The Cajuns, Balfa and Abshire. Balfa Brothers and Nathan Abshire (FRC1. By Dan Foster. A Brief Cajun History. Singing in French. The accent is sometimes hard to understand, especially for somebody who doesn't speak english as its mother tongue. Dry Wood is one of a number of Les Blank's critically. Search: Dry Wood: Entire Folkstreams: Background. Bois Sec and Canray; Mardi Gras; Cajuns and. Directed by Les Blank Les Blank. The world it captures probably looked, sounded and tasted just as good 50 years earlier. Spend It All is a 45-minute study of cajuns and cajun music. Les Blank - Gap-Toothed Women (1987). SPEND IT ALL (director/writer: Les Blank; cinematographer : Les. He claims the Cajuns had it much better then because everyone in the community stuck. A fiddle adds plaintive drones and harmony. A boisterous accordion, all staccato attack and ornate rolls, provides lift and bounce. After releasing another LP, the Balfas appeared in the 1972 Les Blank documentary Spend It All. That year they also recorded The Cajuns on Sonet and another for Swallow, The Good Times Are Killing. The Cajuns of Southwest Louisiana still retain the language. Werner Herzog on Les Blank’s Spend It All - Duration: 10:01. Les blank wELL SPENT LIFE.1972.ABOUT GUITARIST Mance Lipscomb.av. Uploaded 04-26 2013, Size 630.21 MiB, ULed by fech: 0: 1: Video (Music videos) les blank lightninhopkins.bonus. Spend It All (1971) Media Center Video/C 1302. Dizzy Gillespie (1965) Media Center Video/C 3557. God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance (1968) Media. Beneath this trinity of voice, fiddle and accordion, a rhythm guitar and a great iron triangle jangle out a rude chanky- chank. The result is the quintessential sound of the South Louisiana prairies and bayous, Cajun music. The early history of the Cajuns is a tale of endurance against outside forces bent on their destruction. In the seventeenth century, the first European settlers left western France and sailed for the new world. Their destination was Cadie, or Acadia, a region of New France that is now called Nova Scotia. There, they and their descendants lived until 1. British authorities. Many Acadians were deported to English colonies in what is now the southern U. S. More wandered to the West Indies and elsewhere. Most of them eventually ended up as subsistence farmers in South Louisiana, where there was already a French population, and where the Spanish government welcomed Catholic immigrants. In Louisiana, they reconstructed their culture and made modifications to suit their new environment. They had contact with new groups, principally Native Americans and free people of color. This environment allowed Acadians, who in their rough and ready French called themselves “Cadiens” or “Cajuns”, to combine elements of French, Celtic, Spanish, Native American and African music into a new and unique musical genre: Cajun music. This genre had almost two centuries to develop, mature and mellow before the first entrepreneurs and collectors arrived on the scene to make records. The later 1. 95. 0s was another bust time for older styles of Cajun music, as producers moved on to record swamp- pop music, rock and roll performed in many cases by the sons of Cajun musicians. Once again, being Cajun and possessing the French sound, felt by many to be nothing but chanky- chank, was a source of shame rather than pride, and Americanization was the order of the day. Still, many of the greats like Nathan Abshire continued to ply their trade until the American folk revival provided a new outlet for Cajun musicians. Newport’s 1. 96. 4 festival marked the first time a Cajun band played for a national audience. At best, they thought they’d be a novelty act rather than a serious attraction. If you want to download the video torrent les blank SPEND IT ALL ABOUT CAJUNS (1972) you will need a torrent client. Copyright/DMCA; Metasearch; Trackers; Block Annoying Ads. At worst, they feared getting laughed off the stage. But they received a thunderous standing ovation for their performance, and band member Dewey Balfa (who had played with Abshire’s Pine Grove Boys, among other acts) returned to South Louisiana a changed man, a cultural missionary whose goal was to spread the gospel of traditional Cajun music and culture. Along with his brothers, Balfa became an unstoppable force in the world of Cajun music. Nathan Abshire (born June 2. Gueydan, Louisiana; died May 1. Basile, Louisiana) was a Cajun accordion player who, along with Iry Le. Jeune, was responsible for the renaissance of the accordion in Cajun music in the 1. His father, mother and uncle all played accordion; as an adult Abshire recalled that his father played reels on the instrument. Abshire began playing accordion at the age of six and was proficient enough to play at local bals de maison by the time he was eight. Within a few years he was well known throughout southwest Louisiana and in great demand on the dance hall circuit. Abshire’s music was greatly influenced by the legendary Creole accordion player and singer Amede Ardoin; as a young man Abshire sometimes shared bandstands with Ardoin. This influence is reflected in the great infusion of blues Abshire brought to Cajun music; many of his songs bear titles such as Service Blues, French Blues and Pine Grove Blues. Abshire first performed on the accordion in public at age eight. He continued playing at dance halls and parties through his teenage years. In the 1. 93. 0s, he performed with and learned from fiddler Lionel Leleux and accordionist Ame. In 1. 93. 5, he recorded six songs with the Rayne- Bo Ramblers, a group led by guitarist and singer Leroy “Happy Fats” Leblanc. Abshire was active throughout the 1. RCA Bluebird Company in 1. World War II. Abshire served in the U. S. After the war, he settled in Basile, Louisiana, where he played regularly at the Avalon Club. He released his best- known record, “Pine Grove Blues”, in 1. O. T. His Pine Grove Blues, recorded in 1. In the 1. 96. 0s, he became one of the first musicians to take Cajun music beyond the borders of Louisiana, Although a highly respected and influential musician, Abshire was never able to support his family completely with his music. He was, for many years, employed with the town of Basile, Louisiana, where admirers from all over the world would come to see him. Traveling with the Balfa Brothers to concerts and folk festivals throughout the United States and Canada. Abshire also hit his stride as a recording artist in the late 1. Swallow label that included Tramp Sur La Rue, Lemonade Song and Valse De Bayou Teche. Abshire was featured in Les Blank’s 1. Spend It All and the 1. PBS documentary “The Good Times Are Killing Me”. The Balfa Brothers (Les Freres Balfas) helped keep traditional Cajun music alive in the 1. The sons, three of a family of six of a Louisiana sharecropper, from whom they learned about traditional Cajun lore and culture. Fiddler Dewey Balfa was heavily influenced by players such as J. B. Fusilier, Leo Soileau, Harry Choates and Bob Wills. He and his brothers — Rodney, who sang and played guitar and harmonica, Will, the second fiddler, Harry, the accordion player, and Burkeman, who played triangle and spoons — began playing informally at family parties and local gatherings during the . They achieved enough local popularity to play up to eight dances a week at local dance halls. The Balfas were later joined by neighbor Hadley Fontenot on accordion. They made their recording debut in 1. La Valse de Bon Baurche” and “Le Two Step de Ville Platte,” which were captured on a home recorder and released as a 7. Dewey Balfa went on to a solo career playing with numerous Cajun artists and recording on such labels as Khoury, Kajun, and Swallow. In 1. 96. 7, Dewey, Rodney, Will and his daughter Nelda, along with Fontenot formed the Balfa Brothers and began spreading the Cajun sound throughout Europe and at folk festivals across the U. S. In 1. 96. 8, they played for the Olympics Festival in Mexico City. They made their first professional recording, “Le Valse de Bambocheurs/Indian on a Stomp,” in 1. Swallow. This led to an album, Balfa Brothers Play Traditional Cajun Music, also on Swallow. After releasing another LP, the Balfas appeared in the 1. Les Blank documentary Spend It All, which introduced a new generation to the lively Cajun sound. That year they also recorded The Cajuns on Sonet and another for Swallow, The Good Times Are Killing Me, which included the soundtrack for the documentary of the same name. Although most of their musical focus was on tradition, the Balfas were not averse to trying more modernized Cajun songs with a nightclub orchestra comprised of Dewey, Rodney, accordion player Nathan Menard, fiddler Dick Richard, J. W. Pelsia on steel guitar, Austin Broussard on drums and Rodney’s son Tony on bass guitar. Things went well for the band until February 1. Rodney and Will were killed in a car wreck. The next year, Dewey’s wife died of trichinosis. Despite the tragedy, the Balfa Brothers continued (with a few personnel changes) even after Dewey’s death in 1. Through them, his rich and valuable legacy of Cajun music carries on. Both albums show both a love of old French and Acadian folksongs and the skills to make exciting new Cajun music. The concern for history and tradition was a conscious and deeply- felt ideal for the Balfas. One of the most satisfying results is that, unlike most of the musicians mentioned so far, the Balfas recorded songs old enough to have roots in France. Songs like “La Valse du Bambocheur” and “Je Me Suis Marille. On the other hand, Dewey himself wrote some of the songs; he had nothing against innovation, and indeed saw it as essential for the tradition to survive. Two fiddles, one tuned low, two guitars, and a triangle were the Balfas’ instruments, and their friends Hadley Fontenot (Vol. Marc Savoy (Vol. 2) were on hand to add accordion to the band. All 2. 4 tracks are excellent. The vocals are strong and the instrumental blend is beautiful; the second fiddle, mostly played by Will Balfa, adds a particularly rich resonance to their playing on many tracks. This disc’s cleanly traditional live- in- the- studio sound, as well as its clear recording quality, ensure that it will remain classic and undated for years to come. The booklet contains all lyrics (very helpful for anyone who learned their French outside of Louisiana) as well as translations into English. The notes are generally good, but one major error states that the Balfa brothers were the first Cajun band to play at Newport. This is inaccurate; only Dewey was a member of the pioneering Newport group. Dewey Balfa was born in 1. Grand Louis, a small community near Mamou, Louisiana, to Charles Balfa and Amay Ardoin. There was music in the Balfa household from the beginning, with papa Charles playing the fiddle and singing ballads. Dewey’s older brother Will played with his father, and at the age of ten Dewey began to join in as well. In the mid- 1. 94. Musical Brothers and began playing at Hick’s Wagonwheel Club. Along with his brothers Will, Harry, Rodney and Burkeman, Dewey began playing a schedule that would break many musicians today, often playing eight dances a week while holding down a full time job. With the beginnings of rock and roll, however, Cajun music entered a period of decline and the band performed less and less. In 1. 96. 4, Dewey was called in as a last minute replacement on guitar to perform at the Newport Folk Festival. Films of Les Blank. Bay Area Documentary Filmmakers. Les Blank Yum, Yum, Yum! Features tangy music, Marc Savoy, Paul Prudhomme, and other great cooks. Media Center: DVD 3. Video/C 2. 12. 8J'ai . Includes many Cajun and Zydeco greats, featuring Michael Doucet and Beausoleil, Clifton Chenier, Marc and Ann Savoy, D. L. Menard, and many others. Media Center: DVD 3. Video/C 1. 82. 8 Gap- Toothed Women (1. A charming valentine to women born with a space between their teeth, ranging from lighthearted whimsy to a deeper look at issues like self- esteem and societal attitudes toward standards of beauty. Interviews were conducted with over one hundred women, including model Lauren Hutton and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Media Center: DVD 4. Video/C 3. 55. 8In Heaven There Is No Beer? The explosive energy and high spirits of the polka subculture are rendered with warmth and dedication to scholarship in this journey through Polish- American celebrations. Media Center: Video/C 2. Sprout Wings and Fly (1. This touching tribute to Appalachian culture profiles legendary, old- time fiddler Tommy Jarrell. His unpretentious folk wisdom is interlaced with family scenes and reminiscences, plus plenty of old- time music. Media Center: DVD 4. Video/C 1. 82. 8Always For Pleasure (1. Captures the music, food, and street celebrations that typify New Orleans. Media Center: Video/C 1. Hot Pepper (1. 97. Documents the life and music of Black zydeco- blues accordionist Clifton Chenier. Captures the sources of his music in the lives and culture of southwest Louisiana's urban and rural French- speaking Blacks. Media Center: DVD 4. Video/C 1. 30. 5The Sun's Gonna Shine: The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1. A lyrical recreation of Lightnin' Hopkins' decision at age eight to stop chopping cotton and start singing for a living. Media Center: DVD 3. Video/C 1. 83. 5Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. When documentarian Errol Morris was a student and German director Werner Herzog his professor at the University of California at Berkeley (at least this was the relationship as I recall it) Morris approached his mentor with an idea for a film on pet cemeteries. Herzog was so certain of the subject's obscure difficulty, he immediately. Luckily for us Les Blank was around to document it in his 2. Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. It's all rather bizarre, but the impassioned director explained that he held himself to his word for a few reasons: 1) he wanted to acknowledge what he felt was a brilliant effort by Morris, one that utilized its subject to reveal something about humanity; 2) he wanted to show his student audience the importance of setting a goal and following a course that you think is right, ignoring the naysayers. In addition to the shoe- eating scenario, Blank's film provides a stage for Herzog and his theories on filmmaking and life - revealing him as a bold, impassioned and oft- crazed philosopher. Shoe was screened immediately preceding Blank's Burden of Dreams, and it proved both the perfect introduction to Herzog as a person and an essential part of a three- film Herzog/Morris package. Roger Ebert. Chicago Sun- Times. The Films: Dreams (1. Werner Herzog. Media Center DVD 3. Video/C 1. 35. 2Gates of Heaven (1. Errol Morris. Media Center Video 9. Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1. Les Blank. Media Center DVD 4. Video/C 1. 35. 2 Other Les Blank Films in the Media Center. The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists (1. Media Center Video/C 4. Innocents Abroad (1. Media Center Video/C 7. Sworn to the Drum: A Tribute to Francisco Aguabella (1. Media Center Video/C 4. Ziveli! Medicine for the Heart (1. Media Center DVD 4. Video/C 3. 55. 4Del Mero Corazon (1. Media Center Video/C 1. Dry Wood (1. 97. 3) Media Center DVD 4. Video/C 1. 30. 6Spend It All (1. Media Center Video/C 1. Dizzy Gillespie (1. Media Center Video/C 3. God Respects Us When We Work, But Loves Us When We Dance (1. Media Center Video/C 3. A Well Spent Life (1. Media Center DVD 4.
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