Today's song is apparently the first ever Cajun recording - historical! The song is sung in Cajun French (from what I can tell isn't too different from regular French, mostly a different accent) and is about a man asking his girl to go to Lafayette with him and change her name to Mrs. Mischievous. Also and hilariously, the man thinks her beauty outweighs her character. So there's that. Joe and Cléoma (married couple) became pretty popular in the Louisiana and the surrounding regions and this song caused a bit of a stir. What you're hearing is Joe on accordion and Cléoma thumping away there on the guitar. Interesting fact - Joe's music became less popular due to the increase in the popularity of fiddle-based music. Huh.
THE VERDICT:
Holly:
This was apparently the first Cajun recording ever. So I thought that was a cool, historical fact that made this worth a listen. This was definitely not my cup of tea, and I gave it a lot of listens. I appreciate it, but just can’t get behind it really. Also, there’s something I just don’t really like about the sound of the accordion on this recording. Sad side note- Cleoma died at age 34. She was run over by a car and dragged for a quarter of a mile. What a shitty way to go. 2/5
Kelly:
Finally we disagree! I actually really liked how weird this sounded and the grungy sound on the accordion. I actually looked for and listened to a more recently recording of the song, which was also cool. I love this kind of Cajun/Zydeco shit. What I wasn't super crazy about was Joe's "singing", but hey - you can't win 'em all. I really with the guitar were clearer and not so muddy, I love the sound of a really twangy Dobro. 3.5/5
LISTEN:
Allons à Lafayette - Joe and Cléoma
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