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Clifton Chenier (June 25 1925 - December 12 1987) a Creole French-speaking native of Opelousas
Opelousas, Louisiana

Opelousas is a city in and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. It lies at the juncture of Interstate 49 and U.S....
, Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, was an eminent performer and recording artist of Zydeco
Zydeco

'Zydeco' is a form of American roots or traditional music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 20th century from forms of Louisiana Creole music....
, which arose from Cajun
Cajun music

Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Louisiana Creole people-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin....
 and Louisiana Creole music, with R&B
Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music first created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s....
, jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
, and blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 influences. He played the accordion
Accordion

The accordion is a portable box-shaped musical instrument of the hand-held bellows-driven free reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox....
 and won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award

The Grammy Awards ?or Grammys?are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry....
 in 1983. He also was recognized with a National Heritage Fellowship, and in 1989 was inducted posthumously into the Blues Hall of Fame.

ier began his recording career in 1954, when he signed with Elko Records and released Clifton's Blues, a regional success.






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Clifton Chenier (June 25 1925 - December 12 1987) a Creole French-speaking native of Opelousas
Opelousas, Louisiana

Opelousas is a city in and the parish seat of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. It lies at the juncture of Interstate 49 and U.S....
, Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
, was an eminent performer and recording artist of Zydeco
Zydeco

'Zydeco' is a form of American roots or traditional music. It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 20th century from forms of Louisiana Creole music....
, which arose from Cajun
Cajun music

Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Louisiana Creole people-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin....
 and Louisiana Creole music, with R&B
Rhythm and blues

Rhythm and blues is the name given to a wide-ranging genre of popular music first created by African Americans in the late 1940s and early 1950s....
, jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
, and blues
Blues

Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
 influences. He played the accordion
Accordion

The accordion is a portable box-shaped musical instrument of the hand-held bellows-driven free reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox....
 and won a Grammy Award
Grammy Award

The Grammy Awards ?or Grammys?are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry....
 in 1983. He also was recognized with a National Heritage Fellowship, and in 1989 was inducted posthumously into the Blues Hall of Fame.

Career

Chenier began his recording career in 1954, when he signed with Elko Records and released Clifton's Blues, a regional success. His first hit record
Hit record

A Hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a Single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay , Nightclub, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings....
 was soon followed by "Ay 'Tite Fille (Hey, Little Girl)" (a cover
Cover version

In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition of a previously recorded, commercially released song.In its current use, it can sometimes have a pejorative meaning — implying that the original recording should be regarded as the definitive version, usually in the sense of an "authentic" rendition, and all...
 of Professor Longhair
Professor Longhair

Professor Longhair was a New Orleans blues singer and pianist. Byrd is noteworthy for having been active in two distinct periods, both in the heyday of early rhythm and blues, and in the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz after the founding of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival....
's song). This received some mainstream success. With the Zydeco Ramblers, Chenier toured extensively. They soon signed with Chess Records
Chess Records

Chess Records was an United States record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
 of Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
, followed by the Arhoolie label.

Chenier was the first act to play at Antone's, a blues club on Sixth Street in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County, Texas. Situated in Central Texas and part of the Southwestern United States, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States....
. Later in 1976, he reached a national audience when he appeared on the premier season of the PBS music program Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits

Austin City Limits is an United States television music program and a staple of the Public Broadcasting Service. Austin City Limits was initially created with an eye and ear toward original Music of Texas, featuring artists who created innovative sounds in everything from western swing and Texas blues to Tejano music, progressive country...
. Three years later in 1979 he returned to the show with his Red Hot Louisiana Band.

Chenier's popularity peaked in the 1980s, and he was recognized with a Grammy Award
Grammy Award

The Grammy Awards ?or Grammys?are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry....
 in 1983 for his album I'm Here. It was the first Grammy for his new label
Record label

In the music industry, a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of recorded sound and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the Record producer, manufacturing, distribution , marketing and promotion, and enforcement of copyright protec...
 Alligator Records
Alligator Records

Alligator Records is a Chicago-based independent record label blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971 in music. Iglauer started the label with his own small savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record....
. Chenier followed Queen Ida
Queen Ida

Ida Lewis "Queen Ida" Guillory is an United States accordionist. She was the first female accordion player to lead a zydeco band. Queen Ida's music is an eclectic mix of Rhythm and blues, Caribbean, and Cajun, though the presence of her accordion always keeps it traditional....
 as the second Louisiana Creole
Louisiana Creole

Louisiana Creole can refer to:* Louisiana Creole people* Louisiana Creole French language* Louisiana Creole cuisine...
 to win a Grammy.

Chenier is credited with redesigning the wood and crimped tin washboard
Washboard

A washboard is a tool designed for hand washing clothing. With mechanized cleaning of clothing becoming more common by the end of the 20th century, the washboard has become better known for its originally subsidiary use as a musical instrument....
 into the frottoir, an instrument
Musical instrument

A musical instrument is an object constructed or used for the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument....
 that would easily hang from the shoulders. 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.

During their prime, Chenier and his band traveled throughout the world.

Later years

Chenier was beset by health problems. He had to have a foot amputated because of complications from diabetes
Diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus , often referred to simply as diabetes , is a syndrome of disordered metabolism, usually due to a combination of genetic disorder and environmental causes, resulting in abnormally high blood sugar levels ....
, and required dialysis
Dialysis

In medicine, dialysis is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function due to renal failure. Dialysis may be used for very sick patients who have suddenly but temporarily, lost their kidney function or for quite stable patients who have permanently lost their kidney function ....
 because of associated kidney problems.

Chenier died of diabetes-related kidney disease
Nephrology

Nephrology is a branch of internal medicine and pediatrics dealing with the study of the function and diseases of the kidney....
 in December 1987 in Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River . The population was 110,257 at the 2000 United States Census; a 2007 census estimate put the Lafayette, Louisiana metropolitan area's population at 256,494....
. He was buried in All Souls Cemetery in Loreauville
Loreauville, Louisiana

Loreauville is a village in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 938 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the New Iberia, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, Iberia Parish
Iberia Parish, Louisiana

Iberia Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is New Iberia, Louisiana. As of 2000, the population was 73,266....
, Louisiana.

Legacy and tributes

Since 1987 his son C. J. Chenier
C. J. Chenier

C. J. Chenier is the Louisiana Creole people son of the Grammy Award winning "King of Zydeco", Louisiana musician, Clifton Chenier....
 has carried on the Zydeco tradition by touring with his father's band and recording albums.

  • Notable guitarist and songwriter Rory Gallagher
    Rory Gallagher

    Rory Gallagher was an Irish ethnicity blues/Rock and roll guitarist. Born in Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland, he grew up in Cork City in the south of the country....
     wrote a song in tribute to Clifton Chenier entitled "The King Of Zydeco".
  • Paul Simon
    Paul Simon

    Paul Frederic Simon is an United States singer-songwriter and musician, perhaps best known for his partnership with Art Garfunkel in the duo Simon & Garfunkel....
     mentions Chenier in his song "That Was Your Mother."
  • John Mellencamp
    John Mellencamp

    John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names John Cougar and John Cougar Mellencamp, is a Grammy-winning United States rock music singer-songwriter, musician, artist and occasional actor....
     refers to "Clifton" in his song "Lafayette", about the Louisiana city where Chenier often performed. The song is on Mellencamp's 2003 album Trouble No More
    Trouble No More

    Trouble No More, John Mellencamp's eighteenth full-length album, and final effort for Columbia Records, consists of blues and folk covers....
    .


  • In 1989, Clifton Chenier was inducted posthumously into the Blues Hall of Fame
    Blues Hall of Fame

    The Blues Hall of Fame is a listing of people who have significantly contributed to blues music. Started in 1980 by the Blues Foundation, it honors those who have performed, recorded, or documented blues....
    .


Discography

  • Clifton's Blues (Elko Records), 1954
  • Boogie in Black and White (with swamp pop
    Swamp pop

    Swamp pop is a musical genre indigenous to the Acadiana region of south Louisiana and an adjoining section of southeast Texas. Created in the 1950s and early 1960s by teenaged Cajuns and black Louisiana Creole people, it combines New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French Louisiana musical influences....
     musician Rod Bernard
    Rod Bernard

    Rod Bernard is an American singer helped to pioneer the musical genre known as "swamp pop", which combined New Orleans-style rhythm and blues, country and western, and Cajun and black Louisiana Creole people music....
    , Jin Records
    Jin Records

    Jin Records is a Ville Platte, Louisiana-based swamp pop record label, although some Cajun recordings have also been issued on the label. It was started by Floyd Soileau in 1958....
    ), 1976
  • I'm Here (Alligator Records), 1982


External links