Citizendia

Swamp pop musician Jivin' Gene, circa 1959.
Swamp pop musician Jivin' Gene, circa 1959.

Swamp pop is a musical genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Acadiana (also called Cajun Country) (L'Acadiane is the official name given to the French Louisiana region that is home to a large Cajun population The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Southeast Texas is a subregion of East Texas located in the southeast corner of the U Created in the 1950s and early 1960s by teenaged Cajuns and black Creoles, it combines New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French Louisiana musical influences. Cajuns ('keʒən les Cadiens are an Ethnic group mainly living in Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles and peoples of other This article is about an ethnic culture in Louisiana USA For uses of the term "Creole" in other countries and cultures see Creole (disambiguation. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Country music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. Although a fairly obscure genre, swamp pop maintains a large audience in its south Louisiana and southeast Texas homeland, and it has acquired a small but passionate cult following in the United Kingdom, northern Europe, and Japan.

Contents

The sound

The swamp pop sound is typified by highly emotional, lovelorn lyrics, tripleting honky-tonk pianos, undulating bass lines, bellowing horn sections and a strong rhythm and blues backbeat. A honky tonk (also called a honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is a type of bar with musical entertainment that is common in the Southwestern It is exemplified by slow ballads like Cookie and the Cupcakes’ “Mathilda” (recorded 1958), considered by many the unofficial swamp pop “anthem. ” But the genre has also produced many upbeat compositions, such as Bobby Charles’ “Later Alligator” (1955), popularly covered (re-recorded) by Bill Haley & His Comets. This article is specifically about the rock and roll band See Bill Haley for biographical information regarding Haley himself

During the genre’s heyday (1958-1964), several swamp pop songs appeared on national U. S. record charts. These included Jimmy Clanton’s “Just A Dream” (1958), Warren Storm’s “Prisoner’s Song” (1958), Phil Phillips’ “Sea Of Love” (1959), Rod Bernard’s “This Should Go On Forever” (1959), Joe Barry’s “I’m A Fool To Care” (1960), and Dale and Grace’s “I’m Leaving It Up To You” (1963). Jimmy Clanton (born September 2 1940 was Rod Bernard (born 1940 is an American Singer helped to pioneer the musical genre known as " Swamp pop " which combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues Joe Barry (born Joseph Barrios, 13 July 1939, Cut Off, Louisiana - died 31 August 2004) was an American [1]

In swamp pop’s south Louisiana-southeast Texas birthplace, however, fans nonetheless regarded as classics many songs that never became national hits. These include Johnnie Allan’s “Lonely Days, Lonely Nights” (1958), Buck Rogers’ “Crazy Baby” (1959), Randy and the Rockets’ “Let’s Do The Cajun Twist” (1962), T. K. Hulin’s “I’m Not A Fool Anymore” (1963), and Clint West’s “Big Blue Diamonds” (1965), among numerous others.

Roots and early history

As children, swamp pop musicians listened to and even performed traditional Cajun music and black Creole (zydeco) music, as well popular country and western (hillbilly) songs by musicians like Hank Williams, Sr. In the mid-1950s, however, they like other American youths discovered the alluring new sounds of rock and roll and rhythm and blues artists like Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. See also [[Cajun]] Cajun music, an emblematic Music of Louisiana, is rooted in the Ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Zydeco ( French "les haricots" English "snap beans" is a form of American roots or folk music, that evolved from The jure during Hillbilly is a term referring to people who dwell in remote Rural, Mountainous areas of the United States, primarily southern Appalachia and Hank Williams ( September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American Singer-songwriter and Musician who has Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (born February 26, 1928 in New Orleans Louisiana) is a classic R&B and Rock and roll As a result, these teenaged Cajuns and black Creoles stopped playing Louisiana French folk compositions like “Jolie blonde,” “Allons à Lafayette,” and “Les flammes d’enfer” and instead began to sing rock and roll and rhythm and blues compositions in English. At the same time, they switched from folk instruments like the accordion, fiddle, and iron triangle to modern instruments, such as the electric guitar and bass, upright piano, saxophone, and drumming trap set. [2]

Swamp pop duo Dale & Grace, circa 1963.
Swamp pop duo Dale & Grace, circa 1963.

By the late 1950s swamp pop musicians had developed their own distinct sound and repertoires. They performed to receptive crowds in local dancehalls like the Southern Club in Opelousas, Landry’s Palladium in Lafayette, and the Green Lantern in Lawtell. Opelousas is a city in and the Parish seat of St Landry Parish, Louisiana, United States. In addition, they released recordings on local record labels, such as Floyd Soileau’s Jin label of Ville Platte, Eddie Shuler’s Goldband of Lake Charles, Carol Rachou’s La Louisianne of Lafayette, Huey Meaux’s Crazy Cajun label of Houston, and a number of labels owned by J. James Floyd Soileau is an American Record producer. He was born November 2, 1938, in Faubourg between Ville Platte and Washington Ville Platte is a city in and the Parish seat of Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, United States. Lake Charles is the fifth largest incorporated City in the US state of Louisiana. D. Miller of Crowley (who also recorded swamp pop tunes for larger national labels, such as Ernie Young’s Excello Records label of Nashville). Excello Records was started by Ernie Young in Nashville in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro a gospel label.

Swamp pop musicians often adopted Anglo-American stage names that masked their Cajun and black Creole surnames. John Allen Guillot, for example, became Johnnie Allan; Robert Charles Guidry became Bobby Charles; Joe Barrios became Joe Barry; Elwood Dugas became Bobby Page; and Terry Gene DeRouen became Gene Terry. Some of these musicians changed their names because they were ashamed of their rural French heritage — a feeling shared at the time by a segment of the entire Cajun and black Creole populations. But economics motivated most swamp pop musicians: They wanted to sell records not only in south Louisiana and southeast Texas, but beyond, where the pronunciation of ethnic surnames like Guillot, Barrios, and DeRouen eluded promoters, deejays, and consumers. [3]

Despite its obvious rock and roll and rhythm and blues influences, swamp pop was not devoid of folk characteristics. For example, Bobby Page and the Riff Raffs recorded “Hippy-Ti-Yo,” a bilingual rock ‘n’ roll version of the traditional Cajun French song “Hip et taïaut,” and Rod Bernard did the same with “Allons danser Colinda,” another important folk composition. Rod Bernard (born 1940 is an American Singer helped to pioneer the musical genre known as " Swamp pop " which combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues Joe Barry re-recorded his swamp pop hit “I’m A Fool To Care” in French under the title “Je suis bêt pour t’aimer. ” And Randy and the Rockets issued “Let’s Do The Cajun Twist,” an English remake of the Cajun French favorite “Allons à Lafayette. ”[4]

Legacy

Since the genre’s origin in the mid-1950s, over twenty swamp pop songs have appeared in the Billboard Hot 100. See Billboard (Turkish magazine Billboard is a weekly American Magazine devoted to the Music industry Five of these songs broke into the Top 10, and three of them reached number one. While swamp pop drew heavily on New Orleans rhythm and blues, it reciprocated by making a detectable impact on songs like Lloyd Price’s “Just Because,” Earl King’s “Those Lonely Lonely Nights,” Little Richard’s “Can’t Believe You Want To Leave” and “Send Me Some Lovin’,” and Clarence "Frogman" Henry's "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do" and “On Bended Knee” (both Bobby Charles compositions). Lloyd Price (born 9 March 1933, Kenner, Louisiana) was an early New Orleans -style Rock and roll Musician. Earl King ( February 7[[ 934]] – April 17[[ 003]] was a Singer, Guitarist, and Songwriter, most active in Blues music Rev Richard Wayne Penniman (born December 5 1932 better known by the Stage name Little Richard, is an American Singer, Songwriter Clarence "Frogman" Henry (born March 19 1937, Algiers New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American Rhythm and blues Swamp pop also left its imprint on the related but distinct genre known as “swamp blues,” including Slim Harpo’s classic “Rainin’ In My Heart. Swamp blues is a form of Blues music that is highly evolved and specialized Slim Harpo ( 11 January, 1924 – 31 January, 1970) was a Blues musician ”

Swamp pop’s impact on popular music is heard in the Rolling Stones’ cover of Barbara Lynn’s “You’ll Lose A Good Thing” and “Oh Baby (We Got A Good Thing Goin’)”, the Honeydrippers’ rendition of Phil Phillips’ “Sea Of Love,” Elvis Presley’s remake of Johnny Ace’s “Pledging My Love,” and The Beatles’ swamp-inspired “Oh! Darling,” and in the work of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Barbara Lynn (born Barbara Lynn Ozen, later Barbara Lynn Cumby 16 January 1942 in Beaumont Texas) is an American Johnny Ace ( June 9 1929 &ndash December 25 1954) born John Marshall Alexander Jr The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Creedence Clearwater Revival (often abbreviated CCR) was an American Rock and roll band who gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with Swamp pop also influenced Tex-Mex music, particularly the recordings of Freddy Fender (real name Baldemar Huerta), whose early 1970s swampy songs like “Before The Next Teardrop Falls” and “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights. Tejano music (Spanish-Texan music is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Hispanic populations of Central and Southern Texas Freddy Fender ( June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006) born Baldemar Huerta in San Benito, Texas, USA was "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" is an American country and pop song written by Vivian Keith and Ben Peters and most famously recorded by Freddy " Wasted Days and Wasted Nights " is an American country and pop song recorded by Freddy Fender. ” (South Louisiana and southeast Texas audiences generally consider Fender a full-fledged swamp pop musician. )[5]

Although the genre began a slow decline with the onslaught of the British Invasion, swamp pop music continues to draw devoted fans to south Louisiana and southeast Texas festivals and nightclubs. The British Invasion was the term applied by the news media — and subsequently by consumers — to the influx of Rock and roll, beat and pop performers Only a few younger swamp pop musicians, such as Don Rich, are replacing the original generation of swamp pop pioneers, most now in their sixties. Some younger non-swamp musicians, such as Cajun musician Zachary Richard and rockers Marc Broussard and C. C. Adcock, have acknowledged a strong swamp pop influence. Zachary Richard is a Louisiana singer songwriter and poet who works in both French and English. Marc Broussard (born January 14, 1982) is an American singer/songwriter C C Adcock (born Charles Clinton Adcock c 1971 Lafayette, Louisiana) is a Rock and roll Musician from A sizeable catalog of swamp pop recordings, both vintage and new, are on compact disk, guaranteeing that future audiences will be able to enjoy this distinctive American sound.

Selected discography

Footnotes

  1. ^ John Broven, South to Louisiana: Music of the Cajun Bayous (Gretna, La. : Pelican, 1983), pp. 179-83.
  2. ^ Shane K. Bernard, Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues (Jackson, Miss. : University Press of Mississippi, 1996), pp. 18-19.
  3. ^ Bernard, Swamp Pop, pp. 60-62.
  4. ^ Bernard, Swamp Pop, pp. 84-86.
  5. ^ Bernard, Swamp Pop, pp. 104-8.

References

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