Dickie Landry knew the look well. ӰרWhen Clifton closed his eyes, he was in Nirvana. He was gone,Ӱר he recalled. A photographer and musician, Landry observed Clifton Chenier both through a camera lens and from the stage when, on occasion, heӰרd play saxophone with the King of ZydecoӰרs Red Hot Louisiana Band. The first time was in 1972, at The Dipsy-Doodle, a club near Grand Bois, La., in Lafourche Parish. Landry had brought his horn and asked regular saxophonist John Hart if he could sit in with the band. Hart asked Chenier, who turned to the microphone and told the crowd, ӰרWell, we got a white boy from Cecilia whoӰרs gonna try to play this zydeco.Ӱר Not wanting to overstay his welcome, Landry tried to leave after a few songs. Chenier wouldnӰרt hear of it. ӰרHey, white boy, stay on the stage. You are doing it right!Ӱר
Landry started sitting in with Chenier anytime he could, and on nights when he didnӰרt bring his sax, heӰרd bring his camera. And thatӰרs how Ӱר on a subsequent night that same year, at JayӰרs Lounge & Cockpit near Cankton, La., not too far from ChenierӰרs birthplace in Opelousas Ӱר he captured the look. JayӰרs wasnӰרt a big club, but music, dancing and rooster fights packed it most weekends. Gumbo made with the losing fowl simmered on a stove. Cigarette smoke was thick and the one bulb hanging from the stageӰרs low-slung ceiling offered little light. But Landry raised his camera, framed Chenier and his brother Cleveland Ӱר one armored by a massive piano accordion, the other mid-stroke on a frottoir Ӱר and captured Nirvana. ӰרThere must be thousands of pictures of Clifton on stage, but most of them are with his crown and his eyes open, his big smile and everything. This is intense. HeӰרs really into it. You can tell heӰרs into the music.Ӱר
ӰרThe Year of ChenierӰר
In what has been dubbed ӰרThe Year of Chenier,Ӱר the photograph that Landry Ӱר a Ӱר graduate Ӱר took that night has gone global as the cover art for "A Tribute to the King of Zydeco," released this summer by Valcour Records to coincide with what would have been ChenierӰרs 100th birthday. (Another UL Lafayette alum, Grammy-nominated designer Megan Barra, designed the albumӰרs cover). The star-studded disc Ӱר its opening track features The Rolling Stones with frontman Mick Jagger singing ChenierӰרs ӰרZydeco Sont Pas SaléӰר in surprisingly convincing Creole French Ӱר has placed the King back in the spotlight nearly 40 years after his death. More than anyone, Chenier defined zydeco, exported the musical genre from its southwest Louisiana cradle and, through live performances and commercial recordings, delivered its authenticity and power worldwide. , , , , , and , among others, published stories about the tribute and its honoree. Ӱר the venerable music magazine, not the band Ӱר did two stories, while family of newspapers in Louisiana did no fewer than six.
The tribute also has brought attention to UL Lafayette. Valcour, an independent record label based in Eunice, La., worked with ChenierӰרs estate to create the at the Ӱר. It will support students studying zydeco accordion in the Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Chair in Traditional Music. Proceeds from the album will benefit the fund. ӰרWe wanted to give back to the community that this music came from,Ӱר said Joel Savoy, who co-produced the album along with Steve Berlin of the rock group Los Lobos and John Leopold, former director of the Arhoolie Foundation. Savoy is ValcourӰרs founder and a member of one of the regionӰרs most prominent musical families.
ӰרWe are at the epicenter of Cajun and zydeco music,Ӱר he told La Louisiane. ӰרIӰרm in St. Landry Parish. This is where the music comes from. Clifton was born Ӱר what? Ӱר 15 miles from here, maybe? That music is in the air. ItӰרs everywhere. You canӰרt avoid it. And I think thatӰרs one of the things that makes South Louisiana so magical. ItӰרs gonna get to you. ItӰרs always on the radio. You hear it at parties. You hear it outside. You hear it in restaurants. You hear it everywhere. ItӰרs just inescapable.Ӱר
ӰרNo Zydeco until CliftonӰר
So, too, is ChenierӰרs influence on American music.
In his new biography of Chenier, longtime music journalist and cultural advocate Todd Mouton compared the KingӰרs seminal influence to that of reggaeӰרs Bob Marley or blues icons Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. Each Ӱרforged a new sound.Ӱר Chenier Ӱרindelibly changed the world of music and culture,Ӱר Mouton wrote. Other commentators have compared Chenier to jazzӰרs Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker. In an interview with Spin magazine, singer-songwriter Steve Earle, who appears on the tribute, likened Chenier to Bill Monroe. He Ӱרinvented an American art form. There was no bluegrass before him. There was no zydeco until Clifton.Ӱר
Yet when Chenier was born a century ago on June 25, 1925, the newspaper in nearby Opelousas, La., published no birth announcement for him. That was typical. In that time and place, the children of Black sharecroppers Ӱר even those who would go on to change music forever Ӱר received no such welcome. But when Chenier died 62 years later, on Dec. 12, 1987, news of his death flashed around the globe and was carried in publications in the far-flung places where he had played and where his music had found disciples. He had achieved a kingly status that he dared others to dispute. Chenier had taken Ӱרla-laӰר Ӱר the Creole house dance music of his rural upbringing that he had heard his father, an accordionist, and others like Amédé Ardoin and Sidney Babineaux play Ӱר and infused it with horns, organs and guitars and declared it Ӱרzydeco,Ӱר a derivation of les haricots, French for Ӱרsnapbeans.Ӱר (One of his signature songs, ӰרZydeco Sont Pas Salé,Ӱר translates to Ӱרno salt in my snapbeans,Ӱר a reference to hard times.)
ChenierӰרs music was, at its core, the blues, but his blues was different than anything that came from Chicago or the Mississippi Delta. He was both a traditionalist and a stylist, blending the musical forms of his native southwest Louisiana, Creole and Cajun, with soul, country, big band, R&B and rock ӰרnӰר roll. He sang in French. And his massive, 40-pound piano accordion, backed by his brother ClevelandӰרs frottoir (a vest-style corrugated metal rubboard played with beer bottle caps that Chenier himself had designed), gave the music the signature textures that he would carry with him to dancehalls and nightclubs close to home Ӱר the Blue Angel, the Bon Ton Rouey, SlimӰרs Y-Ki-Ki, the Casino Club and WillieӰרs Purple Ӱר and to places far removed Ӱר Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Royal Albert Hall in London, among others. At SwitzerlandӰרs Montreux Jazz Festival, he told the mostly francophone crowd, ӰרI speak French, too, but itӰרs a different language.Ӱר
In the 1940s, Clifton and Cleveland honed their craft at house dances throughout southwest Louisiana and neighboring Texas. ӰרThey didnӰרt have no clubs,Ӱר Clifton Chenier told Ann Savoy in a 1984 interview. (Savoy is the mother of Joel Savoy; she and her husband, Marc, are both acclaimed musicians and cultural forces). ӰרTheyӰרd move all the furniture off to the side, clear the room up and theyӰרd dance in there.Ӱר ChenierӰרs son, C.J., further explained to NPR: ӰרYou would pay a nickel to go in or something like that, and theyӰרd serve fish and zydeco beans, les haricots. That was a Friday night party. You know, thatӰרs where it started Ӱר just an accordion and the washboard and a whole bunch of people in the house having a party.Ӱר The brothers moved first to Lake Charles, La., then to southeast Texas, where Clifton got a job at an oil refinery. Laid off, he decided to pursue music full time. The brothers traveled the Ӱרchitlin circuit,Ӱר a network of juke joints and nightclubs with a primarily Black clientele.
His first recording contract came in 1954. ӰרLouisiana StompӰר and ӰרCliftonӰרs BluesӰר for Elko were among the earliest recorded examples of zydeco. The following year, he joined Specialty Records, which released his first hit, ӰרAy-Te Te Fee.Ӱר Chenier would go on to record for several other labels, where he rubbed shoulders and performed on package shows with some of the great names of R&B and early rock ӰרnӰר roll: Etta James, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Bobby Bland, Junior Parker, T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner, Jimmy Reed and Chuck Berry.
ChenierӰרs national breakthrough came in 1963 when Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records heard him perform in Houston and recorded him the next day. Strachwitz, who founded the California-based label to spotlight non-mainstream music, went on to release more than a dozen Chenier records, several of which Ӱר Louisiana Blues and Zydeco, King of the Bayous and Bon Ton Roulet Ӱר are considered masterpieces. The discs captured Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band at their peak and introduced them to their widest audience yet.
By the 1970s, with classic recordings and countless road miles under his belt, Chenier had become more than a seasoned ambassador for Louisiana music. He was a self-proclaimed king and an acknowledged showman, often appearing on stage in a crown with bulky costume rhinestones set in its arches. Sometimes, he wore a cape over his business suit, and rings would reflect stage lights so it appeared, as he squeezed and released the accordionӰרs bellows and his hands danced across its keys and buttons, that his fingers were on fire. But beyond costuming, Chenier cloaked himself in an unabashed confidence that emerged in interviews and peppered the blistering four-hour performances that were typical. A Chenier show, Ӱרwas like leaving Earth for a little while,Ӱר remembered Los LobosӰר Steve Berlin. A co-producer of the tribute album, he saw the King perform in Los Angeles in the late 1970s. Added Grammy Award-winning musician John Cleary, who appears on the tribute: ӰרHeӰרd be up there, sweating in a suit and tie, a giant crown on his head Ӱר and the groove was relentless. HeӰרd be wailing a slow blues, a waltz and then bust into straight zydeco.Ӱר
ChenierӰרs musical dexterity enabled him to reach live audiences in ways other musicians could not, and zydecoӰרs embrace of different musical forms offered Chenier a freedom that he fully exploited on stage. ӰרWhatever they ask for, if I know it, thatӰרs it, we play it,Ӱר he said. ӰרIt makes me feel good if I make them feel good.Ӱר
Dickie Landry produced a blues showcase in 1978 at Carnegie Hall and insisted that Chenier be on the bill. Though initially reluctant, other producers relented, and the King joined a lineup that included John Lee Hooker, LightninӰר Hopkins and Honeyboy Edwards. Technical difficulties and other hiccups delayed the show; Chenier didnӰרt take the stage until 11:30 p.m., some three and a half hours after it had started. In an interview with La Louisiane, Landry said Chenier walked out on one of the nationӰרs most storied stages, wearing his crown and a red suit, looking Ӱרlike a king,Ӱר only to be greeted by tepid applause from an audience that was exhausted. ӰרAnd the first words out of his mouth, he says, ӰרI know IӰרm supposed to play some zydeco tonight, but I wouldnӰרt be here if it werenӰרt for the song ӰרJolie Blonde.ӰרӰר A few bars into the waltz Ӱר revered as the ӰרCajun National AnthemӰר Ӱר and the audience was up dancing in the aisles. In its review of the show, The New York Times noted the instant connection between the King and his court, concluding that ӰרMr. ChenierӰרs Red Hot Louisiana Band played the best blues of the night.Ӱר For the remainder of his days, Chenier called Landry Ӱרthe man who brought me to Carnegie Hall.Ӱר
Toward the end of his life, Chenier sat down for an interview with journalist and author Ben Sandmel in which he reflected on his beginnings and the long climb to musical immortality. It all seemed preordained, he said. ӰרI never thought I would hit Europe, but I know one thing: the way I was playinӰר that accordion, it was going to go somewhere. I mean, I ainӰרt bragging about it, but I knew what I had goinӰר was goinӰר to go somewhere, and thatӰרs what it did. I been to all kind of countries, man, and what makes me feel good, every country I hit, I ainӰרt never heard nobody say, ӰרI donӰרt like this music.Ӱר Never.
ӰרAll I can tell the world is this,Ӱר he continued. ӰרBe what you are, and do what you think is best, and always have confidence in your own self. And thatӰרs it, thatӰרs who I am. If I feel like IӰרm going to do something, IӰרm gonna do it, and IӰרm gonna do it right.Ӱר
ӰרA Red-Hot RockerӰר
Based on the plaudits he received while he lived and after he died, Chenier must have done something right. His album IӰרm Here earned a Grammy Award in 1984; he was the first Creole musician to receive American musicӰרs most prestigious honor. That same year, the National Endowment for the Arts named him a National Heritage Fellow. Bogalusa Boogie, a 1976 Arhoolie recording, entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011 and the Library of Congress placed it on the National Recording Registry in 2016. He earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014, the same year as The Beatles.
But perhaps the greatest measure of ChenierӰרs resonance were the musicians he inspired, near and far. Close to home, Buckwheat Zydeco (the stage name of Stanley Dural Jr.), Terrance Simien and Nathan Williams Sr. all have cited him as an influence. C.J. Chenier backed his dad for nine years as a saxophonist and today carries his fatherӰרs musical legacy as leader of the Red Hot Louisiana Band. In an interview with La Louisiane, C.J. Chenier recalled advice his dad once imparted: ӰרWhen you get on stage, when you play that accordion, you play it. You donӰרt play with it.Ӱר
And, as the roster of musical stars on A Tribute to the King of Zydeco shows, respect for Chenier transcends any single genre, mirroring the broad influences that shaped his own sound. ӰרI like it all,Ӱר he once said. Appropriately, the tribute pairs guest artists with stalwarts of South Louisiana music: Lucinda Williams with Tommy McLain; Charley Crockett and Nathan Williams Sr.; Taj Mahal and Keith Frank; Steve Earle with Anthony Dopsie; Jon Cleary with Curley Taylor; Marcia Ball and Geno Delafose; Jimmie Vaughan with Johnny Nicholas and Steve Riley; Shannon McNally and Molly Tuttle with Keith Frank; Ruben Ramos with Los Texmaniacs and Augie Meyers; and C.J. Chenier and David Hidalgo. The album concludes with C.J. Chenier Ӱר backed by Sonny Landreth, once a member of the Red Hot Louisiana Band Ӱר singing ӰרIӰרm Coming Home,Ӱר one of Clifton ChenierӰרs best known and most emotional songs. In its review, Spin magazine said, collectively, the tracks are Ӱרa fiery run through blues, swamp-boogie and jump-jive, with a handful of ballads for changes of pace. It manages to stay true to the honoree, without anyone imitating him.Ӱר
Then thereӰרs the opening track: ӰרZydeco Sont Pas SaléӰר by The Rolling Stones, one of the most durable and legendary bands in rock history. Chenier first recorded the song in 1965, and Stones frontman Mick Jagger tackles its Creole French lyrics with ease, while Keith RichardsӰר Telecaster dances seamlessly with Steve RileyӰרs accordion. Spin called the cut a Ӱרred-hot rocker, arguably as smoking as anything the band had done in years. Maybe more so.Ӱר The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, said the song Ӱרmight be the loosest, rawest Stones recording since Exile on Main Street,Ӱר released in 1972. Guitarist and producer CC Adcock, who oversaw the Stones session (as well as the Williams-McLain duet on ӰרRelease MeӰר), told veteran music columnist Herman Fuselier that the song gave him ӰרfrissonsӰר Ӱר chill bumps.
But it almost didnӰרt happen.
ӰרThe OneӰר
Mick Jagger first heard a Clifton Chenier record in 1965 during The Rolling StonesӰר second tour of the United States. ӰרIӰרd never heard the accordion in blues before,Ӱר the British rocker recalled in The Atlantic. In another interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he said what he heard from Chenier was Ӱרblues, an interesting, different kind of blues.Ӱר In a 2020 conversation, Jagger said, ӰרClifton was a great influence on me. I love the way he just grabs a blues number and adapts it to his style.Ӱר
In 1978, Dickie Landry was in Los Angeles performing with the Philip Glass Ensemble, and he went to a house party where Jagger was among the guests. Hearing LandryӰרs distinctive accent, the rocker asked him where he was from. When he replied ӰרSouth Louisiana,Ӱר Jagger responded: ӰרClifton Chenier, the best band I ever heard, and IӰרd like to hear him again.Ӱר
As luck would have it, Chenier was in Los Angeles too, performing at a benefit at Verbum Dei Jesuit High School. Los Angeles had an enclave of Creole expats who had left Louisiana during World War II for job opportunities in CaliforniaӰרs defense industry, and Chenier was a regular attraction there. Landry called Chenier and told him he was bringing Jagger to the next nightӰרs show. ӰרWhoӰרs that?Ӱר the King asked of one of the worldӰרs most famed musicians. ӰרHeӰרs with The Rolling Stones,Ӱר Landry replied. ӰרOh yeah. The magazine. They did an article on me,Ӱר Chenier said.
The next night, when he and Landry arrived at the school gymnasium, Jagger hesitated. He didnӰרt want to be mobbed, and he didnӰרt want to take attention away from Chenier. Landry assured him it would be OK. As they entered and throughout the evening, no one seemed to recognize Jagger and, at nightӰרs end, crowd members brushed passed him to get ChenierӰרs autograph.
Jagger and Landry next saw each other more than four decades later, when The Rolling Stones performed at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Jagger, Landry and producer CC Adcock, who was friends with JaggerӰרs children and also had connections with Keith Richards, had lunch with others the next day at AntoineӰרs, the historic restaurant in New OrleansӰר French Quarter. Jagger reminisced about that night at Verbum Dei, but Landry and Adcock had the future in mind.
As plans for A Tribute to the King of Zydeco were taking shape, co-producers Joel Savoy and Steve Berlin had asked Adcock for ideas on what musicians might agree to appear. The Rolling Stones Ӱר whose blues, early rock and R&B influences make them kindred spirits with Chenier Ӱר came to AdcockӰרs mind immediately. The producers didnӰרt hold their breath. In their 60-plus years as a group, the band had never done a tribute album before. ӰרThe Stones are usually the worshipped, not the worshippers,Ӱר Herman Fuselier wrote in The Acadiana Advocate newspaper.
Adcock was undeterred. ӰרI just sensed that it was something kinky enough that theyӰרd be into,Ӱר Adcock told American Songwriter. He first approached RichardsӰר camp but heard nothing definitive back.
The lunch at AntoineӰרs was his chance. He mentioned the tribute to Jagger, who instantly said, ӰרI want to sing something.Ӱר
A few weeks later, Jagger asked what songs had been chosen by the tributeӰרs other participants. The list surprised him Ӱר ӰרZydeco Sont Pas SaléӰר was absent. Adcock recalled: ӰרHeӰרs like, ӰרIsnӰרt that the one that whole genre is named after? If the Stones are gonna do one, shouldnӰרt we do the f---ing one, man?ӰרӰר
Having Jagger on board was a coup, but getting the remaining Stones Ӱר Richards and Ronnie Wood Ӱר in place took several more months. In the meantime, production on the album continued, Savoy told La Louisiane. By December, the record was at the pressing plant without The Rolling Stones on it. ӰרThe test pressings had been approved, the artwork was finished, jackets were going to print. And then we got word that The Rolling Stones wanted to be on the record. So, we stopped everything. We completely re-sequenced, redid the artwork. We had to remaster, do new lacquers, everything. We basically just stopped and redid everything to be able to include their track,Ӱר Savoy said.
Sometimes, you can get what you want.
ӰרThat Was Clifton ChenierӰר
ӰרThereӰרs no bigger star on this earth than my daddy,Ӱר an unapologetic C.J. Chenier told La Louisiane. ӰרThere might be some better known than him but, to me, Clifton Chenier is the Almighty.
ӰרWhen it comes to zydeco, I donӰרt think he could not matter,Ӱר he continued. ӰרMan, who knows what this music would be right now, or if it would be, because somebody had to take it and bring it other places for other people to hear. You know, it was contained in Louisiana for a long time, and it was a local party, but he took that local party and made it worldwide.Ӱר
As ӰרThe Year of ChenierӰר continues, more celebrations are forthcoming. A tribute concert is planned for September at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in Lafayette; it will feature C.J. Chenier and is already sold out. In November, Smithsonian Folkways and the Arhoolie Foundation will release a box set on CD and vinyl. Its 67 tracks will include 19 previously unreleased cuts. (Earlier this year, Arhoolie, Valcour and Smithsonian released a 7-inch, 45 rpm vinyl recording that featured both ChenierӰרs and The Rolling StonesӰר versions of ӰרZydeco Sont Pas Salé.Ӱר Visual artist , a UL Lafayette graduate, designed the cover.)
In ChenierӰרs centennial year, the tribute album and original releases are delivering the potency of his zydeco to fresh audiences and earning new subjects for the King. Dickie Landry saw the power of ChenierӰרs music firsthand many times throughout their friendship. He recalled a party he attended in Moscow, the capital of what was then the Soviet Union, while he was there for a theater production. ӰרI went to this apartment, and they were playing rock ӰרnӰר roll, and nobody was dancing. So, I pulled out a cassette of Clifton Chenier.Ӱר Soon, Ӱרthey were dancing on the tables.Ӱר It was Carnegie Hall all over again Ӱר with a little South Louisiana house party thrown in for good measure. (As Chenier once noted, ӰרIf you canӰרt dance to zydeco, you canӰרt dance, period!Ӱר)
ӰרHe was Clifton, wherever he wentӰר Ӱר revered at home, respected globally and confident in his influence, always Ӱר Landry said. ӰרIӰרll quote him by saying: ӰרIf youӰרre going to be something, be something.Ӱר If youӰרll be nothing, be nothing.Ӱר That was his motto. He wanted to be known. It was a joy to see him perform. It was a joy to speak to him. And putting that crown on his head and going, ӰרIӰרm the kingӰר Ӱר how can you dispute that?
ӰרThat was Clifton Chenier, king of zydeco.Ӱר
Photo caption: (top) Clifton Chenier plays the first ӰרTribute to Cajun Music,Ӱר a 1974 concert in Blackham Coliseum that later became Festivals Acadiens et Créole. Photo credit: (top) Philip Gould / The Image Bank Unreleased via Getty Images
