Clifton Chenier- Rockin' Accordion

Clifton Chenier was born near Opelousas June 25, 1925. He was born to family of sharecroppers and spent much of his youth working in the cotton fields. He received his first accordion as a gift from his father, who was an established accordionist in the local house dance and weekend circuit. Clifton left Opelousas for Lake Charles, where he worked as a truck driver. During his off hours he played and listened to music, working on his own style.

He first recorded in 1954 for Elko label, recording then the earliest examples of zydeco. In 1955 he signed with Specialty Records giving him national exposure and opportunity to tour more. It's hardly surprising that before too long, J.D. Miller should be recording this new strain of music which had recently emerged on his doorstep.

J.D. Miller started his Zynn label in the late 1950's. It was one of the many 45 rpm labels he put out during the late 50's and 60's. The label had a diverse group of artists featuring Rocket Morgan, Terry Clement and Warren Storm, among many.

By 1956, Chenier had left his day job to devote his full-time attention to music, Touring with his band, the Zydeco Ramblers, which included blues guitarist Philip Walker. The following year, Chenier left Specialty and signed with the Chess label in Chicago. Although he toured, along with Etta James, throughout the United States, Chenier's career suffered when the popularity of ethnic and regional music styles began to decline. Although he recorded 13 songs for the Crowley, LA-based Zynn label, between 1958 and 1960, none charted.

Clifton first recorded for Miller's Zynn label in May of 1959. The tracks were recorded at Miller's home in Crowley. The session took place on the patio and was unsuccessful due to Miller's shortage of mikes. He ended up cutting most of the tracks without vocal, intending to over dub Clifton's voice at a later date. Eventually only two records were issued from that session.

The following year Clifton and his band was back in Crowley and there they cut two more titles; Night and Day My Love and Rockin' Accordion, a instrumental. After this session Clifton moved on and was soon recording for Arhoolie, where he gained national attention. 

Resources
Bruce Bastin- Zydeco Blues liner notes.