"Some of the first accordions imported in America were Lester, Pine Tree and Bruno brands, but they were bulky, cheaply made and hard to play."
http://www.meloche.net/acchist.htm

So it might be one of those old makes in the picture, one of those accordions still in the musicians' possession in those days. There's a picture of Allie Young playing a Lester accordion in his youth :
http://www.tradebit.de/filedetail.php/105429545-bal-chez-belisaire-l-accordeon-cajun

A "Pine Tree" accordion :
http://www.carters.com.au/index.cfm/item/55813-ludwig-pine-tree-brand-accordion/

Christian

Matt, if you would like to hear a great version of how Iry played accordion. Try to get Wayne Toup's "Reflections of the Past" CD and listen to the very last track. Song #14 is actually 3 Iry songs redone by Wayne. Jolie Catin "D", Valse de Grands Chemins "C", and Valse de Bayou Chene "D". These particular songs on this recording by Wayne Toups are responsible for letting me finally figure out how Iry done it! The recording quality is pure and any modern day "D" or "C" accordion should match up and allow you to play along. One last note, Iry and Wayne Toups have a great thing in common. They both play from the "heart" which in my opinion makes for some pretty good accordion playing.

Hebert they may both play from the heart but Iry was never brought to a gig in cuffs!!!

I had no idea what Randy4U was talking about until I googled it! OMG, if Wayne had not been caught, he would still be robbing, murdering, and blowing up buildings. So thankfully, this menace of a human being has been brought to justice so that we can ignore his pioneering talent in Cajun music and recognize him as the threat he is to all of us. Remember to thank the tax man for keeping felons like this away from us. Thanks Randy 4 alerting us about this!

LOL, yeah, but they brought him to that gig didn't they. Cuffs and all. I saw that for myself too. You gotta love the Louisiana justice system.

I know Wayne has and had some issues with drugs. This is common knowledge to many people that listen to his music. It's amazing how accomodating the public can be when it comes to "it's heros" whether they are crimminal or not.

Careful on who or what Cajun musicians are drug heads. You might be very surprised how many of these fine folk musicians snort a line or pull on a doob every now and again to get in the right mood.

I can imagine many of them would turn to narcotics or alcohol to continue to be able to get up on stage and do the "dancing chicken" for those who pay them to perform no matter how they are feeling on that particular day.

I called Ervin, Iry's son, to find some answers as I had been curious about that photo also.

He said the accordion in that photo probably belonged to Doug Kershaw's daddy. Iry probably just borrowed it for a photo. There used to be photo booths set up at some of the clubs and he wanted to have his picture taken. According to Ervin, Iry never recorded with an accordion that looked like this. He also said he thought it was an antique Hohner and said it had the wide fingerboard on it. He has kind of guessing on this, though.

When asked what Iry used for recording, he said the D recordings were on a Monarch and the C recordings were on a Sterling. Eddie inherited the Sterling, but it was stolen while on tour in Europe.

This is why the U.S. needs to secede from Europe. Not to dys our pals in the E.U... We just need to make the French Accordion/Melodeon the official language of disaccordance.

**** chris, I was reading through this feeling all smart cause I realized that at clubs/restaurants/ etc. there are always old beat up accordions that are just for show hangin on the walls. At Boutin's in baton rouge where I play there is an old accordion similar to this one. Anyway... what happened to the Monarch D?

Rick Reed has that old Monarch to stash his Ganja in when he is playing his Jamacian style Zyedco music

Reed. Ha. Okay rundy2u.

If you're referring to Reid, as in myself (no relation to the shoe bomber or the Nevada senator, you need to update your knowledge about what sort of music I create. www.zydecostingrays.com

I don't create reggae music nor do I smoke weed. I'm too responsible with a family and job to do those illegal tings, mon. Plus, the weed nowadays is like heroin. One hit and you're balled up in a corner for half a day on some whacked-out paranoid trip. Long gone are the days of $25 fat bags of Oaxacan shake. I believe Cheap Trick was number one on the Billboard and gas was eighty cents a gallon.

So... Hahaha Rundy. You won't find weed in any of my accordions. Additionally, you won't find any reggae on my set list. It's not that I don't love reggae, but I don't really write reggae songs. Ive written and recorded one, but that doesn't qualify me as a reggae artist. So Rundy, what I do is drink beer and play rock and roll music that features accordion, usually a zydeco-type riff backed with heavy rock and blues-style guitar, bass, and drums.

I am extremely proud of my band and the unique slant on zydeco we've created. If you like rock and roll, you might give us a listen. Sorry there's no reggae or weed to offer. Guess I need to have more Jamaicans in my band and a reliable source of weak, legal weed to make that happen... mon.

Ervin said that his Dad recorded the Love Bridge Waltz and Evangeline Special on his Monarch D and then traded it with someone for the Sterling C. He didn't know who it was that his daddy traded with. THe C was in bad shape and Iry shipped it to Houston to be "overhaled" and tuned up. Later when he recorded the Calcasieu Waltz and Lacassine Special borrowed a different D Monarch for those tunes. It was from one of the Leger's from Hayes.

By the way, most of the Monarchs were in the key of D, most Sterlings were in the key of C...and the legend is that the same family or factory eventually was making both accordions...maybe someone on the other side of the pond knows more on the history of Monarch and Sterling...chime in!

This I found on Meloche.net, link#2
It's not easy to find something, but I keep searching.
Great item!

Some of the first accordions imported in America were Lester, Pine Tree and Bruno brands, but they were bulky, cheaply made and hard to play. Later on in the early 1900's the Monarch brand of German-made accordions became tops in Cajun land. They were "les tit noirs", meaning "the little black ones". They were a bit smaller than some of the older brands and were of course all black with pewter trim. They were the best ever at that time. Later the Sterling family bought the factory in about the 1920's, then the Eagle family operated the factory, but both were virtually the same instrument as the Monarch, except for the name.

Look at link#2 to see a Regal one row from 1928.

Hi all,

Been away with family sick for a few weeks so I am just now getting to catch up on all the posts.

Just wanted to add that my gr-grandpa had an old monarch accordion in which Iry's reeds from one of his old accordions were put into. My gr-grandpa decided to sell it to get a new one but then my grandpa (my mom's dad who was also my gr-grandpa's nephew) - all related to Iry (long complicated story - anyway my grandpa heard the next day that he had sold it and went to the guy he sold it to and bought it back! He played on that accordion until he died. My mom has the accordion and has said it goes to me next. Uncle Ervin has asked her several times to sell it to him and the CFMA has asked for it to be put in their museum but she won't budge.

It has been stored in the original handmade wooden box my grandpa and gr-grandpa hauled it around to dances in for over 25 years now. It needs some work and has a few air leaks but I actually got to try to play it last time I was there and man you really have to work the bellows to get any decent sound out of it....

I'm dying for her to let me bring it to Marc or Larry to be repaired but she is soooo protective of it because it is the last piece of her father she has left.

Anyway just thought I'd chime in...Chris I'm glad to see you called Uncle Ervin. I was gonna chime in and say that it was both Monarchs and Sterlings that Iry recorded on but then I saw your post where you had confirmed it with Ervin...

PS. My sister is moving to Lake Charles. Her husband got transferred there. So hopefully we'll catch up in your neck of the woods soon!

Be very careful who looks at that accordion and who you leave it with.

Have you ever heard of reeds being stolen and replaced with lesser quality reeds by accordion builders? I have.

Hebert,

Yes I have! And that is one reason why Moma is so very protective of it. She insists that when we do take it somewhere that one of us be present when the accordion is opened and the work is done!

Yeah, but how do you tell who ever you bring it to that you don't trust them with the reeds and still expect them to work on the accordion. It's a paradox.

Junior Martin is a very understanding and straight up fellow. Larry Miller the same, but he retired. He might just come out of retirement to work on a set of reeds played on by Iry himself. Andre Michot, good fellow, works on and builds accordions. He listens well to what a customer has to say and is capable of understanding the complicated passion of the younger accordion player generation. Andre has direct ties to Randy Falcon who might also be a trustworthy fellow. I've never spoken with Randy Falcon. These are the characters I would trust that I have dealt with from experience, or have heard about in a positive way.

I hope you can find out what type of reeds they are, or anything about them that the person who opens the accordion can tell you. ie: the "key", the size of the reeds compared to modern day reeds, the lenghts of the reed fingers themselves, their thickness, their shape (tapered reed tips or square tips equal to the reed base, hand made, or German or Italian factory made?

Then you can post on here and reveal the big mystery to us all. Hohner reeds or not?!!!!!!!!

Good advice. I'm sure any of those guys would give honest service.

I'm pretty curious about the reed also.

I'd hate to diss other builders for not having mentioned them as being honest and willing to help, I just hadn't dealt with all of them. In all honesty, I didn't mention a couple of people because I have some hang ups about their integrity because of the way I was treated when I went to them for advice or work on an accordion. I won't single them out here.

You know, I heard that "stealing reeds" thing in the circles of people that I know personally. Maybe it's one of those "Cajun urban myths". I mean, come on, would you like to be known as the accordion builder that attempted to steal and/or switch the only known accordion reeds played on by the Legend...Iry Lejeune? It wouldn't be worth the risk in my opinion. Talk about your reputation turning to "mud" in a hurry.

Christine, I'm sure you and your mom will be ok on this one. Go with your "intuition" when you decide who to take that accordion to. The first one that comes to your mind that you feel good about.

I'd also get on the "level" with Irvin Lejeune and get his opinion on things. Ask him to be honest and explain why he wants that accordion so bad. Then explain to him what yall want to do. Maybe he'll help. Maybe he has the "Lejeune" reputation that will keep whomever works on the accordion honest.

Uncle Ervin and I are on very good terms. He simply wanted it to add to his collection of his father's accordions and other instruments. It's a running thing between him and my mom. They joke about it all the time.

He's already given us very good advice on who to bring it to. I just have to wait for Moma to be ready to let it go. We'll do it when she is ready and if she is not before she dies, then I'll do it afterwards. I just truly wish that she would do it soon before any more damage is done...

Either way it certainly is a family treasure! And I hope tat someday I can do the family legacy justice with my own music.

You will Christine, as long as you don't let go. Like Brother Dave Gardner said, "Don't you know beloved, a diamond's just a piece of coal that stuck with it?!"

What sweet words of encouragement! Thanks Jamie!

I am curious why don't you all let Erwin work on it. He builds accordions and does a real good job. Seems to me a no brainer.
Le Piquant