Former Accession # TI1-015

0:00 Dickie talks about recording at Master Tracks with Paul Simon (Graceland) and problems with the band members in the studio. He told John Hart that the studio was ready to call the project quits but they could record one more song. Buckwheat and Terrance Simeon and Dopsie were in the studio. Paul ended up taking choosing Dopsie for the record.
5:26 The project started when Dickie was in New York working on a Loni Anderson film. They went to see Beausoleil who was performing at Carnegie Recital Hall. He introduces himself to Paul Simon. Paul was looking for a Zydeco band and Dickie told him Buckwheat was playing that night at Tramp's. Paul liked what he heard and called Dickie the next morning and told him to find him two more bands and a studio and he'd come down and record. Paul invited Dickie to his studio that night to hear what he was working on with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. They became friends and working on the project together.
11:30 Dickie talks about Paul Simon's philanthropy and contributing to health care for the underprivileged. Paul came to town to do a benefit at the Cajundome for a children's organization.
12:30 Dickie says that Dopsie played a show for $3k and only paid his band members $50 each but signed away his rights to points on the album. When the album hit, Dickie was accused of taking all the money from the band but he says he didn't make any money at all. He talks about confronting Dopsie about the accusation and Dopsie's later lawsuit against Paul for copyright infringement which he and Ann Savoy believed to be bogus. Ann Savoy ended up finding the first recording of the song from around 1917. Ahmet Ertegun signed Dopsie to Atlantic. Bob Dylan asked Dopsie to play but he couldn't do it.
17:50 Dopsie didn't have a manager at that time. Dickie says Dopsie had a bad reputation especially after crowning himself king after Clifton died.
19:40 Dickie's first involvement with Zydeco was when he first played with Clifton in 1972 in Breaux Bridge at a club called the Dixie Doodle just after Clifton had filmed 'Hot Pepper'. In 1978, a wealthy family in New York with whom Dickie was acquainted, decided to fund a tribute to the blues at Carnegie Hall and they contacted Dickie to advise. He recommended and insisted that Clifton Chenier be part of the show. The show sold out. Dickie tells the story about Ertegin pressuring the producer to add Chicago blues musicians and the problems that ensued. Clifton's performance saved the show at the end.
27:57 Dickie was having a drink with the bass player Jumpin Joe in a bar before the show. Joe told him he couldn't read or write but ever since he was a kid he dreamt of playing Carnegie Hall.
29:38 Danny Kimble, a local rubboard player, can imitate Cleveland Chenier's playing. Cleveland would use four bottle openers on each finger to get his sound. Dickie tells a story about smoking marijuana with Cleveland.
32:25 Dickie tells the story of Dopsie turning down Saturday Night Live. Dickie tells the story of his 40th birthday in L.A. playing a concert with Phillip Glass. Some people threw him a surprise party and Mick Jagger was there. Mick Jagger went with Dickie to hear Clifton Chenier play at a high school in Watts.
39:00 Dickie says he's the one who brought Zydeco music to New Orleans and gave the idea for the name The Big Easy for the film starring Ellen Barkin and Dennis Quaid which Dickie consulted on. Dickie managed Terrance Simien for five years until Terrance married his wife Cynthia who took control of Terrance's career. He talks about he and Paul Simon going to see Terrance at the Lone Star. David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger and Penny Marshall were there to see another act. Dickie got Terrance a record deal with a label in L.A. but the label went bankrupt.