Chenier Brothers performing at Jay's Lounge and Cockpit,Cankton, Louisiana, Mardi Gras, 1975 Clifton Chenier on accordion, brother Cleveland on washboard and John Hart on tenor saxophone.
Clifton Chenier (June 25, 1925 – December 12, 1987)[1][2] was an American musician known as a pioneer ofzydeco, a style of music that arose fromCreole music, withR&B,blues, andCajun influences. He sang and played theaccordion. Chenier won aGrammy Award in 1983.[1]
Chenier was known as the King of Zydeco,[3] and also billed as the King of the South.[4]
Chenier was exposed to music growing up, as he accompanied his father, Joseph Chenier, a farmer and player of the single-rowdiatonic accordion, to dances. His uncle, Morris Chenier, playedfiddle. Musical influences that he cited from radio wereMuddy Waters,Peetie Wheatstraw, andLightning Hopkins, while local influences included Creole musicians Claude Faulk, Jesse and ZoZo Reynolds, and Sidney Babineaux. Clifton began playing accordion around 1947, and by 1950 was playing in a club inBasile with his brother Cleveland Chenier onrubboard. Before launching a professional music career, Chenier worked in fields and at aGulf Oil refinery inPort Arthur, Texas, outside of whose gates he also played music with Cleveland.[6][7]
Chenier began his recording career in 1954, when he signed with Elko Records and releasedCliston Blues [sic], a regional success.Imperial Records picked up and reissued the single and Chenier cut four more sides for their "Post" subsidiary. These early sides were credited toCliston Chanier. In 1955, he signed withSpecialty Records and garnered his first national hit with his label debut "Eh, 'tite Fille"[6] ("Hey, Little Girl", acover ofProfessor Longhair's song).[1] The release's national success led to numerous tours with popular rhythm and blues performers such asRay Charles,Etta James,Chuck Berry,Little Richard,T-Bone Walker, andLowell Fulson.[6] He also toured in the early days withClarence Garlow, billed as the Two Crazy Frenchmen.[8] Chenier was signed withChess Records in Chicago, followed by theArhoolie label in the early 1960s. Arhoolie gave Chenier exposure to new audiences of blues and rock listeners across the US.[7]
In April 1966, Chenier appeared at theBerkeley Blues Festival on theUniversity of California campus and was subsequently described by Ralph J. Gleason, jazz critic of theSan Francisco Chronicle, as "one of the most surprising musicians I have heard in some time, with a marvelously moving style of playing the accordion ... blues accordion, that's right, blues accordion."[9] Over time, the band expanded to includesaxophone andorgan, and electriceffects pedals, with all melody instruments taking turns at solos.[7]
Chenier was the first act to play atAntone's, a blues club on Sixth Street inAustin, Texas. In 1976, he reached a national audience by appearing on the first season of thePBS music programAustin City Limits.[10] In 1979 he returned to the show with his Red Hot Louisiana Band.[11]
Chenier is credited with redesigning the wood and crimped tinwashboard into thevest frottoir, an instrument that easily hung from the shoulders.[7] He sketched his idea for a metalworker in Port Arthur named Willie Landry, who made the first frottoir.[12] Cleveland Chenier, Clifton's older brother, also played in the Red Hot Louisiana Band. He found popularity for his ability to manipulate the distinctive sound of the frottoir by rubbing several bottle openers (held in each hand) along its ridges.[13] During their prime, Chenier and his band traveled throughout the world.
Chenier suffered fromdiabetes, which eventually forced him to have a foot amputated and required dialysis because of associated kidney problems.[1] He died of diabetes-related kidney disease in December 1987 inLafayette, Louisiana.[14][15][2] A lifelong Catholic, Chenier was funeralized in Opelousas, where two bishops and several priests presided at his funeral. He is buried in All Souls Cemetery inLoreauville.[16]
Since 1987, his sonC. J. Chenier (born Clayton Joseph Thompson) has carried on the zydeco tradition by touring with Chenier's band and recording albums.[17][18] Clifton Chenier's bandmate and protégéBuckwheat Zydeco achieved national success playing the piano accordion.[7]
Paul Simon mentioned Chenier in his song "That Was Your Mother" on his 1986 albumGraceland, calling him the "King of the Bayou."Rory Gallagher wrote a song in tribute to Chenier, "The King of Zydeco" on his last studio albumFresh Evidence (1990).Sonny Landreth recalls growing up on the rhythm of Clifton and Cleveland and the Red Hot Louisiana Band inSouth of I-10, song title and name of the album released in 1995.John Mellencamp refers to "Clifton" in his song "Lafayette", about the Louisiana city where Chenier often performed, on Mellencamp's 2003 albumTrouble No More.Zachary Richard mentions Chenier in his song "Clif's Zydeco" (on Richard's 2012 albumLe Fou). The Squeezebox Stompers' "Zydeco Train" says, "Clifton Chenier, he's the engineer."
The jam bandPhish often covers Chenier's song "My Soul" in live performances.[19] Chenier is the subject ofLes Blank's 1973 documentary filmHot Pepper.
Rockin' The Bop / Country Bred (as Cliston Chanier) (Post 2010, 1955)
Rockin' Hop / Tell Me (as Cliston Chanier) (Post 2016, 1955)
Ay-Tete Fee (Eh 'tite Fille) [= Hey Little Girl] / Boppin' The Rock (Specialty 552, 5/55)
The Things I Did For You / Think It Over (Specialty 556, 8/55)
Squeeze Box Boogie / The Cat's Dreamin' (Specialty 568, 1/56)
Where Can My Baby Be / The Big Wheel (Argo 5262, 2/57)
Standing On The Corner / The Big Wheel (Argo 5262, 2/57) there are two issues of Argo 5262, one with "Standing On The Corner" as the A-side, the other showing "Where Can My Baby Be" as the A-side; they are the same song (with the same matrix number) under two different titles.
Sloppy / My Soul (Argo 5289, 1/58)
It Happened So Fast / Goodbye Baby (Zynn 506, 1958)
Worried Life Blues / Hey Ma Ma (Zynn 1004, 1959)
Night & Day, My Love / Rockin' Accordion (Zynn 1011, 1959)
Bajou Drive (Sloppy) / My Soul (Checker 939, 12/59) reissue
Ay Ai Ai / Why Did You Go Last Night (Arhoolie 506, 1964)
Hot Rod / Louisiana Blues (Arhoolie 509, 1965)
Zydeco Et Pas Sale / I Can Look Down At Your Woman (Arhoolie 511, 1965)
Keep On Scratching / It's Hard (Arhoolie 518, 1966)
Country Boy Now Grammy Award Winner 1984! (Caillier 8401, 1984; Maison de Soul 1012, 1985; Ace CDCH-234, 1988)
Live at the San Francisco Blues Festival (Arhoolie 1093, 1985) recorded 9/12/82
Black Snake Blues (Arhoolie 1038, 1986 re-press with 2 tracks added on; uses same part number)
Sings the Blues (Arhoolie 1097, 1987) recorded 4/01/69
Clifton Chenier – 60 Minutes With the King of Zydeco (Arhoolie CD-301, 1988) reissue of Arhoolie 1082, plus 3 bonus tracks
Live! At the Long Beach and San Francisco Blues Festivals (Arhoolie CD-404, 1993) includes an entire previously unreleased performance at the 1983 Long Beach Blues Festival, plus the reissue of Arhoolie 1093
Zydeco Dynamite: The Clifton Chenier Anthology (Rhino R2-71194, 1993) 2-CD
Squeezebox Boogie (Recorded at the Rising Sun Club, Montreal / August 1978) (Just A Memory/Justin Time JAM-9141, 1999)
Live! At Grant Street (Arhoolie CD-487, 2000) recorded 4/28/81
Clifton Chenier's Rockin' Accordion: A Selection of His Earliest Recordings 1954–1960 (Jasmine JASMCD-3046, 2015)
Clifton Chenier And His Red Hot Louisiana Band Live At Tipitina's / June 7, 1980 (501/Tipitina's Record Club TRC-0306, 2023)
