Folklore cajun (21) - Clément Brothers

Clément Brothers

Description : Terry Clément, accordion; Purvis Clément, fiddle; Grant Clément, guitar. Rare recordings of Diggy Liggy Lo and Valse de 'Tit Maurice from the collection of Ron Brown. Live recordings from the collection of Jack Bond. Many thanks to Ron, Jack, and the Cléments!

It is a pleasure to be able to share with you this music! You will hear three of their records from the 1950s: Valse de 'Tit Maurice, Diggy Liggy Lo, and French Blues. Hard to find material! Then you will hear some later recordings done in a more relaxed, non-studio atmosphere.

From Evangeline, Louisiana, this family has deep roots on the southwest prairies. Ancestors made their way to Louisiana from Marseille, France in the early 1800s, settling in the Grand Coteau area of the old Attakapas country before moving on to present day environs near Jennings. On fiddle and accordion, their father Laurent played the Louisiana French folk music that became the basis of what we know these days as Cajun music, passing on to his sons his considerable knowledge and talents.

The Clément Brothers band have been making wonderful Cajun music since the late 1940s! They were on the scene playing the same clubs in the same time period that so many of our "better known" heroes from the 50s dancehall circuit were active, such as Lawrence Walker, Austin Pitre, Iry LeJeune, Aldus Roger, etc. Their great friend and hero, Nathan Abshire, helped spark a revival of accordion music in the post-war years with a regular engagement at The Pinegrove Club, a dancehall situated just a short way down the road from the Clément home.

In a recent interview Terry told me he was writing a lot of songs in those days. He sang me a folk tune he learned from his father to which he made up some words about Holly Beach, the Cajuns' popular getaway along the Gulf Coast in Cameron parish. That song became a hit for Lawrence Walker called Les Bon Temps Rouler. You may also like to know that Terry wrote and made the first recording of a little song that became a national hit called Diggy Liggy Lo! Allons ecouter!

Valse de 'Tit Maurice	Diggy Liggy Lo
French Blues	Valse d'Evangeline
Jolie Blonde	Mardi Gras Song
Belizaire	Valse Gabriel