My band is thinking of adding a couple of zydeco tunes to our repertoire. I know virtually nothing about the genre. Can anyone point out some zydeco dance tunes?
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Zydeco fans?
- Thread starter Father Gino
- Start date
A perpetual classic…
…plus the entire Clifton Chenier catalog.
…plus the entire Clifton Chenier catalog.
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Anything by Clifton Chenier, Rockin’ Dopsey and the Cajon Twisters, or Beausolei.
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I like these two, especially the first one. Wish I new what they were saying. Is there Cajun French going on there, or can I just not understand them? Am I wrong in hearing elements of reggae in some of these tunes? Or is it the other way around?
I wasn’t crazy about Toot Toot, but I did find some Clifton Chenier stuff that was pretty cool. He’s got some killer blues with an accordion thrown in the mix. Same with Buckwheat who I was somewhat aware of before.
I’ll check out Rockin Dopsey tomorrow. I saw Beausolei opening up for taj mahal’s Phantom Blues Band. Beausolei with Tharp dancing around his tripod mounted KYDD upright was fantastic. I’ll check them out tomorrow too.
Thanks to all that sent so suggestions. Our keyboard player has an accordion, but I don’t think he can play that and another keyboard simultaneously and I’m hearing both on these tunes.
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The accordion is essential in Zydeco.
^This.
If you want to sound authentic, the other essential is the special washerboard called: le vest frottoir. Both instruments create Zydeco’s (and Creole’s!) signature sound. A fiddle is also highly recommended but not absolutely essential.
Without those instruments you’re probably going to be closer in sound and vibe to that of Gypsy Jazz, bluegrass, and/or Acadian music. Which are also pretty cool genres to explore.
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I've been out of the current zydeco scene for a few years ao many of my recomendations are pretty old.
Clifton Chenier always though of himself as an R&B artist and fought with labels who wanted him to play "the old French stuff". Many of his LPs for Arhoolie have traditional French creole tunes on one side and rocked out blues on the other. Here's an example of the latter.
You can't go wrong with any Clifton album, especially compliations. You'll find something useful for sure.
These are all songs I used to play in zydeco bands.
"Hot Tamale Baby" and "Zydeco Boogaloo" Buckwheat Zydeco (RIP) Buck played organ in Clifton's band, that's why you hear keyboards on his records
"Lake Charles Connection" Chris Ardoin
"French Rocking Boogie" Geno Delafose
"Give Him Cornbread" Beau Jocque
Just about anything by Keith Frank...his sister is the bass player and she's just dripping funk from her fingers
Ditto pretty much any Boozoo Chavis except maybe this oddity:
Better Boozoo choice:
Your keyboard player might find Clifton, Buckwheat, Geno and Natahn and the Zydeco Cha-Chas easiest to cover becasue they use the piano accordion. Most of the others play button accordions which are diatonic like harmonicas
with different notes on push and pull of the bellows. It's harder to get that "chank a chank" sound from a piano accordion because of the different bellows technique.
Clifton Chenier always though of himself as an R&B artist and fought with labels who wanted him to play "the old French stuff". Many of his LPs for Arhoolie have traditional French creole tunes on one side and rocked out blues on the other. Here's an example of the latter.
You can't go wrong with any Clifton album, especially compliations. You'll find something useful for sure.
These are all songs I used to play in zydeco bands.
"Hot Tamale Baby" and "Zydeco Boogaloo" Buckwheat Zydeco (RIP) Buck played organ in Clifton's band, that's why you hear keyboards on his records
"Lake Charles Connection" Chris Ardoin
"French Rocking Boogie" Geno Delafose
"Give Him Cornbread" Beau Jocque
Just about anything by Keith Frank...his sister is the bass player and she's just dripping funk from her fingers
Ditto pretty much any Boozoo Chavis except maybe this oddity:
Better Boozoo choice:
Your keyboard player might find Clifton, Buckwheat, Geno and Natahn and the Zydeco Cha-Chas easiest to cover becasue they use the piano accordion. Most of the others play button accordions which are diatonic like harmonicas
with different notes on push and pull of the bellows. It's harder to get that "chank a chank" sound from a piano accordion because of the different bellows technique.
Zydeco and Cajun are opposite sides of the same coin, roughly, and came about in the earlier part of the 20th century. Jamaican Ska, Blue Beat, and Lover’s Rock, the precursors of Reggae, didn’t emerge until the late 50’s, but I would say that there’s an overall influence perhaps, but more so directly from New Orleans R&B.
I've found that many band mates have a hard time getting a zydeco feel. There's a bit of swing to a lot of it, but the washboard, a la Cleveland Chenier, adds a clanking groove that's not simply swing. Kind of a percussive back beat swing, with a countrified vibe to it. Bon ton roulet!
The song "B-Flat" is about his diatonic push-button Cajun accordion, so the lyric hook is "Oh, B-flat! Oh, B-flat! I ain't gonna play my C no more." The first verse might be Creole/French, the rest is English
Yes, it's Louisiana French in a lot of zydeco but english is still in the majority. If you listen to Cajun (which is not the same thing...zydeco is African-American, Cajuns are settlers who came down from Canada when the British kicked out the French) you'll hear French more often than English.
Yes, reggae and 70s funk (lot of bands cover War's Low Rider and Cisco Kid) are strong elements of zydeco since at least the 1990s. You won't hear any reggae elements in Clifton Chenier, but a ton of it in Keith Frank.
The other big split in the 1990s was moving from four on the floor kick drum patterns to what is called "double clutch" which is syncopated, more like soul or funk kick drum patterns.
Listen to WWOZ (on line) Sunday afternoon, for the Cajun / Zydeco show. You won't understand a word they are saying, but the music is great! Rockin Dopsy is another great artist.
