Camey Doucet was born in Crowley in 1939. Growing up, he always liked to sing around the house. His mother claims he was born a musician, trying to sing before he could talk.
By age 17 he started a rock group that played top 40 songs off the radio. Camey got drafted and served two years in the U.S. Army. After he got out, his cousin had a band that played swamp. He got Camey to play drums and sing in the group. The group even recorded a 45 rpm on their own label.After getting married, Camey had a buddy working at AM 1560 KAJN in Crowley. Camey was asked to apply for a job as a sales person. After two months he was given a Saturday afternoon French program, which he did for three and a half years.
During this time, he started writing songs. One of the first ones he wrote "Moi Est Mon Cousin"; Me and My Cousin. In the lyrics, Camey describes him and his cousin moving to Texas to join the rodeo. They move back to Louisiana where he meets Rosalie, but all she wants to do is dance all night.
Camey went to J.D. Miller's Modern Sound studio in Crowley with the song, but he didn't have any musicians. Billy Miller told Camey about a 14 year old accordion player named Wayne Toups.
Wayne Toups was born into a family of rice farmers in Crowley, Louisiana. He first picked up an accordion when he was 13 and quickly began winning local accordion contests. Camey called Wayne's father about getting Wayne to play on his record and soon Camey gave the song to Wayne to learn. Wayne took the song to Shine Mouton to help him learn for the recording date.
The recording session was held at Modern Sound Studio on the second floor of the Ford building in 1973. On the record, Camey is on the vocals, Wayne on the accordion, Joe Doucet played the drums, Dale Breaux played guitar, L.J. Broussard played the fiddle, Gerald "T-Boy" Broussard on steel guitar and Donald Carey played bass. This record would be one of Wayne's first records.
Camey's recording of "Me and My Cousin" would be the first of the revived Kajun label. J.D. Miller had originally started the label in 1960 with the 500 series, but soon stopped releases on the label in 1964. This record would be the first in the new Kajun label with the new 1000 series. The record sold well, but sadly Camey didn't see any money from the record.
Session info
CAMEY DOUCET WITH WAYNE TOUPS & THE CROWLEY ACES
Modern Sound Studio, Crowley LA: 1973-74
Camey Doucet-vocals, Wayne Toups-accordion, Joe Doucet-drums, Dale Breaux-guitar, L.J. Broussard-fiddle, Gerald "T-Boy"Broussard-steel guitar, Donald Carey-bass.
SoN 115782 Me and my cousin Kajun 1000
Recources
phone interview with Camey Doucet
Johnnie Allan- Memories
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Toups
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