Interview and Musical Performance by Delphin Ardoin

Accession No.: 
EV1-001

00:00 - Intro, Born in L'anse Prien Noir - explanation of the name; Mother was named Marie Louise Cesar, father was Gustave Ardoin;
02:20 - Served as a cook in the Army in Germany, Italy and France. Mentions that he used French while serving;
03:50 - Married after returning from the service, Wife is Mary Papillon Ardoin;
04:10 - Started playing his brother Houston's accordion when he was young. Mentions that his parents didn't play music;
06:40 - Played house dances when he started playing accordion. Says that he learned on a single row accordion, but also played a double row;
07:27 - Says that they didn't call the music he played "Zydeco Music," just said "Creole or French Music;"
08:00 - Mentions that Bois Sec played with Amédé Ardoin.
09:00 - He's played Liberty Theatre and also played in Lafayette a few times.
09:30 - House Dances - mostly played house dances for black people, usually accompanied by a triangle and/or guitar;
11:24 - Talks about early exposures to music. First went to a dance in Basile that Bois-Sec Ardoin played;
12:15 - Amédé Ardoin - says that he always carried his accordion in a bag with a triangle, often played by himself or with just a triangle;
13:25 - Mentions that Amédé played with Douglass Bellard and Dennis McGee sometimes;
14:45 - Amédé taught Bois-Sec quite a few of the songs that he played;
15:00 - Mayeuse Lafleur;
15:50 - Amédé was Delphin's second cousin, lived in L'anse des Rougeau and would spend quite a bit of time at his house in the early days, mentions that Amédé was never married;
16:25 - Dances that he played after returning from the war - Was always Bois-Sec and Delphin, they were usually paid by passing the hat;
17:40 - Delphin has 5 kids. His wife had nine, four died during birth.
18:30 - Says that Canray Fontenot's father, Adam, was his favorite accordion player and that he was better than Amédé;

Delphin plays some tunes on the accordion;
22:35 - Madame Etienne;
23:58 - Eunice two step;
25:09 - La coulée rodaire;
26:45 - La valse de 99 ans;
28:15 - Lacassine Special;
30:00 - Lake Arthur Stomp (tape cuts out);
31:04 - Jolie Blonde;
32:00 - J'ai passé devant ta porte;
33:35 - Waltz;
35:15 - Bayou Pon Pon fragment;
35:33 - Chère Mom;
38:15 - Chère tout tout;
40:40 - Eunice two step

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Evangeline Parish Oral Histories Collection
Subject: 
Creole, French, Louisiana, Lala, Folk Music, Oral History
Creator: 
Lisa McCauley, Bobby Michot
Informants: 
Lisa McCauley, Bobby Michot, Cory McCauley
Recording date: 
Thursday, May 28, 1998
Coverage Spatial: 
Evangeline Parish, LA
Publisher: 
Lisa McCauley and Bobby Michot
Rights Usage: 
All Rights Reserved
Language: 
French
Meta Information
Duration: 
42:54
Cataloged Date: 
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Digitized Date: 
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Original Format: 
Cassette - 60
Digital Format: 
WAV
Bit Depth: 
24 bit
Sampling Rate: 
96 kHz
Storage Location: 
Returned to donor