Clifton Chenier’s propulsive bi-lingual blend of rhythm & blues and traditional Creole music set the standard for all who followed the zydeco trail he blazed. His renown was such that not only was he hailed as the undisputed “King of Zydeco,” he was such a force on his home turf in Louisiana and Texas that he was also billed as the “King of the South.” Releases on Specialty and Argo, some of them hard driving accordion boogies, brought him national attention in the 1950s and during one of his 1957 tours Billboard reported him to be “King of the R&R Accordion.” Undoubtedly his bluesy accordion work, so unlike what most audiences were used to, gave him novelty appeal to new audiences at the time, but his strongest base remained among the French-speaking black and Creole population back home. (Chenier was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, on June 25, 1925, but spent much of his career in Houston.) A long and productive association with Arhoolie Records beginning in 1964 served as a springboard to send him far and wide as he and his aptly named Red Hot Louisiana Band introduced zydeco to international audiences at blues clubs and festivals; in addition to selling his albums worldwide, Arhoolie also released a steady stream of 45s to service jukeboxes in South Louisiana and East Texas, where Chenier continued to rule the roost at zydeco dances. Of all the blues artists who recorded as prolifically as Chenier did, very few managed to retain such a high level of artistic quality throughout – one who comes to mind was his cousin by marriage, Lightnin’ Hopkins (who had recommended Clifton to Arhoolie). Chenier’s family legacy extended to his brother Cleveland, several cousins, and a son, C.J., who carried the tradition on in fine fashion after Clifton died in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Dec. 12, 1987. While many wondered who would inherit Clifton’s crown,
and title was unofficially bestowed on Rockin’ Dopsie and later on Buckwheat Zydeco, Buckwheat himself asserted, more than 20 years after Chenier’s death, that there was and would be only one “King of Zydeco”-Clifton Chenier.
— Jim O’Neal
www.stackhouse-bluesoterica.blogspot.com