Belton Richard and the Musical Aces- "Pardon Waltz"

                            

Belton Richard was born in Rayne, Louisiana in 1939. He was taught the accordion by his father, Cleby Richard at seven years old. His father had been a accordionist for Adam Hebert on almost all his recordings. By age 12, Belton had a job playing at the West End Bar in Lafayette.

Belton started playing rock and roll with the Cajun Rockers. He played with Calvin Holloway until he was 15, by age 18 he had his own rock band. By 1959, he went back to recording French music and formed the Musical Aces. Belton's heroes in Cajun music were Lawrence Walker and Aldus Roger, his early style contains elements from both of them

With the Musical Aces, they performed at clubs such as the Mid-Way in Breaux Bridge, Club L' Acadienne in Crowley, and the Bon Ton Rouley in Crowley. Soon based on their popularity they were recording.

In 1948, Charles Leon "Dago" Redlich opened Dago’s Record Shop which was a favorite hangout for teenagers listening to the latest records. During this time, he also recorded local swamp pop and Cajun musicians. Redlich's Chamo label was the first one to release records by Belton Richard and the Musical Aces.

In 1962, Belton and the Musical Aces recorded for Redlich's  label out of Crowley. The first recordings the group did for the label were recorded at the local radio station, KSIG in Crowley as well. The group's first release on the label, "Just En Reve" sold well for the group.

Their second release for the label was "Pardon Waltz". The song continues the tradition in Cajun music about the torment of a lost love.

Aujourd'hui moi j'étais après jongler à quelque chose

Toi, t'es pas avec moi et moi j'sus pas avec toi

Une ‘tite erreur qui m’a coincé dedans l’coté

Et là aujourd'hui c'est moi qu'après s'lamenter

Peut-être un jour va venir tu voudras me pardonner

Moi j'vas m'mettre à genou et j'vas jamais te quitter

Mais tout qui reste c'est moi qu'après souffrir

Si toi tu vas pas revenir peut-être

C'est mieux que je dis bye-bye

As the band was developing, Belton had a idea of what he wanted. He wrote a lot of his own songs early on. He built on the legacy of early performers and added to it. The younger generation were looking for something in French to associate with a rock and roll beat and Belton developed a smooth style in this area.  The polished rock-and country influenced sound he developed was representative of the trend in South Louisiana during that time to modernize the music.

For the Chamo label, Belton and the Aces released eight 45 rpm records and one lp. The masters for Chamo 100-101 were purchased by Swallow Records April 12th 1964 and for Chamo 102-108  April 1st 1967.

                                      

 

AND (THE) MUSICAL ACES (Chamo & most Swallow 45s)

V/acdn with probably Waldon ‘Sleepy’ Hoffpauir, Allen Ardoin (fdl), Rodney Miller

(st-g), Johnny Credeur (g), Andy Johnson (b-g), Fernest ‘Man’ Abshire (d)

KSIG Radio, Crowley LA: 1962-1963

CH 504 Pardon waltz Chamo 101,

Resources

Broven South To Louisiana

Johnnie Allan- Memories

Ann Savoy- Cajun Music Vol 1.

lyrics - Michael Dupuy

Show Poster- Wade Walcon

thanks to Christine Stelly

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/acadiana/obituary.aspx?n=charles-l-dago-redlich&pid=174822595&fhid=17232