Iry LeJeune- Duraldo Waltz

                                         


By 1954, Iry LeJeune was no stranger to recording. His fascination with commercial recordings stimulated his desire to record. Unable to work on the family farm due to his poor vision, Iry spent time playing devoloping his style by playing along with his 78 rpm records on his phonograph. 

A good example of Iry's connection to commercial recorded music is "Love Bridge Waltz". Iry used the melody of a 1929 recording from Delin Guillory and Lewis Lafleur song called "Alone at Home" for his song.

While the Guillory and Lafleur song was recorded in 1929, it wouldn't be until 1940 until it was released. The delay of this record release; in conjunction with the Lee Sonnier's Acadian All Stars post war releases, sparked the accordion revival that thrived in Cajun Country following World War II.

Iry first recorded with the Oklahoma Tornadoes, after Sonnier's Acadian All Stars groundbreaking collaboration with Happy Fats. Afterwards, Iry was  constantly asking Eddie Shuler to record him. Iry recorded again with two sessions at KPLC in Lake Charles. After these sessions, Eddie Shuler bought a reel to reel recorder and began recording Iry at his house.

Eddie explains:
               
      "I bought a tape recorder, and it cost $237, which was a lot of money in those days.
       We would put the machine on the kitchen table and cut these things..."

It was at the 2nd session at Iry's house that he recorded "Duraldo Waltz". The song was brought to the session by fiddler Wilson Granger. He had the song in his head from hearing his father play it around the house. Wilson whistled the tune to Iry and he made up some lyrics on the spot. Duralde is a small community outside of Eunice where Iry often played at.

There were two recordings of the song released, with two slightly different lyrics. But on the song Iry put down the accordion and let Wilson's fiddle playing shine. Iry often would call out to Wilson on the recordings; saying "Eh Pill" for Wilson's solo. Iry would call him this because Wilson had severe headaches was constantly taking Aspirin.



The song was recorded at Iry's home in the kitchen with the reel to reel on the kitchen table. Those present at the session were Iry, Wilson Granger and Alfred Cormier. Iry had a family dog named Rain, that was there at the session as well. During the recording, someone came to the door and Rain barked at them. On this version of the recording, Rain's bark was left on the recording; the other version Shuler released had different lyrics and was missing Rain's bark.

Over time people would approach Shuler and ask him about the dog on the recording. It seems odd to why Shuler would release two different versions. Eddie was also known to turn on the recorder and record the band while they warming up. He would release these recordings as well as recordings he spliced together. This record continues in Eddie's tradition of assuming song writing credits for songs he clearly did not write.

Iry would continue playing and recording until his death. He got tired of Eddie's antics and bought himself a recorder to record and release his material. By mid 1955 he was playing around Lake Charles when Wilson quit him to pursue other interests. Iry turned to his old friend, J.B. Fuselier to help him out on the fiddle. One night they were coming from a dance in Eunice and the car had a flat. A incoming car struck them and killed Iry and seriously injuring J.B.

Resources
Ron Brown- Iry Lejeune:Wailing the Blues Cajun Style
Early Cajun Music Blog
Ryan Brasseaux- Cajun Breakdown