What nobody likes to think about
February 9, 2018
Aphrodite will roll as scheduled
February 9, 2018
“So many stories to tell—So little time to tell them”. (Mark Twain) Well maybe ole Mark didn’t use those exact words, Lee. (Come to think it about since he hired me to replace Vin Bruce, he might have not been a genius after all.)
We played every juke joint, honky tonk and dance hall in Lafourche and Terrebonne and other Parishes and especially The Lovely Inn and French thousands died during prohibition from bad liquor there were almost 5 more but thanks to my excellent taste buds, we lived to play again.
(Following are my personal opinions)
I have just finished reading my Christmas gifts, Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Patton” and “Killing the Rising Sun”. Although I knew about World War II, I was amazed and mesmerized by the graphic and vivid stories of the cruel, brutal and inhumane treatment of American prisoners of war by the Germans and Japanese. It is inconceiv able the price they paid (over 400,000 dead) for the freedom we enjoy and sometimes abuse. I believe that those two books should be edited into text books and taught in every school. A fat chance of that ever happening, but it’s my opinion and I’m sticking with it. BYE NOW!
but he expressed those sentiments several times and they fit me to a “T”.
I spent most of my late teens and early adult life either playing music or partying on Grand Isle. I first played music with Dudley Bernard who had formed a band when he returned from the army. Harry Anselmi and I also spent many pleasant days at the Grand Isle camp of Jimmy Davis, where we would play guitar while he sang to his guest. Although he posed many times with a guitar Jimmy could actually not play one.
Dudley Bernard, Stillman “Snake” St. Pierre and Randolph Cheramie from Golden Meadow had lied about their age and joined the army in a patriotic mood before Pearl Harbor and World War II. Because they had intensive training and had each achieve higher rank before the war started, all three came back alive and well, unlike many of my Cajun friends who did not come back at all like Aramise Cheramie and Nolty St. Pierre or Tiges Martin who lost the use of the right side of his body and Bertman Pitre who lost his leg. (See my comments at the end of this column)
Stillman went into the oil fields, Randolph went into the restaurant business and Dudley formed a band called “The Southern Serenaders” and in a stroke of genius hired me to play in it. (Just kidding but you know the old saying “if you do not toot your own horn, that horn will not be tooted”) Anyway he thought I was good enough to play in his band. We became best friends and I served at his wedding to Mary Casino in Chenier and Smitty’s Casino, Tony’s Rendezvous, Kohnman’s Beach Haven and the Tarpon Rodeo on Grand Island. The Fourth of July was a three day excursion and Smitty or Tony would hire two bands each and furnish us a couple of rooms so we could play 4 hours and sleep in between although there was not much sleeping going on.
I remember one night we were playing at the French Casino and they ran out of liquor. We had asked for a drink and the owner “Uncle” Joe Caulfield told us “Boys, I sent out to borrow some from another club but in the meantime here’s a bottle I found.” I opened it, took a swig and spit it right out and read the label which said “Bottled 1930, aged two weeks”. I called out “Uncle Joe, you don’t expect us to drink this, do you?” He answered, “I didn’t know how thirsty you were and I had this in the attic so I thought it would do in the meantime. I bought it from bootleggers in 1930 and I used to drink it myself. I guess it went bad. The good stuff will be here in ten minutes. We waited, it came and all was well with the world. I read that
‘I spent most of my late teens and early adult life either playing music or partying on Grand Isle. I first place music with Dudley Bernard … when he returned from the army.’
In this week’s peice, historical colunmist Leroy Martin remembers his memories as a traveling musician – a time when he got to travel the country and play music for thousands of people.
