Blackie and the Moonlight Serenaders- "La Robe Barre"

George Khoury created the Khoury's label in 1950. He recorded such greats as Nathan Abshire, Lawrence Walker and Dewey Balfa on the label's 600 series. The label had success with these and other artists until the late 1950's.

By the time George Khoury started  his 700 series, he had little or no interest in Cajun music. The  series started off with Nathan Abshire and included Cleveland Crochet. But then songs like Cookie and the Cupcakes "Mathilda" hit, leaving George interested in other genre's.

In 1959, Khoury had a even bigger hit with Phil Phillips's "Sea Of Love". He would only release two Cajun records that year, one being by Pee Wee Broussard and the other being by Lawrence "Blackie" Fruge.

Blackie grew up on a very musical family. His father, Lawrence Fruge played the fiddle and accordion as well. He formed a family band, The Tee Mamou Playboys, in 1950. Blackie moved to Lake Arthur in the 1950's where he worked as a paint and body man while playing music on the side.

 In 1959 he and the Moonlight Serenader's recorded "La Robe Barre" at the KJEF radio station in Jennings. The song was a cover of a J.B. Fuselier song recorded in 1938.

Blackie's uncle, Ernest Fruge, had played in the 1920's with Dennis McGee; who had originally recorded the song with Amede Ardoin as "Madame Atchen". It was later covered by Leo Soileau as "Embrace Moi Encore". Leo's version could have possible influenced J.B. Fuselier's version he recorded as "La Robe Barre" in 1938.

Joining Blackie on the recordings was his brother Joseph on guitar, his sister Eula Mae Fruge on bass, Voylen "T-Boy" Esthay on fiddle, Mayeuse Manuel on accordion and Lewis Scott on steel guitar. The KJEF studio in Jennings was also used by Tan Benoit to record a session for Hot Rod Records.

Blackie would go on to record with Milford Simon on the Cajun Jamboree label in the late 1960's. In the 1970's, he recorded for C.E. Diehl's Circle D label in Jennings.

                                        

Session Info:

BLACKIE & THE MOONLIGHT SERENADERS (725)

Lawrence ‘Blackie’ Fruge (v-1/g), J U Fruge (v/g), Voylen ‘T-Boy’ Esthay (fdl),

Mayeuse Manuel (acdn), Eula Mae Fruge (b), Lewis Scott (st-g)

KJEF Radio Station, Jennings LA: 1959

KH 553 La robe barre-1 Khoury’s 725

Resources:

http://www.bopping.org/the-khourys-label-cajun-concern/

Early Cajun Music blog

Conversations with Micheal Fruge

Ron Yule- Cajun Dance Hall Heyday

Joe Falcon- Corrina, Corrina

                                       

After December of 1937, Joe Falcon's recording career ceased. Many factors contribute to this, from feeling cheated by record companies to having to take care of ailing family members. But Joe didn't necessarily need to record. He had built up his reputation from his first 1928 recordings to his continued recordings until 1937. Joe could have easily rested on his legacy as one of Cajun music's leading artists, but he continued performing.

Cajun string bands found themselves competing for the same venues as big brass and bigger Texas String Bands and soon many groups started increasing the numbers in their small groups. As for Joe, he formed his Silver String Band as a result of this in the late 1930's.

This group continued playing in the area until the early 1960's. Joe still drew a good crowd at the dances he played bring in old and new fans. And for the band it had changed over the years. After his first wife, Cleoma, had passed away in 1941; Joe remarried. He married Therese Meaux, whose nephew was Huey Meaux. Therese took over drumming duties in the band after the regular drummer failed to show one night. Joe's brother in law, Clifford Breaux had played in the Silver String Band until he passed until 1960. Then Lionel Leleux took over fiddling duties in the band.

By the summer of the early 1960's Joe was still playing dances almost every weekend. He had not made any records since 1937 and kept busy with these weekend shows. In 1963, Joe was playing at the Triangle Club in Scott. While Joe had been reluctant to record for the local recording labels, he had agreed to let Lauren Post's wife record him playing live at the club. The album was released by Chris Strachwitz's Arhoolie label in 1968.

 Typical of most groups at the time, Joe's band played a variety of music styles at their shows. They played the country songs popular of the time as well as many of the Cajun music classics. From the recording, Joe performed"Corrina Corrina". The song has a long history but was popularized by groups in the Western Swing era. Fiddler Leo Soileau also recorded the number during a Decca session in 1935.

The recording is not anything spectacular by any means. But considering it was made with one microphone standing on a table near the bandstand, its quite a remarkable recording. All the instruments were amplified except the drums and the sound came over the house PA system. After this show, Joe would play one more dance and would quit performing live due to declining health.

The recording of this show is significant as it gives us a glimpse into the earliest field recording of a Cajun band in a Cajun dance hall. The recording also provides insight into what a dance hall sounded like during the Cajun Honky Tonk era of the 1950's and 1960's.


Therese's nephew, Huey Meaux, had started his own record label called Crazy Cajun in the 1960's. He released artists such as Andrew Cormier and the Rambling Aces in the labels early years. He released a couple of Falcon-Breaux releases on his label as well. This 45 on Crazy Cajun 514 was the first with two more Falcon-Breaux releases afterwards.



Resources
Wade Falcon
liner notes Arh. 459

Joe Bonsall and the Orange Playboys- "Petite Ou Grosse"

 Joe Bonsall was born in 1921 in Lake Arthur, La. He began playing music at the age of nine, playing the tit-fer while his mother played the accordion. He soon learned the accordion, guitar, and violin. At age of 14, he played with Lawrence Walker and Joe Falcon. In 1937 his family moved from Lake Arthur to the Gum Cove area north of Vinton in Calcasieu Parish. He was known to play house dances during this time with "Moot" Harrington.


The original Orange Playboys were formed by Joe around 1952-53 when Moot Harrington retired from performing. Over the next couple of years a steady stream of musicians played with the Orange Playboys. They recorded numerous sides for Eddie Shuler's Goldband, T-Bruce's Cajun Jamboree, and Floyd Soileau's Swallow records. They played the southwest and East Texas from the Lakeshore Club outside of Port Arthur to the Rodair Club in Port Acres, Tx. In 1963 Joe Bonsall and the Orange playboys were one of the most popular bands in East Texas.

"Petite Ou Grosse" originates from Joe Falcon's 1929 recording of Arcadian One Step and Dennis McGee's "Adieu Rosa". Leo Soileau reworked the tune into, "Petite Ou Gros" for his Bluebird recordings in the mid 1930's. 

Joe Bonsall and the Orange Playboys's 1965 version of "Petite Ou Grosse" was recorded at Gulf Coast Studio in Beaumont, Tx. Playing with Joe on the recording is Bobby Caswell, Russell Quebodeaux, Wilson LeJeune, Ivy Dugas and Cliff Newman.

Joe described his music:


"We were originally classified as a French band..but I was pretty aggressive in my style. I like to play country/western, rock and roll- even played some German and Bohemian music in my time."

His music reflects this theme. In 1965, Joe started recording for T-Bruce's Cajun Jamboree label until the 1970's. Most of the Cajun Jamboree releases were re-issued by Swallow in 1971. In 1975, Joe had heart surgery and quit for a while. He played off and on until the 1990's. He passed away in 1996 at the age of 75, but left behind many contributions to the Cajun music heritage.

Resources
John Broven- South to Louisiana
Ron Yule- Cajun Dancehall Heyday