zydeco

The tradition & historical record

Zydeco ( ZY-dih-koh, -⁠dee-; French: zarico) is a music genre that was created in rural Southwest Louisiana by French speaking African Americans of Creole heritage. It incorporates blues and rhythm and blues with music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles, such as la la and juré. The main instruments are accordion and rubboard (washboard) or vest frottoir. ¹

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, 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 create original zydeco compositions, though it is also common for musicians to adapt blues standards, R&B hits, and traditional Cajun tunes into the zydeco style. ¹

The origin of the term "zydeco" is uncertain. One theory is that it derives from the French phrase Les haricots [ne] sont pas salés, which, when spoken in Louisiana French, is pronounced [lez‿a.ɾi.ko sɔ̃ pa saˈle]. This literally translates as "the green beans aren't salted" and is used idiomatically to express hardship. Initially, several different spellings of the word existed, including "zarico" and "zodico" (in some dialects of French, r has the same pronunciation used by certain dialects of American English for specific instances of d — a voiced alveolar tap [ɾ]). In 1960, musicologist Mack McCormick used the spelling "zydeco" in the liner notes for a compilation album: A Treasury of Field Recordings. The word was used in reviews, and McCormick began publicizing it around Houston as a standard spelling. Its use was also accepted by musician Clifton Chenier (who had earlier recorded "Zodico Stomp" in 1955) in his recording "Zydeco Sont Pas Salés". Chenier later claimed credit for having coined this spelling. Another possible root word for zydeco is a West African term for "musicking". Recent studies based on early Louisiana recordings made by Alan and John Lomax suggest that the term, as well as the tradition, may have African origins. The west African languages of tribes affected by the slave trade provide some clues as to the origins of zydeco. In at least a dozen languages from this culture-area of Africa, the syllables "za", "re", and "go" are frequently associated with dancing and/or playing music". ¹

The original French settlers came to Louisiana in the late 1600s, sent by the Regent of France, Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, to help settle La Louisiane (the Louisiana Territory) they claimed as a colony. Arriving in New Orleans on seven ships, the settlers quickly moved into the bayous and swamps. There, the French culture permeated those of the Spanish and Native American Indians, who had long populated the area. In 1720, German Catholics founded the second permanent European settlements in St. John the Baptist Parish, part of what became known as the German Coast. Later in the 18th century, more German and Irish immigrants also settled in this area. Europeans imported or acquired African slaves as workers, and they soon outnumbered the whites on major sugar cane and other plantations. Through the decades, all the peoples gradually mixed. For 150 years, Louisiana Creoles enjoyed an insular lifestyle, prospering, educating themselves without the government and building their invisible communities under the Code Noir. The French created the Code Noir in 1724 to establish rules for treatment of enslaved Africans. It also established restrictions and rights for gens de couleur libres, free people of color who were a growing class, often descended from French white men and Black African or mixed-race women. They had the right to own land, something which few blacks or people of color in the American South had at that time. The disruption of the Louisiana Creole community began when the United States made the Louisiana Purchase and Americans started settling in the state, particularly migrating from the Southeast. The new settlers typically recognized only the binary system of race that prevailed in the slave societies common where they had come from. ¹

Zydeco music pioneer Clifton Chenier, "The King of Zydeco", made zydeco popular on regional radio stations with his bluesy style and keyboard accordion. In the mid-1950s, Chenier's popularity brought zydeco to the fringes of the American mainstream. He signed with Specialty Records, the same label that first recorded Little Richard and Sam Cooke for wide audiences. Chenier, considered the standard-bearer of contemporary zydeco, became the first major zydeco artist. His early hits included "Les Haricots Sont Pas Salés" ("The Snap Beans Ain't Salty" — a reference to the singer being too poor to afford salt pork to season the beans). The first zydeco vest frottoir was designed by Clifton Chenier in 1946 while he and his brother Cleveland were working at an oil refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. Chenier commissioned the instrument from Willie Landry, a welder-fabricator who worked at the same refinery. Landry's original frottoir is held in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution. There was also a zydeco rubboard on display at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, donated by Terrance Simien, and later at the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, made possible by his wife Cynthia Simien, who lobbied for two years to get the museum's attention. She and Terrance helped curate the zydeco music exhibit placed in the lobby of the museum for its grand opening January 18, 2021. The rubboard for the display was donated by Reginald Dural, also known as "Buckwheat Zydeco, Jr.", the son of the late zydeco legend Buckwheat Zydeco. In 1978, Clifton Chenier saw how popular Zydeco was becoming on the road and overseas. He persuaded a young creole/lala accordionist named Fernest Arceneaux to pick up the accordion again. ¹

Burt Feintuch, Jeannie Banks Thomas, editor, Gary Samson, photographs. Creole Soul: Zydeco Lives. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2022. 280 pages. ISBN 1496842464. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Zydeco”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

zydeco is music genre evolved in southwest Louisiana which blends blues, rhythm and blues, and music indigenous to the Louisiana Creoles and the Native people of Louisiana, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 23 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²