Product Description

There's a musical kingdom in the American South that's not marked on any map. Stretching from the prairies of Louisiana to the oil towns of East Texas, it is ruled over by accordion-squeezing, washboard-wielding musicians like Clifton Chenier, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Boozoo Chavis. This is the kingdom of zydeco.

With its African-Caribbean rhythms, Creole-French-English lyrics, and lively dance styles, zydeco is catching fire in the rest of America as well; it has influenced the music of Eric Clapton and Paul Simon, and has been played at Carnegie Hall. Now, in this remarkable and engrossing book, Michael Tisserand takes you back to zydeco's roots and introduces you to the people who have blended blues and Cajun influences into a flavorful musical stew that is winning new fans every day. This is about more than music; it's about a distinctive American culture that's explored and celebrated in a joyful, fascinating trip down the zydeco trail. Eh toi!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1925207 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11
• Released on: 1999-11-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 469 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The zesty dance music created by black, French-speaking inhabitants of southwestern Louisiana originated early in the 20th century as "house music" for Saturday-night parties at which sharecroppers danced away their troubles. Tisserand, a New Orleans-based music journalist, here uses oral histories, contemporary documents and photos (interspersed throughout), and firsthand research, to chart the prime movers of the genre, from its earliest stirrings to the present. There is Amede Ardoin, whose recordings in the late 1920s and '30s set the standard with their accordion-driven rhythms and vocals that delivered traditional French songs with blues-inflected passion. Clifton Chenier, in the 1950s and '60s, reflected the blend of down-home roots and new cosmopolitanism as black Louisianans took jobs in Houston during the oil boom. Chenier incorporated R&B and rock & roll into the swinging zydeco sound, just as the contemporary musicians Tisserand profiles include hip-hop and rap riffs in their songs. The author certainly does justice to the complexity of the zydeco tradition, and he includes everyone from crossover successes like Buckwheat Zydeco to resolute traditionalists like Boozoo Chavis, yet his narrative is too dense for all but the most devoted aficionado. Colorful though his subjects are, the lengthy quotes from interviews could profitably have been halved. And his claims for zydeco's popularity today are out of date: his prime examples of mainstream assimilation, Paul Simon's album Graceland and the movie The Big Easy, were both released in the 1980s. Nonetheless, this comprehensive assessment is a must for fans. Agent, Richard McDonough; editor, Tim Bent.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
For the uninitiated, zydeco is a form of music originating in Louisiana and East Texas that combines African American rhythms and French-English lyrics to create an infectious musical gumbo guaranteed to send the most self-conscious wallflower looking for dancing shoes. The unlikely lead instrument in zydeco bands is the accordion, played with feeling and soul more commonly associated with the blues. While it was recorded back in the 1930s by John and Alan Lomax for the Archive of Folk Song in the Library of Congress, the music did not receive much popular attention until the 1970s, when Clifton Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band began to develop a young white following. By the 1980s, artists such as Chenier, Queen Ida, and Rockin' Sidney had all won Grammies, and zydeco was on the cultural map. Written in a style as lively as the music itself, journalist Tisserand's book is recommended for all music libraries and is essential in Louisiana, East Texas, and everywhere else that zydeco is king.ADan Bogey, Clearfield Cty. P.L. Federation, Curwensville, PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Although "their histories, like their music, are interlocked," Tisserand explains, Creoles and their Cajun neighbors are not the same. Today zydeco, "the traditional dance music--and the dance--of the black Creoles of Southwest Louisiana," is riding the crest of a wave of popularity engendered by the "trail ride," a means of getting urban people interested in this music with roots in the country. The trail ride is modeled on the "neighborhood boucherie, a nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century social tradition" that started as a community food distribution system and survives as a way of partaking of good food and dancing in the great outdoors. "The first time they come they have short pants and Nikes," says a trail ride organizer, "next time they have a pair of Wranglers and boots and a hat." Clifton Chenier and Buckwheat Zydeco are among the most famous zydeco artists Tisserand discusses, but the lowdown on lesser-known musicians like Rockin' Sidney and T-Broussard give the book authenticity. Highly readable and informative stuff about some great homegrown music. Mike Tribby

Customer Reviews

Tisserand is A Great Tour Guide!
THE KINGDOM OF ZYDECO is a superb look at zydeco music - its history, its socio-cultural impact, its traditions, its heroes, its geographical importance... There's no other book quite like it. Reading it takes you on an intense journey through the "kingdom" and brings readers up close and personal with the topic in a way few music genre overview books do. Its lovingly crafted and written, establishing mood and atmosphere instantly. These are real people playing for the love of the music and their observations are funny, sad, deep and emotional. In short, this is a "kingdom" where real life often clashes with art, where the "ethnicity" of the genre clashes with the music biz's "eat-'em-up-&-spit-'em-out" attitude. Exceptional writing and a genuinely interesting topic.

One bursting boudin of a book!!!
FAIT ATENCION!: This is one vast bursting boudin of a book! It'll put the salt back into your snap beans! Tear out its pages and stick 'em in your dancing shoes, cher! Tisserand is THE maven of zydeco! For locals fans, converts and overall BooZoo-aholics, you have a new Bible! For recent arrivals and the general reader 'zydeco' will now no longer just be a killer Scrabble word! For anyone who reads this book, I bet you a six pack of Dixie that you'll soon be booking your flight to SW Louiaiana! You can't go wrong if you play it right, and Tisserand has done it big-time right! Merci beacoup, Mr. T!! Laissez les bons temps roulez!

A big boudin of a book; crackling with insight and info!
Stu Klipper (sklipper@bitstream.net) from Minneapolis, Minn., 07/11/98

One vast bursting boudin of a book!!!

FAIT ATENCION!: This is one vast bursting boudin of a book! It'll put the salt back into your snap beans! Tear out its pages and stick 'em in your dancing shoes, cher! Tisserand is THE maven of zydeco! NB: La. locals, fans, converts and overall BooZoo-aholics, you have a new Bible! For recent arrivals and the general reader 'zydeco' will now no longer just be a killer Scrabble word! For anyone who reads this book, I bet you a six pack of Dixie that you'll soon be booking your flight to SW Louisiana! You can't go wrong if you play it right, and Tisserand has done it big-time right! Merci beacoup, Mr. T!! Laissez les bons temps roulez! Stu Klipper (read in manuscript)