Terry Clement and the Tune Tones- French Blues

Terry Clement was born May 5, 1934. Growing up, Terry and his brothers (Purvis and Grant) all played musical instruments. Terry grew up idolizing Nathan Abshire and soon took to playing the accordion. Purvis learned the fiddle, while Grant became a great guitar player by the age of 12. They were some of the youngest playing French music and had to work hard finding work playing as the older players held them in contempt.

Their first record was "Diggy Liggy Lo". The song gave the band the boost it needed for better bookings and higher pay. In the late 50's and early 60's, it was tough for Terry and his band. Rock and Roll and Swamp Pop put Cajun French bands out of work. To survive, Terry and his brothers started playing rockabilly for Miller.

By the 1960's J.D. Miller had more than five 45rpm labels. It is rumored that he even had over 100 labels. Jukebox owners wouldn't put on alot of one label on their jukeboxes. Miller, always the entrepreneur; found ways to get the records out there. Terry and his brothers rock and roll sides are lively and upbeat and carried the same energy with them they had on the Cajun French sides. During the early 1960's Terry and his brothers recorded on multiple 45 labels for Miller.


By 1961, Terry Clement's musical hero was also recording for J.D. Miller. Nathan Abshire was recording for Miller's Kajun label at this time. Terry had sides out on Rocko, Zynn and Cajun Classics during this era. Although many details aren't known, we do know in 1961, Terry got to record with Nathan on the Zynn label. They did a upbeat number of Nathan's "French Blues" with Nathan on accordion. Nathan originally recorded "French Blues" with the Rayne Bo Ramblers in 1935 on the Bluebird label.


On the record its Terry Clement and the Tune Tones, featuring Terry, Purvis Clement on fiddle, Nathan Abshire on accordion, Grant Clement on guitar, Linus Simar on steel guitar and Ronnie Goudreaux on drums. Nathan's accordion playing on the song is strong as during this era he was in his prime. The experience must have had a profound effect on Terry and his brothers recording with their musical idol. After Nathan's passing they recorded a tribute album on Miller's revived Kajun label to Nathan. It was recorded in 1984 and is highly recommended.

Resources
Liner notes- Crowley Two Step by Bruce Bastin
Lyle Ferbrache- Acadian All Star Special
Wade Falcon- Early Cajun Music blog

Terry Clement and The Tune Tones- Teenage Rock

Terry Clement was born May 5th 1934 in Evangeline, Louisiana. His interest in music came from his family who were all musicians. He grew up loving Nathan Abshire and The Pinegrove boys.

He and his brother started their first band in 1949 as The Clement Brothers. Their first show was at the Silver Dollar Club in Crowley. They called themselves the Rhythmic Five and patterned their music after Nathan Abshire.

Terry first recorded for J.D. Miller's Feature label. Their first big song on the label was "Diggy Liggy Lo" in 1954. Terry's brother Purvis could not speak French all that well so he used "diggy,diggy,do" during some of song passeges and the hit was derivived from that.

In 1960 Terry recorded for Miller's rock and roll label; Rocko. The label started life as Rocket  in 1958 and was aimed at the rock and roll market. After recording rock and roll and swamp pop for Rocko, Miller began using the label for a harder form of R&B. Terry recorded for various Miller labels such as Cajun Classics, Zynn and Kajun. 

Terry was one of the most versatile performers recording artists to come out of south Louisiana. He recorded not only Cajun french sides but also recorded some great rock and roll sides.

It was a difficult time for Cajun music as Terry remembers-
                              
"Rock and Roll and swamp pop almost killed the cajun music clubs. Nobody wanted French bands. To survive we started playing rockabilly and swamp pop."





Terry Clement and the Tune Tones released "Sugar Bee" backed by "Teenage Rock" in 1960 on Rocko 517. The A side is a take on the Goldband hit of the same name. The B side is a rock and roll instrumental similar to the cuts Goldband was releasing. With its driving beat and accordion melody it is a fusion of Cajun and rock and roll that a lot of artists were blending at the time. On the label for the 45 it lists the author of the song as J. West. But this was one of a couple of pseudonyms that belonged to one Joseph D. Miller.

After his 1960's recordings for Miller, Terry's next release for Miller wasn't until the 1980's for the Kajun label. In 1984 Terry released a tribute album to Nathan Abshire on Miller's Kajun label. In addition to his recordings for Miller, he also did recordings for Khoury and Goldband.  He was inducted into the Louisiana Hall of Fame in 1993.

                                   
                                      Terry Clement and The Tune Tones
                                                  Rocko 517
                                               "Teenage Rock"
                                         Recorded 1961 in Crowley,La.



Resources
Acadian All Star Special
Early Cajun Music blog
John Broven- South to Louisiana