Photograph by Freddie Herpin.
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
It was a birthday party without traditional cake and candles, but the musical celebration was one that might have made Clifton Chenier look for an accordion to play.
A four-decade play-list of songs that Chenier once introduced to audiences worldwide, was performed as a birthday tribute by a veteran group of Zydeco musicians Saturday afternoon at the St. Landry Parish Tourist Center.
Accordionists Chubby Carrier and L’l Jeff Boutte headlined the commemorative event that included fiddler Bridgett Murphy and Cajun Joe Citizen, who drew celebrity applause when he arrived with his washboard.
The Chenier musical performance was the third in a series of Clifton Chenier June 25 concerts that will stretch through 2025, a year that marks his 100th birthday.
A Louisiana state legislative act in 2021 designated June 25 as Clifton Chenier Day, which recognizes the achievements of the parish musical legend, who received Grammy Lifetime Achievement and Grammy musical awards.
Chenier, the son of a St. Landry sharecropper, was born in the Leonville area and eventually achieved international recognition after playing years in places like Richard’s Club in Lawtell and Jay’s Lounge and The Cockpit in Cankton.
Members of the Richard family attended the Saturday afternoon event that attracted a large crowd. Many of the concert participants circled and danced around those who were seated as Boutte and Chenier sang traditional Chenier songs.
Like Chenier, who died in 1997, Carrier learned to play the accordion after listening to his father play the instrument.
Carrier said that while growing up, he idolized Chenier.
“He (Chenier) and his band were all Zydeco legends. You could call Clifton the Zydeco Ray Charles. I know I used to listen to him all the time early in the morning on the local TV channels. Clifton was like my alarm clock. When I heard him play, I knew it was time to get up,” Carrier said.
Boutte, from the Plaisance area, is making a comeback of sorts.
Earlier this year he introduced a new CD, “I Ain’t Done Yet.” Boutte recalled sitting in once with Chenier and members of his band, an experience that he said eventually led him to purchase a new accordion.
“He took the Zydeco sound and put it on a world stage. (Chenier) also took what you would call the original Creole sound and added some components like a sax and later an organ, that gave it a uniqueness,” said event host Herman Fuselier, executive director of the parish tourist center.
Fuselier said that nearly all of the songs performed at the Saturday event were Chenier originals, such as “I’m Coming Home,” and “Big Mamou.”
Boutte said the influence Chenier had on Zydeco was also personal.
“I started playing by listening to him. For (Chenier) his music represents more of a feeling. It’s Creole and French, but there is also a mixture of blues and Cajun that you hear all blended in,” Boutte said.
