Austin Pitre was born in 1918 in Ville Platte, in a time when house parties were fading, and dancehalls were replacing them. Austin grew up in this era and it had a heavy influence on his sound.
Many landmark musicians lived nearby or played dances near where Austin grew up. Fiddlers Douglas Bellard and Leo Soileau were from the area and Amede Ardoin played around the area with Dennis McGee. The music and the life of hard work helped develop Austin's sound through the years.
The Pitre's were sharecroppers working for fifty cents a day. The boss wouldn't even pay his workers till Monday, so they wouldn't waste their money on the weekend. Despite the hard way of life, Austin's father gave him a accordion in hopes that he would learn to play with him at the house parties. Shortly afterwards, Austin learned to play and was playing alongside his father on the weekends.
Austin grew up having to work and supply extra money for his family, by working in the rice fields. He soon made himself a fiddle from a cigar box, spending his evenings watching the rice field water pumps and practicing his fiddle. Austin remembers:
"In those days it was all violins. Grandfather played the violin- they're all dead now... We had songs in the house, in the dancehalls.. we played violins together when we were young. We would play four violins together. Everybody sang in the fields then."
Austin later married and continued on with a hectic schedule, working in the fields or as a mechanic all day, while playing dances at night. During WWII he formed a string band and played for soldiers who came down from Fort Polk. Austin didn't have to go to war, as he was the only son left to help support his family.
After the war, Austin started up his band, The Evangeline Playboys. The group first recorded for J.D. Miller out of Crowley in the late forties, but for his second set of records in the mid-fifties, he used the help of the Rhythmaires; a band led by Chuck Guillory out of Mamou.
By the late fifties, Austin was working at Bordelon's Ford Garage with Harry LeFleur. Austin would ask Harry is his band, Harry and the Louisiana Aces would work with him to cut a record for Floyd Soileau's Swallow Records. The songs they recorded were well received, so they started working together on a regular basis. The first one they recorded was in October of 1959 and was called "Opelousas Waltz".
He', tit couer, comme moi, je vas faire
Quas, moi, tout seul, chere tit monde, a la maison?
He', tite fille, tu connais j'mennuie de toi,
quo faire, toi t'es gone, chere tit monde,
maison si loin?
He', catin, quo' faire, toi, t'es comme ca?
Quais apres me quitter moi tout seul dans les miseres?
He', tit monde, tu cannais je m'ennuie de toi,
Ouais, cher tit coeur, viens me rejoindre avant de mourir
Opelousas, Louisiana is an old city and was once an Indian Trading Post. The word Opelousas comes from an old Indian work for "dark or murky water".
"Opelousas Waltz" was among the first records to be made at Floyd Soileau's studio in Ville Platte. In the 1950's and 1960's, Austin and his band played the large dancehall circuit of the time. The band played eight dances a week at the Silver Star, Evangeline Club, Hick's Wagon Wheel- a endless list. Austin also played for KVPI in Ville Platte's Man Store an for KSLO in Opelousas for many years.
Marc Savoy recalled Austin's playing:
" Austin was a very muscular man. He would play his accordion standing without a strap to support the accordion. He had a unusual sense of timing combined with a very intricate, fast technique."
After years of hard work and constant playing, Austin's health went down. Open heart surgery and serious back problems, were too much to handle and he died in 1981.
Resources
Ann Savoy- Cajun Music Vol. 2
Raymond Francois- Ye Yaille Chere
Session info
AND EVANGELINE PLAYBOYS (106, 108) V-2/acdn, Harry LaFleur (fdl), J Audrey ‘Cabrie’ Menier (v-1/st-g), Dickey Gill (g), Eston Bellow (d) Swallow Studio, Ville Platte LA: October 1959 S-6311
Opelousas waltz-1 Swallow 106
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