Cajun Music

Subject: Cajun Music
From:
Date: 30 Dec 96 - 09:21 PM

Can someone give me a source of music and words for cajun music? Has someone got a collection we can share over the NET?

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From:
Date: 10 Jan 97 - 10:25 PM

No, but I'd also like Cajun fiddle tunes.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From:
Date: 11 Jan 97 - 01:21 AM

I'm looking for LYRICS & CHORDS or a Cajun (Bayou, old French) trad song in wich chorus we find a string of words I can only write here phonetically; sounds like: "Eh now, eh now, an-oh-an-oh-an-eh, Jacomo fino an-an-eh, Jacomo fi-na-neh". The verses are in clean English though.

This song is sung by Zacharie Richard and others.

No way I could find it up here (northern Quebec). I'd appreciate if you'd ever find this song in your research that you'd remember my e-mail address. Thanks, Jean-Pierre.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Ian
Date: 11 Jan 97 - 12:39 PM

Jean-Pierre,

As I have heard this song, it's called 'Iko Iko' (pronounced Aye-koh) and goes something like this. (Please bear in mind that I've only heard the lyrics, not seen them in print, so the words may or may not be exactly correct - This is just what they sound like.)

Perhaps someone else on this forum has more or can clarify.

Good Luck! - Ian O'Donnell

---------

IKO IKO

CHORUS:

Eh now* (Eh now) Eh now (Eh now)

Iko Iko ah nay

Jacamo** fino ah nah nay

Jacamo fi nah nay

VERSE 1:

My gran'ma 'n' yo' gran'ma

Sittin' by the fire.

My gran'ma said to yo' gran'ma,

"Gonna set yo' flag on fire." CHORUS****

VERSE 2:

My fly boy*** 'n' yo' fly boy

Sittin' by the fire.

My fly boy said to yo' fly boy,

"Gonna set yo' soul on fire." CHORUS****

NOTES:

* In the chorus, the words "Eh now" in the first line are echoed (indicated in parentheses).

** The 'J' sounds more like the French 'Jacques' than the Engligh 'Jack'

*** The 2nd verse could be saying 'flag boy' instead of 'fly boy'. It's hard to tell.

**** The Chorus has a lead-in after the verse. Usually "Talkin' 'bout..."

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From:
Date: 11 Jan 97 - 11:09 PM

I spent a few years in New Orleans listing to all kinds of bands playing Iko Iko. I thought the lyrics to the second verse was "My flambeau to your flambeau", not "flyboy." A flambeau is a marcher in a Mardi Gras parade who carries a torch. I could be mistaken about the lyrics, though.

Terry

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Ian
Date: 12 Jan 97 - 11:18 PM

Terry,

"I'd buy that for a dollar.!" Actually, 'fly boy' didn't really seem to fit the song, but it was the closest thing I could come up with. 'Flambeau' is much better - especially considering the background! (Hmm - Maybe I should've taken the time to learn more French... C'est la vie! :) )

Thanks! - Ian

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From:
Date: 13 Jan 97 - 12:31 PM

I thought it was, "My flight boy said to your flight boy, `Gonna set your flight on fire.'" Which supposedly has something to do with some strange Mardi Gras parade custom. Maybe somebody who actually knows something will set us straight. Incidentally, this song has been recorded by the Grateful Dead and the Belle Stars, and probably hundreds of others.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Ian
Date: 22 Jan 97 - 05:03 PM

I was able to locate a copy of 'Iko Iko' by the Dixie Cups and found a few more lyrics. (See below)

Terry > Unfortunately, after listening to it again (this version at least) the word we had a hardtime with really sounds like 'flag boy'. I can't speak to the meaning behind it, but that's what it sounds like to me.

Hopefully, someone who knows for sure can add more input...?

Slainte! - Ian

---------

IKO IKO

CHORUS:

Eh now (Eh now) Eh now (Eh now)

Iko Iko ah nay

Jacamo fino ah nah nay

Jacamo fi nah nay

VERSES:

Look at that king all dressed in red

Iko Iko ah nay

Betcha five dollars he'll kill you dead

Jacamo fi nah nay Talkin' 'bout... CHORUS

My gran'ma 'n' yo' gran'ma

Sittin' by the fire.

My gran'ma said to yo' gran'ma,

"Gonna set yo' flag on fire." Talkin' 'bout... CHORUS

Look at that boy all dressed in green

Iko Iko ah nay

He's not a boy he's a lovin' machine

Jacamo fi nah nay Talkin' 'bout... CHORUS

My flag boy 'n' yo' flag boy

Sittin' by the fire.

My flag boy said to yo' flag boy,

"Gonna set yo' flag on fire." Talkin' 'bout... CHORUS

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Jan 06 - 04:13 AM

The verse about fly boy is really flag boy.
IT goes something like this

My flag boy and your flag boy

Sittin by the fire

My flag boy said to your flag boy

Gonna set your flag on fire

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Severn
Date: 14 Jan 06 - 09:57 AM

No Lyric or tune source, but "Let The Good Times Roll"- Pat Nyhan, Brian Rollins & David Babb (Upbeat Books 1997) provides a good overview of all Cajun & Zydeco records available at the time.

"Musiciens cadiens et creoles-The Makers Of Cajun Music"-Barry Jean
Ancelet & Elemore Morgan Jr. (U of texas Press 1984) gives an overview of the culture and important individual musicians in both English and French with excellent photography, as well.

But as for lyrics, Arhoolie, one of the major labels putting out the music, usually had both French and English lyrics included on the LPs and, if not, an address to send for them if needed printed on the jacket/booklet.

Folkways/Smithsonian Folkways always include booklets with liner notes and lyrics and you can order extra copies of them, as I've done for yard sale records aquired without their booklets inside.
And the whole Folkways catalog remains in print and is therefore available.

Google Marc Savoy, who has a instrument shop outside of Eunice and he'd probably have books or knowledge of where to find them.

Floyd's Record Shop
Post Drawer 10
Ville Platte, LA 70586
....is a mail order source for Cajun Recordings


Try:

The music page of New Orleans, Louisiana-A Virtual Library http://www.satchmo.com/nolavl/nomusic.html
(Having trouble making a cliky, but the site works)

The other sites from a bibliography didn't.


Happy hunting,
Severn

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: David C. Carter
Date: 14 Jan 06 - 10:20 AM

Wasn't there a guy by the name of-Nathen Abshire,had a band called-The Pine Grove Boys,or something like that.

David

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Severn
Date: 15 Jan 06 - 10:03 AM

Abshire (1915-1981) was an accordian player and leader of The Pine Grove Boys, who at various times included Rodney and Dewey Balfa, and he appeared on Balfa Brothers recordings as well. He was greatly influenced by Amedee Ardoin, for whom he used to spell during breaks at dances in his youth. "Pine Grove Blues" (aka/ "Ma Negresse") in 1949 was his big hit and it still part of the basic Cajun repetoire. He toured colleges and festivals a lot in the 1970's and appeared in several documentary movies.

His accordian case displayed the motto "The Good Times Are Killing Me", and he did struggle with bad health and alchoholism at times in later years.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Bobert
Date: 15 Jan 06 - 10:22 AM

Ummmmmm, once you understand the structure of Cajun music it's easy to play... Greg Stevens, who stops by here on occasion< and his lady Kate have a cajun band called the Boat Band... He spent a week at my house and had me playing the stuff in about 10 minutes but soon as he left I reverted right back nto playing country blues so I can't tell ya'the strcture off the top of my head but you might PM him...

Bobert

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Jan 06 - 11:45 AM

Greetings!

I'm a fan of Zydeco music and Mardi Gras Indian music. See this excerpt about Zydeco music from Encyclopedia of Cajun Music:

"Zydeco is a popular accordion-based musical genre hailing from the prairies of south-central and southwest Louisiana. Contrary to popular belief, it is not Cajun in origin; rather, zydeco is the music of south Louisiana's Creoles of Color, who borrowed many of zydeco's defining elements from Cajun music. (In turn, Cajun music borrowed many of its traits from Creole music.) The word zydeco (also rendered zarico, zodico, zordico, and zologo) derives from the French expression les haricots, meaning "beans." Folk etymology holds that the genre obtained this name from the common Creole expression "Les haricots sont pas salés" ("The beans aren't salty"). This phrase has appeared in many Creole songs, and serves as the title of a popular zydeco recording (also called "Zydeco est pas salé").   Without debunking this etymology, folklorist Barry Jean Ancelet has noted that this explanation has been generally accepted without much critical analysis. He also has observed that variations on the word zydeco appear in black French songs from as far away as the Indian Ocean. Most interestingly, Ancelet contends that Les haricots sont pas salés is a lyrical metaphor for difficult times: in the past, Creoles seasoned their food, such as beans (les haricots), with salted meat — when times were bad, salted meat became too expensive, which explained why "the beans aren't salty." Zydeco is actually the most modern form of Creole music from Acadiana, and it first appeared after World War II, when pioneers of the genre like Clifton Chenier and BooZoo Chavis combined more traditional sounds with new rhythm and blues elements. In fact, the first zydeco-ish recording was Clarence Garlow's hit "Bon Ton Roula," issued in 1949 on the Macy's label.."

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Azizi
Date: 15 Jan 06 - 11:59 AM

Also, with regard to the "flag boys" lyrics that are part of the song "Iko Iko", see the following two websites about Mardi Gras Indians:

"The Mardi Gras Indians revel in revealing their elaborate creations in beadwork, feathers and plumes inspired by the ceremonial and war suits and headdresses of the Plains Indians of the 19th century. They thrive in New Orleans today as the living manifestation of an age-old ritual, preserved and practiced by the descendants of African slaves held captive in America, which goes back to the perambulating societies of West Africa and their call-and-response chants, and to the secret societies of masked warriors which are common to both African and native American cultures.

It's a ritual which continues to live in the mean streets of 21st-century New Orleans and in the hearts of the people of the most run-down, destitute, stripped-bare-and-left-for-dead underclass neighborhoods of the city, where the Wild Indians of Mardi Gras perennially represent the triumph of spirit, creativity, and beauty of song and dance over every obstacle placed in their arduous path.

There's nothing like seeing the Wild Indians in their natural habitat, emerging like eye-popping apparitions in all their magnificent finery out of the doorways of dilapidated inner-city houses and project apartments to strut and swagger down the middle of the beat-up streets where they struggle just like everyone else to make a living and somehow survive the crime, violence, joblessness and grinding poverty of their neighborhoods throughout the rest of the year. That's the real-life context of the Wild Indians of Mardi Gras, and year after year they manage to rise above the morass of daily life to make themselves over as creatures of immense power and beauty.

Every year, starting around Thanksgiving and continuing every Sunday evening until Mardi Gras, the members and followers of each Wild Indian gang meet up at their favorite neighborhood bar to conduct "Indian practice," a torrid ritual where the traditional chants are rehearsed and refreshed, new chants are introduced and prepared for the streets, the thrilling Indian dances and man-to-man confrontations are tried out and tested in action, old friendships are celebrated and warm new alliances may be formed.

The Indian practices are conducted or supervised by each tribe's Big Chief, who generally leads the singing and directs the course of action in this familiar setting. Other lead singers, either tribe members (Spy Boys, Flag Boys, Trail Chiefs, Wild Men) or second-line regulars and one-time Indians who know how it goes, spell the Big Chiefs throughout the evening, showing off their vocal prowess, firm grasp of the idiom, and strength of performance..."
Mardi Gras Indians

-snip-
Big Chief: the leader of a particular Indian gang, and often the oldest member

- Second Chief, etc.: many gangs have underlings of the Big Chief without specific roles, unlike:

- Wild Man: member of the gang responsible for clearing a way through the crowd for the Big Chief, identifiable by horns on his suit and/or staff

- Flag Boy, First Flag, etc: member that carries the large, usually feathered staffs who conveys contact with rivals gangs spotted by the Spy Boy to the rest of the gang

- Spy Boy: member responsible for locating rival gangs and alerting his gang to their whereabouts, so a battle may ensue; often carries a decorated facsimile of a rifle..."

Wild Indians of New Orleans

-snip-

I'm uncertain of the impact of Katrina and its aftermath on the members and families of Mardi Gras Indians groups, and on the traditions of Mardi Gras Indian masking and chanting {not to mention Zydeco music, and New Orleans jazz and blues}. I'm afraid that the impact is likely to have been devastating.

This is a low down cryin disgrace for a nation that prides itself on being the most civilized in the world.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Jan 06 - 02:17 PM

Cajun music is a generic term to refer to the music of French South Louisiana.
There is no better source of information that the bilingual book, "Musiciens cadíens et créoles; The Makers of Cajun Music," by Barry Jean Ancelet, a well-illustrated large-format volume printed by the University of Texas Press. Ancelet was folklorist with the Center for Louisiana Studies of the University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette.
The book was printed in 1984, so some current performers are not discussed, but included are the best-known performers of that time and before, including:
Dennis McGee and Sady Courville (McGee was the best of the old time Cajun fiddlers)
Lula Landry, Inez Catalon and D. L. Menard
Lionel Leleux and Don Montoucet
Varise Connor
The Fontenots and Ardoins (fusion of Black Creole and Cajun)
Clifton Chenier and his Band (urban zydeco)
Zachary Richard
Nathan Abshire
Octa Clark, Hector Duhon and the Dixie Ramblers
The Balfa brotherhood
Marc Savoy (best-known maker of the Acadian Accordian)
Michaey Doucet dit Beausoleil

Included are a discography, Bibliography and Filmography.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Bentley
Date: 15 Jan 06 - 05:17 PM

Cajun Music? Try this link. Cajun Music

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Bob the Postman
Date: 15 Jan 06 - 08:04 PM

Wow. Thanks, Bentley. What a great archive.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Jan 06 - 08:24 PM

Great! Impossible to duplicate. Thanks, Bentley.
Download while you can.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Dead Horse
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 06:06 AM

It amazes me that folk can associate Iko Iko with cajun music. It sure as hell aint!
It may be sung in New Orleans, but so is jaz n blues n I dont know what else!
Cajun is NOT centred in New Orleans anymore than Appalachian Mountain Moosic comes from Memphis!!!
That's the moans outa the way, now for the positive.
Try these links
http://users.erols.com/ghayman/

http://membres.lycos.fr/breric/cajun.htm

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Azizi
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 08:31 AM

Dead Horse:

I agree that Iko Iko isn't Cajun music. See this excerpt from one of my posts to this thread:

"Contrary to popular belief, it [Zydeco]is not Cajun in origin; rather, zydeco is the music of south Louisiana's Creoles of Color, who borrowed many of zydeco's defining elements from Cajun music. (In turn, Cajun music borrowed many of its traits from Creole music.)"

-snip-

I posted to this thread to address earlier comments about the lyrics to the Iko Iko song, and to provide additional information-for the record-about Zydeco and Mardi Gras Indian music.

And since I'm here now, I'm respectfully curious. Is the state of Louisiana the center of Cajun music? If not, where?

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Severn
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 02:02 PM

Dead Horse did not say Louisiana wasn't the center of Cajun Music, just that New Orleans wasn't. It is from the Louisiana countryside, and the very isolation of the places where Creole, Cajun and Zydeco came together, that is to say, swampier land away from some of the Cotton Culture, A second Language left for a while to thrive on its own, and the greater tolerance of these exiled peoples for each other due to the language, and isolation from other Southern Cultures mentioned, as well as economic factors. White and Black often played together at various dances and functions, as I talked of earlier when discussing Abshire learning from Fontenot.

The later changes to the original blendings of the music occurred when the communications revolution brought in Honky Tonk Country, Western Swing and R&B into the equation through radios and jukeboxes. Wartime service for those not excluded from it by language or illiteracy issues took many out of the area briefly to other places. Many from the rural areas also went looking for work in the oilfields and elsewhere and the music spread and mixed even further, leaving French speaking outposts in such places as Houston and the San Francisco Bay area of those who didn't come back but held on to old ways. (Clifton Chenier was "discovered" in Houston and has several albums recorded at live dances in California).

Cajun and Zydeco bands headlining at places like Tipitina's and The Jazz & Heritage Festival and thriving or even being taken seriously in the cities like New Orleans is a fairly recent thing. Most of it started in places like Crowley, Mammou and Breaux Bridge and had to fight through periods of the French culture both Black and White falling out of favor, whether with the young or with the older people themselves reacting to a modern world. Folk Festival appearences, Chitlin' Circuit touring and recordings issued and reissued through the efforts of outsiders like Chris Strachwitz, Tracy Schwartz and Moe Asch helped a great deal in securing national and international recognition for the Real Thing, both ancient AND evolving, and keeping its spirit alive among the practitioners and community that spawned it.

Now you can book a local band to play the music in places like DC or Boston and take dance lessons to learn to two-step and find a Zydeco band booked at many Blues Fests and even Northern Cajun/Zydeco Festivals. In Washington DC you find things like some of Roy Carrier's Zydeco band sitting in with Steve Riley's Mammou Playboys as they both had seperate gigs here on the same day. However, rural French Louisiana remains the center and source point of it all.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 03:04 PM

I remember driving through 'Cajun country' years ago, slightly lost and it was getting dark. We stopped to ask our way and saw a sign outside of a bar, 'Crab 50 cents'. Whole families were there and we ended up sharing a table. The 50 cents bought a beer tray loaded with crabs. And refills. Cold beer was cheap. Music played by a Cajun three-some, no idea of their name and no remembrance of the name of the place, which was just the bar and small grocery-filling station, as I remember it.
Our first real exposure to Cajun music and a never-to-be-forgotten evening! I also remember the sore fingers from dealing with the crabs.

Thanks for the Lycos site. Some of those lyrics are hard to find.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Azizi
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 05:18 PM

Thanks, Severn and Q for the information and for sharing your memories.

I very much appreciate it.

Azizi

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Dead Horse
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 08:10 PM

Zydeco in particular has borrowed from other genres to the extent that even Iko Iko can be found within the repertoir of many Zydeco players.
But it aint "French Music" which is what the cajuns call that part of their own culture.
Zydeco bands often play modern "pop" music and rock n roll classics as well as country and blues, all given the "zydeco treatment".
Cajun can also include country etc if given enough "spice" :-)
I love the music, both cajun and zydeco, and I have never met a cajun I didnt like.
Those folk know how to party, and in my humble opinion, the music is second to none.
If you wish to know just where the so called "centre" of cajun country is, you might try Lafayette. Just a tad further north is Opelousas, which is reputed to be the home of Zydeco. Louisiana is a big state, and only about a quarter of it is "Cajun Country".
New Orleans is a whole other critter. :-)
And for the uninitiated, zydeco is raunchier music, preferred by (mostly) coloured bands, whereas cajun is generally played to a two-step or a waltz time.
Both are all about the dance, the lyrics are crap bg.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Dead Horse
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 08:14 PM

http://www.gumbopages.com/acadiana/ will give you more of an insight into what goes on and where to find it.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST,Sandy Andina
Date: 16 Jan 06 - 08:41 PM

Cajun and Zydeco have intersected more than once in the past few years: witness the bands fronted by Wayne Toups and Zachary Richard (often called the "Cajun Mick Jagger"). Cajun musicians swing through New Orleans, and vice versa, hence the cross-pollination.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: PoppaGator
Date: 17 Jan 06 - 01:29 AM

I'm glad to see that most of the misconceptions expressed early in this thread have been cleared up. Cajun music is from rural Louisiana, not New Orleans, and was pretty much unknown and unheard in the city until about the mid-to-late 1970s. Another decade or solater, when Cajun cuisine suddenly became a big freaking deal, the music got even more attention.

The Mardi Gras Indian secret language bears some relationship to Creole French patois, but is really quite different, and much of the vocabulary is truly secret, or maybe just a put-on involving vaguely Frenchified poetic-sounding nonsense syllables. Only true insiders know for sure; French-speaking Cajuns are no more able to decipher those Indian chants than are English speaking whiteboy hipsters or even, I suppose, black New Orleanians outside the loop of Indian-gang membership.

At least one tribe from New Orleans has relocated en masse to Austin TX, where they expect to hit the streets on Tuesday morning, February 28, 2006. It'll be interesting to see if such a unique cultural expression can be successfully transplanted...

We've had a number threads discussing Mardi Gras Indian culture over the past few years ~ I know because I've participated in several. A forum search might turn up an interesting commment or two.

PoppaGator
New Orleanian in Exile

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Stewie
Date: 17 Jan 06 - 03:19 AM

If you haven't seen it, seek out the DVD of 'Jai ete au bal: Roots of Cajun and Zydeco Music', a film by Les Blank, Chris Strachwitz and Maureen Gosling [Brazos Films DVD BF-103]. The DVD includes 30 minutes of previously unreleased bonus footage. Features Chenier, Balfas, Nathan Abshire, Doucet, Hackberry Ramblers, Delafose etc etc.
First rate!

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Dead Horse
Date: 17 Jan 06 - 04:33 AM

>Cajun musicians swing through New Orleans, and vice versa, hence the cross-pollination.<
Not so. Zydeco became a natural progression WITHIN cajun music, and more especially, from La La rhythms favoured by the black community.
Zydeco was as unheard of in NO as cajun was.
New Orleans has evolved quite seperately from the rest of La Louisiane.
So for that matter has the quisine. Cajun food can seem quite plain by comparrison with some of the fabulous offerings springing up outa Crescent City.
And just as the rest of Louisiana has regional variations, so too has New Orleans. The French Quarter is as typical of New Orleans as the Bowery is of New York, or Soho is of London.
And its all the better for that!

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: greg stephens
Date: 17 Jan 06 - 08:04 AM

There have been many attempts to locate the true heart of cajun country. Mamou and Eunice spring to mind as places to start looking around in to get a handle on just what is going on.
   Re Iko Iko...cajun or not? Cajun, zydeco, and New Orleans Creole can be seen as a separate entiies, and of course they are in one sense. At another level, though, they are so intertwined that you no single one of them makes any historical sense on its own: you've got to consider how they've all influenced each other. In particular, the yawning chasm that tends to separate black and white music in most areas of the south tends to vanish in French Louisiana. Sure, there was racism and segregation galore, but a lot of the music was very close. Think about the 1920's, with Amadee Ardoin(black) playing with Denis McGee(white). What would you be listening to? White cajun? Black Creole? You tell me.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST,Bob Coltman
Date: 17 Jan 06 - 08:56 AM

Yeah, this ain't no disco, this ain't no Cajun. Ought to rename the thread for the immortal "Iko Iko." What about it, Joe???

New Orleans song and music is its own distinct tradition, gumbo creole, a stir-fry of French, black, Spanish, "Indian," and other roots that have more in common with Caribbean music than Cajun.

Nathan Abshire may have done a version, but probably under a different title, not sure & there's too many of his records for me to listen through quickly (I love his stuff). If he did it, remember that Abshire was unique, Cajun in origin but a vast and subtle musician who listened widely (and cried easily, a sweet trait and most endearing).

Queen Ida and the Bon Temps Roule Band may also have done it, as she was a New Orleans staple. Bravo to the Dixie Cups, who learned it from tradition, for smacking the country in the eye with New Orleans' best song.

"Iko Iko" has many more verses than the Dixies used, in fact it picks up verses from everywhere, such as the "Uncle John" portmanteau song. Here are some of the verse I sing, together with a few others I haven't resolved. My main source was a great record of New Orleans piano done years ago by Dr. John, but as you'll see I've picked up a number of verses from other sources as well.

By the way, a "Jockamo" = a jester, jokester.

First is a variant of the "flag" (correct, refers to marchers' roles and competitive practices) verse:

My ma reine to your ma reine    [my queen]
Sittin' by the fire
Says my ma reine to your ma reine,
I'm gonna set your flag on fire.

A variant has "set yo' JAIL on fire" - sounds like Prisoner's Base, doesn't it.
Here's one I can't get some key words to -- help anyone?

We gone down to {? sounds like   "Old a Shone"??}
Iko ...
We don't caretill [?? sounds like "whole sa morn'n"??}
Iko...

Se ma reine down the railroad track...
She put it in a chicken shack...

My li'l boy to your li'l girl,
Get your head on higher,
My li'l girl to your li'l boy,
We gonna get yo' chicken wire   [pron. wyo']

If you don't like w'at the doctor say
Iko ...

You come on down to Becca Town
Iko...
We gone talk about you messin' aroun'
Iko...

[Ain't no use you say what t'do??]
Iko ...
'Cause we ain't gone do what you tell us to
Iko ...

Me big chief, me [remainder not understood] [?? ... town???]
Iko ...
Well, ben' the knee when I walk around,
Iko ...

My ma reine all dress in red,
Iko ...
Injun feather all in e head,
Iko ...

I remember this mornin' I remember it well,
Iko ...
I 'member the day when Uncle John fell,
Iko ...

Note "I remember it well" line is an echo of the one in the Bahamian "I Bid You Good Night" that was picked up by lots of us in the 60s, notably Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band.

Becca Town has huge connotations. It was the "inside name" for the downclass and dive district, overlapping Storyville to some extent, but perhaps excluding the kinds of nightclubs whites frequented. Becca Town belonged to the indigenous culture, the underclass, and when Mr. Man hove into view it was the signal for a variety of reactions from self-protective to hostile.

It's famously said that this is one of the children's street songs that was sung to warn prostitutes and perhaps dopers as well when the heat showed up. Put away your johns, put away your works, make it look like a legit establishment.

Bob

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Azizi
Date: 17 Jan 06 - 05:16 PM

PoppaGator,

You wrote "At least one tribe from New Orleans has relocated en masse to Austin TX, where they expect to hit the streets on Tuesday morning, February 28, 2006."

Which tribe is that?

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST,sklarekestra
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 03:18 AM

DR john says..

My spy Boy...yo spy boy settin on the bayou
my spy boy says t yo spy boy

gonna set yo tail on fire (fi-yo)

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 03:29 AM

Oh yeah..

and I think.. get yo chicken" wyo " may be wild not wire.

But what is fi-nane??

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 08:33 AM

Those persons interested in the song Iko Ikp might be better off checking out the various Mudcat threads on that song, particularly
thread.cfm?threadid=88125
[Iko Iko]and thread.cfm?threadid=23200 [RE: Jacomo finane? What does that mean?]

Those who have a mind to it can also check out this page on my website: http://www.cocojams.com/mardi_gras_indian_chants1.htm

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For those truly interested in Cajun music, one online source of information is http://www.cajunfrenchmusic.org/history/index.htm
"Cajun Heritage" by Maurice Lasserre

Here is an excerpt from that article:
"What Is Cajun Music? Historically, traditional Cajun music is a blend of instrumental sounds and playing styles that were first learned from Louisiana's early settlers and later on from incoming immigrants. Black Creoles contributed rhythms and percussion techniques and improvised such instrumentation as washtubs for drums, kitchen soup spoons and washboards. The Spanish contributed the guitar. The violin and musical triangle have been credited to our settlers from France. German-Jewish merchants imported the accordion from Austria right after it was invented in the early 19th century. Acadians and Creole musicians learned how to coax familiar tunes and invented new ones on this new music-making contraption. The Irish and Anglo-Americans contributed new fiddle tunes and dances such as reels and jigs; and all of this eventually became a gumbo of musical sounds that were perfected into what is now Cajun music. It has a distinctive pattern, it's different from most other music. And, because Cajun music is dance music, one of the most essential elements is rhythm. It has also been said that Cajun music is primitive - it has been likened to ancient wailings from Asia.

Musical Instruments Aand Modern Day Influences Cajun musicians were greatly influenced in the 1930's and 40's by country-western singers and instrumentation. The accordion was not always the lead instrument in a Cajun band and many groups still include an intermix of sound from string, and/or steel and electric guitars to entertain their dancing audiences, and to accompany the vocalist. Today, a typical Cajun band may include the sounds from accordions, fiddles, rhythm-bass-steel, or electric guitars, drums and other percussion instruments such as the steel triangle, modified kitchen soup spoons, and even a musical washboard.

Songs It has been estimated that there are over 9000 Cajun songs that have been recorded since the 1920's and new ones are being composed at an average rate of 33 compact discs per year. Each disc can have as many as 10 to 14 new songs including (of course) some restyled old songs"...

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Azizi
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 08:49 AM

Correction: "Iko Ikp"="Iko Iko"

****

Of course, if you're interested in information on Cajun music, you could read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun_music

And you could check out YouTubes videos such as these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUPfmyX4EY&mode=related&search=

Harry LaFleur - Grandfather's Dance

Added October 27, 2006: From StAlphege
"From 'Aly Meets The Cajuns" UK TV 1980's From 'Aly Meets The Cajuns" UK TV 1980's Documentary . Harry and Aly Bain perform "Grandfather's Dance"

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZvNuC7KiEA&mode=related&search=

DL Menard - My Back Door

Added October 03, 2006;From StAlphege
"DL Menard performs his cajun classic My DL Menard performs his cajun classic My Back Door"

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST,thurg
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 09:16 AM

People, you've got to check out this site; there are several wonderful films about Cajun music and culture, among many other delightful things: http://www.folkstreams.net/ .

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Tweed
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 10:49 AM

GUEST thurg is right Folkstreams has loads of full length movies of....folk music, folk tales, folk blues...gandy dancers. It's all there and it's free to watch.

Tweed

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Tweed
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 11:53 AM

Aslo,

Check out KBON Radio for the best all around Louisiana Music on this internet.

They play plenty of just about everything you would want to hear.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 01:25 PM

I turn on KBON about once a week to get a Louisiana fix. No urban stuff.
Sunday 7AM-12Noon Central- Cajun
Mon-Fri 5AM-6AM Central- French Cajun
Sat 7AM-12Noon- Tee-Cajun's Cajun show
And etc. Also some swamp pop.

Please donate $15 if you like it.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST,Scoville at Dad's
Date: 25 Nov 06 - 10:47 PM

Second KBON--great fun.

Lost Bayou Ramblers

Pine Leaf Boys

Balfa Tojours (I love these guys/gals)

And the Red Stick Ramblers are Cajun swing.

Note: NONE of these are zydeco. Some have overtones of it on some tracks but these are all based in the Lafayette area and are Cajun. It's like bluegrass and old-time; it's related, but it's not the same thing.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: melodeonboy
Date: 13 Mar 09 - 06:16 AM

Unfortunately, KBON now appears to be a subscription only station. It's still worth the money if you listen to it regularly as they play great stuff that you won't hear elsewhere.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Dead Horse
Date: 13 Mar 09 - 12:27 PM

Check out this new site

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST,cajunlady plus
Date: 25 Apr 10 - 12:58 PM

That is not a cajun french song is it?
I am for Louisiana and play guitar with a cajun music group...
I have a disc and cords for serveral songs.

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST,bankley
Date: 25 Apr 10 - 02:13 PM

Hey cajunlady plus... what part of LA are you from ? I met Dewey Balfa a couple of times before he died... visited with DL at his place, partied with Toups, and hung out a bit with Sonny Landreth.. got to meet Bruce Daigrepont and Waylon Thibodeau.. I ran into Christine Balfa a couple of times on the festival circuit... there's so many good 'uns down there.. I was lucky sha... bienvenue d'ens bas d'Ontario..

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 01:59 PM

My flag boy and your flag boy sitting by the fire, my flag boy to your flag boy, "I'm gonna set your your flag on fire".

Subject: RE: Cajun Music
From: Collingsgirl
Date: 22 Jun 10 - 10:04 PM

Check out Al Berrard and Errol Verret's "C'est Dans La Sang Cajun". Great stuff, lots of waltzes, and the real deal. You can also catch PeTe's Cajun Bandstand streaming on KPFT Pacifica Radio Houston's website. He's been on the air for years.