a difference there. By the way, I can not detect any clacking of the flappers on yours!! Good spring job! My Falcon has a set of reeds that are not made by any of the big reed makers. I think they are number 3 somethings? My Falcon does not have that deep droning sound that yours has, but it has "something" that makes it different...and I have grown very attached to it.
cb

Nice playing, by the way...I think u r making Jamey practice even harder than he already does

**** straight Charlie! But I think I noticed an awful big noise in the background while I was watching Patrick's video, kinda of a big "WHOOOOSH" sound: I think it was the sound of Patrick rocketing on by me on the Cajun accordion highway! Better hammer down Bryan; you might be next!

Oh well, when you step up to accept your first CFMA award, Patrick, just remember your poor kinfolk back in the Ozarks . . .

Great playing, bro'! Makes me wish Mississippi was just over the hill from here . . .

Love the D accordion especially, and it sounds like it loves you.

Once you get it you'll see that Amede does a whole bunch of random stuff, like he does in all his songs. But it all seems to work, not sure how it would be to follow though. You owe it to yourself to get his music. It was an acquired taste for me, but now I can't get enough of it.

I have versions from
Ardoin and McGee
Ambrose Thibodeaux *
JB Fuselier & the Merrymakers *
Blackie and the Moonlight Serenaders *
Balfa Toujours (Bayou Teche Special)
* Sound a bit different.

Amede' Elton Two step is the same as Bayou Teche Special, Blackie Forestier's is La Robe Barrée. Can't place Ambrose's but it sounds like another song. Names in Cajun music, especially the older recordings, are a very poor reference, they musta just pulled names out of a hat.

I think I'm going to learn that. Do I have to wear a shirt like that to play it though? I'm concerned that it's going to make me look like Chuck in Indiana.

started working on this last night. Thanks for the video.

Dwight,
Do you remember that Ed Lukenbach used to play it all the time at Alvarado Gardens?

That guy, Elton, that died a few years back, used to request it because he was named Elton!

Never got tired of hearing it. :)

DP

I remember Elton. Don't remember him requesting the song.

Only two of Amedee's songs have kept their original names as far as i Know and that's the midland two-step and eunice two-step. Amedees Ossun two step is now called grande nuit special (re-recorded by iry lejeune). names are hit or miss especially with the older guys. You'll find most of amedee's songs are renamed and called something else. Iry LeJeune's songs are mostly Amedee's and his uncle Angelas. Do a little side by side comparison and you'll see.

The song I have of Amede's called Ossun two step is the same as the High Point.

The Love Bridge Waltz by Iry LeJeune takes the same melody that was done in 1929 by Delin Guillory and Lewis Lafleur with the title Alone at Home. That's on the Cajun Country 2 cd I mentioned in an earlier thread.

Surprising group, that Guillory and Lafleur! Did they originate some of these tunes or were they already being done by everybody and just were the first lucky ones to record them? We have little chance of finding out. They also did the first recording with the Bosco Stomp melody (Quelqu'un est Jaloux) and their song Ma Petite Blonde has the same part A as Valse de Bayou Chêne. Iry's J'ai été au Bal has the same melody as Joe Falcon's Ne Bouvez Plus Jamais.

The song titles of the 1920s and 30s were not yet standardized and set in stone. I am finding quite a few instances of recordings of songs that now have the title Perrodin Two Step, for example. The period right after World War II is when quite a few titles became the standard. Not just with Iry, but also Nathan Abshire, Lawrence Walker, and Austin Pitre, maybe others.

There are many instances of completely unrelated songs that have the same title. Not just variations. I mean completely different tunes. You really have to listen to them before concluding that two recordings with the same title are really the same song at all.

Confusing thing more is the fact that the songs are often parts of different songs. A part of one song, totally different B part.

Now we have recordings that we can easily play over and over again, but I picture in the old days the only time to hear a song was at a dance, and then going home to try to play what you remember hearing. Inevitable that changes be made. A good example is how Iry changed each of Amede's songs he played, some not much, some quite a bit.

Blues de Voyage also has kept it's name, though it's not done much. In fact, quite a few of his have been sorta forgotten. Shame. I've been working on La Valse Des Puits D'Huille, odd song that's fun to play.

"La Coulee Rodair" is the same as "Blues A Voyageur".

There's an old song called "Blues du Petit Chien" by Clifford and Amede Breaux that is the precursor to Pine Grove Blues.