tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660857958535448139.post3575257740109276866..comments2024-03-23T15:48:15.416-05:00Comments on Bayou Teche Dispatches: A Glimpse from 1968: Historic Films Looked at Cajuns and Creoles in Epic YearShane K. Bernardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00454946054965548589noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660857958535448139.post-15085508883959229532013-02-18T17:00:43.977-06:002013-02-18T17:00:43.977-06:00The group at the end of the last segment is indeed...The group at the end of the last segment is indeed the first version of Beausoleil, featuring Michael Doucet (on fiddle), Bessyl Duhon (on accordion), Bruce McDonald on (guitar-right), and bothers Kenneth (on mandolin) and Sterling (on guitar) Richard.Barry Jean Ancelethttp://louisiana.edunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1660857958535448139.post-83953286519740504622013-02-15T10:40:22.569-06:002013-02-15T10:40:22.569-06:00Cajun musician Pat Savant, formerly of the Sundown...Cajun musician Pat Savant, formerly of the Sundown Playboys, e-mailed me this nice note and gave me permission to post it here:<br /><br />Dr. Bernard,<br /><br />Thanks for uncovering a wonderful and most memorable part of my childhood. As a young boy, learning to play the Cajun accordion, I grew up watching Aldus Roger and the Lafayette Playboys on KLFY Channel 10 in Lafayette. This was before cable and one had to have an outside antenna to view Channel 10 in Lake Charles. In the TV Guide the program was simply entitled "The Lafayette Playboys". It aired on both Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings. It was the same program with different commercials. I watched both shows. When I finally got a cassette recorder for Christmas, I would record the audio portion of the show.<br /><br />The band playing on the video was comprised of Aldus Roger on the accordion, Phillip Alleman on the steel guitar and the vocalist, Louis Foreman and Tony Thibodeaux on violins, Clarence Alleman on guitar, Gerald Touchet on bass, and Vernon Bergeron on drums. At the time of this writing, I think all of the band members are deceased except for Vernon Bergeron. In my estimation that was THE BAND as far as Cajun music was concerned! The program had such an audience! The show lasted until the fall of 1969. At that time Aldus was having health issues. I was told that when I telephoned KLFY to inquire about the program's cancellation.<br /><br />Back in the 1980s, I visited Jim Olivier at the Channel 10 studios. I asked him if it were possible to obtain a copy of a videotape of the shows. He informed me that none of the videotapes had been spared; all were erased! How could anyone destroy such an important part of Cajun history? I just knew that someone, somewhere had to have a tape.Thanks to the French government for preserving a little bit of our history--even if it is only one song. I wonder if there exists any raw, unedited footage of other songs?<br /><br />Sharing this story with you has brought back fond memories of my passion for Aldus Roger's music. On my album I recorded "Aldus Roger Medley" in his honor. I finally got to meet him in the 1970s and we became good friends. He came to some of my dances and one night I was invited to his house for a gumbo supper along with Wayne Toups and Shine Mouton, the accordion maker from Crowley. At that gathering Aldus gave me a photograph of the band playing on Channel 10. I remember Shine Mouton telling me that he made an accordion for Aldus with multi-colored bellows because the programs at that time were beginning to be colorcasts. That is the same accordion pictured in my photograph and in the video.<br /><br />Thanks for your great work in preserving Cajun history and thanks again for making the video available!<br /><br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Pat SavantShane K. Bernardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00454946054965548589noreply@blogger.com