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Fais Do-do
A ''fais do-do'' is a Cajun dance party; the term originated before World War II. History According to Mark Humphrey, the parties were named for "the gentle command ('go to sleep') young mothers offered bawling infants."Notes from the Roots n' Blues CD "Cajun Dance Party - Fais Do-Do" Sony, 1994. He quotes early Cajun musician Edwin Duhon of the Hackberry Ramblers: : "She'd go to the cry room, give the baby a nipple and say, 'Fais do-do.' She'd want the baby to go to sleep fast, 'cause she's worried about her husband dancing with somebody else out there." "Do-do" itself is a hypocoristic shortening of the French verb ''dormir'' (to sleep), used primarily in speaking to small children. The phrase is embodied in an old French lullaby, a song sung to children when putting them down for the night. Joshua Caffery, however, suggests the true derivation is more plausibly the dance call ''dos à dos'' (back to back), the ''do si do'' call of Anglo-American folk dance; and that sour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Les Blank
Les Blank (November 27, 1935 – April 7, 2013) was an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians. Life and career Leslie Harrod Blank Jr. was born November 27, 1935 in Tampa, Florida. He attended Phillips Academy, and Tulane University in New Orleans, where he received a B.A. degree in English. He also briefly attended University of California, Berkeley. In the early 1960s, Blank studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California and received his master's degree. Following his university education, he worked for a production company called Operation Success, making films that he would later describe as "insipid films that promote business and industry." In 1967 he founded his own production company, Flower Films, with the release of ''God Respects Us When We Work, but Loves Us When We Dance'', a short colorful document of Los Angeles' Elysian Park Love-in. This was followed by ''The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tejano Music
Tejano music ( es, música tejana), also known as Tex-Mex music, is a popular music style fusing Mexican and US influences. Typically, Tejano combines Mexican Spanish vocal styles with dance rhythms from Czech and German genres – particularly polka or waltz. Tejano music is traditionally played by small groups featuring accordion and guitar or bajo sexto. Its evolution began in northern Mexico (a variation known as ). It reached a much larger audience in the late 20th-century thanks to the explosive popularity of the singer Selena ("The Queen of Tejano"), Mazz, and other performers like Ramon Ayala, La Mafia, Ram Herrera, La Sombra, Elida Reyna, Elsa García (singer), Elsa García, Laura Canales, Oscar Estrada, Jay Perez, Emilio Navaira, Esteban "Steve" Jordan, Shelly Lares, David Lee Garza, Jennifer Peña and La Fiebre. Origins Europeans from Germany (first during the Spanish regime in the 1830s), Poland, and what is now the Czech Republic migrated to Texas and Mexico, bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cajun Music
Cajun music (french: Musique cadienne), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based zydeco music. Both are from southwest Louisiana and share French and African origins. These French Louisiana sounds have influenced American popular music for many decades, especially country music, and have influenced pop culture through mass media, such as television commercials. Musical theory Cajun music is relatively catchy with an infectious beat and a lot of forward drive, placing the accordion at the center. The accordionist gives the vocal melody greater energy by repeating most notes. Besides the voices, only two melodic instruments are heard, the accordion and fiddle, but usually in the background can also be heard the high, clear tones of a metal triangle. The harmonies of Cajun music are simple and the m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zydeco
Zydeco ( or , french: Zarico) is a music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana by French Creole speakers which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native American people of Louisiana. Although it is distinct in origin from the Cajun music of Louisiana, the two forms influenced each other, forming a complex of genres native to the region. Characteristics Zydeco music is typically played in an uptempo, syncopated manner with a strong rhythmic core, and often incorporates elements of blues, rock and roll, soul music, R&B, Afro-Caribbean, Cajun, and early Creole music. Zydeco music is centered on the accordion, which leads the rest of the band, and a specialized washboard, called a vest frottoir, as a prominent percussive instrument. Other common instruments in zydeco are the electric guitar, bass, keyboard, and drum set. If there are accompanying lyrics, they are typically sung in English or French. Many zydeco performers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swamp Blues
Swamp blues is a type of Louisiana blues that developed in the Black communities of Southwest Louisiana in the 1950s.Malone, Evelyn Levingston, "Swamp Blues: Race And Vinyl From Southwest Louisiana" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 2457. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2457 It incorporates influences from other genres, particularly zydeco and Cajun. Its most successful proponents include Slim Harpo and Lightnin' Slim, who enjoyed national rhythm and blues hits. Characteristics Swamp blues has a laid-back, slow tempo, and generally is a more rhythmic variation of Louisiana blues, incorporating influences from New Orleans blues, zydeco, soul music and Cajun music. It is characterized by simple but effective guitar work and is influenced by the boogie patterns used on Jimmy Reed records and the work of Lightnin' Hopkins and Muddy Waters.. The sound of swamp blues was characterized by "eerie echo, shuffle beats, tremolo guitars, searing harmonica and spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swamp Pop
Swamp pop is a music genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s by young Cajuns and Creoles, it combines New Orleans–style rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French Louisiana musical influences. Although a fairly obscure genre, swamp pop maintains a large audience in its south Louisiana and southeast Texas homeland, and it has acquired a small but passionate cult following in the United Kingdom, and Northern Europe Characteristics The swamp pop sound is typified by highly emotional, lovelorn lyrics, tripleting honky-tonk pianos, undulating bass lines, bellowing horn sections, and a strong rhythm and blues backbeat. It is exemplified by slow ballads like Cookie and the Cupcakes' "Mathilda" (recorded 1958), considered by many fans as the unofficial swamp pop "anthem". But the genre has also produced many upbeat compositions, such as Bobby Charles' " Later Alligator" (1955), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1934), she travelled to the United States to make films for Samuel Goldwyn. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in '' The Dark Angel'' (1935). A traffic collision in 1937 caused facial injuries that could have ended her career, but she recovered and remained active in film and television until 1973. Early life Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson was born in Bombay, British India, on 19 February 1911. Merle was given "Queenie" as a nickname, in honour of Queen Mary, who visited India along with King George V in 1911.Higham and Moseley 1983, p. 25. Parentage For most of her life, Merle protected herself by concealing the truth about her parentage, claiming that she had been born in Tasmani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dark Waters (1944 Film)
''Dark Waters'' is a 1944 American Gothic fiction, Gothic film noir based on the novel of the same name by Francis and Marian Cockrell. It was directed by Andre de Toth and starred Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone, and Thomas Mitchell (actor), Thomas Mitchell. Plot Leslie Calvin, the shaken survivor of a ship sunk by a submarine, travels to her aunt and uncle's Louisiana plantation to recuperate, but her relatives have other ideas. Thomas Mitchell (actor), Thomas Mitchell, who played the congenial Gerald O'Hara in ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone With the Wind'', is a mysterious and fussy guest at the plantation. In a subtle nod to ''Gone With the Wind'', the aunt tells Leslie that "Tomorrow is another day." Cast Reception The film was generally well received as accomplishing what it intended, with the ''New York Times'' stating it was "neatly produced and directed – and well played by an excellent cast." Critical response ''Slant Magazine's'' film critic, Glenn Heath Jr., like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maureen Gosling
Maureen Gosling is an American documentary filmmaker, editor, and director. She is best known for her 20-year collaboration with the late director Les Blank. Life and career Gosling was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her physician father was a jazz pianist and her mother, who worked in little theater, was a first generation American of Norwegian/Canadian descent. Gosling earned a BA in social anthropology from the University of Michigan in 1972 after which she became an apprentice to documentary filmmaker, Les Blank. Their first film together was in 1972, ''Dry Wood and Hot Pepper'', on Black French Louisiana Zydeco music and Creole culture. Their best-known film is the 1982 British Academy Award-winning ''Burden of Dreams'', about the German director Werner Herzog’s perilous filming of ''FITZCARRALDO'' in the Peruvian Amazon. In 1982, ''Burden of Dreams'' premiered at the Filmex film festival in Los Angeles. She was nominated for Best Editing by The American Cinema Editor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Strachwitz
Chris Strachwitz (born July 1, 1931) is a German-born American record label executive and record producer. He is the founder and president of Arhoolie Records, which he established in 1960 and which became one of the leading labels recording and issuing blues, Cajun, norteño and other forms of roots music from the United States and elsewhere in the world. Early life He was born Christian Alexander Maria, Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz, in Gross Reichenau, Lower Silesia, then within Germany and now known as Bogaczów, Poland. His family were aristocratic farm owners, with some American antecedents; Strachwitz's mother's grandfather was US Senator Francis G. Newlands. In 1945, under the terms of the Potsdam Agreement after World War II, he and his family were among the millions of German-speaking people forcibly resettled to the west of the Oder-Neisse line which became the eastern boundary of Germany. Strachwitz's family settled temporarily with relatives ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diggy Liggy Lo
"Diggy Liggy Lo" is a single by American country music duo Rusty & Doug. The song was written and originally performed by Terry J. Clement. Released in 1961, their version peaked at number 14 on the '' Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. Doug Kershaw, one half of the duo, released a solo version of the song in 1969 that peaked at number 70 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart. It also reached number 1 on the ''RPM'' Country Tracks chart in Canada. Chart performance Rusty & Doug Doug Kershaw Cover versions *Buck Owens, '' On the Bandstand'' (1963) *Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, ''All the Good Times'' (1972) *Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, ''Hot Licks, Cold Steel & Truckers Favorites'' (1972) * Teddy Nelson on his debut album, '' Diggy Liggy'', in 1976, and again as a duet with Skeeter Davis in 1991 for the album '' You Were Made for Me''. * Kikki Danielsson, '' Kikki'' (1982) *Mark O'Connor, ''Heroes'' (1993) * Santiano (2012) *Plava Trava Zaborava, a country ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
