Interview with Eston Bellow

Accession No.: 
EV1-003

00:47 - Born on August 5, 1931 two miles north of Swords; Parents were Lawrence Bellow and Lena Brown Bellow; in 1945 they sold the farm and moved to Eunice;
01:40 - His grandfather, Francois Brown, played fiddle - Would play the fiddle by himself for the grandkids under an oak tree;
02:45 - Harry and Raymond Lafleur are Eston's cousins;
03:00 - Harry got Eston to start playing the guitar when he was younger, Eston's brother Norris used to play drums with Harry. When Norris quit playing, Eston learned to play drums;
04:00 - Eston's father had a farm when he was younger, also cut hair and drove a school bus;
04:35 - When Eston was younger, he helped out on the farm. When he finished school in 1949, started working at the Ford garage;
05:30 - Married Eula Mae Lee in 1951;
05:55 - Played with Harry Lafleur, Austin Pitre, Nonc Allie Young, Don Fontenot, J.C. Labbe, Fred Charlie. Talks about some of the albums he recorded;
09:10 - Traveled to Austria to play music with J.C. Labbe in 1992;
09:45 - When he started playing drums, there were not many drummers in Cajun music, mainly used brushes;
11:45 - Austin Pitre played on D and C Accordions;
12:15 - Eston says he never really sang much outside of jam sessions;
13:35 - Amps and Microphones - Purchased a small PA with Harry and Cabri Mounier;
14:10 - Played with Austin Pitre at the Rodaire Club, Chinaball Club;
14:40 - Discussing dancing styles in the early days and how the styles have changed;
15:35 - Changes in the musical styles;
17:45 - Mamou - Fred's Lounge, Diane's Lounge;
18:00 - Fights at dances - says there were some rough places and he saw quite a few fights, never saw anyone get killed;
19:00 - Eston's oldest son, David, plays drums;
23:20 - Recorded with Cheese Reed and has played some with Marc Savoy;
24:00 - Played a dance with Iry Lejeune at the Blue Goose;

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Evangeline Parish Oral Histories Collection
Subject: 
Cajun, French, Louisiana, Folk Music, Oral History
Creator: 
Lisa McCauley, Bobby Michot
Informants: 
Lisa McCauley, Bobby Michot
Recording date: 
Tuesday, May 4, 1999
Coverage Spatial: 
Eunice, LA
Publisher: 
Lisa McCauley and Bobby Michot
Rights Usage: 
All Rights Reserved
Language: 
French
Meta Information
Duration: 
24:57
Cataloged Date: 
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Digitized Date: 
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Original Format: 
Cassette - 60
Digital Format: 
WAV
Bit Depth: 
24 bit
Sampling Rate: 
96 kHz
Storage Location: 
Returned to donor