Interview with Guitar Gable and Oran "Doc Guidry

Accession No.: 
BE1-037

Interview with Guitar Gable;

00:10 - Background information - Born August 17, 1937;
01:00 - Was playing in clubs by the time he was 16 years old - Gypsy T Room in Abbeville;
02:00 - Musicians in the family - His dad played "French Music / LaLa Music" accordion and harmonica;
03:15 - His dad would play house dances with just accordion and rubboard;
04:00 - Taught himself to play guitar when he was 12. His brother also played, but stuck to more of a blues style;
05:50 - His first recording; "Congo Mambo" - Tried working with Eddie Shuler, didn't work. So on their way back home, stopped by J.D. Milller's in Crowley;
08:30 - Bernard Jolivette;
09:25 - Says he could sing well on the bandstand but not in the studio;
10:45 - Started learning on a cheap acoustic guitar, then got a Fender. Also played on a Gretsch for a while;
12:30 - Favorite musicians - B.B. King, Earl King, Fats Domino, Guitar Slim;
13:00 - Artists he worked with - Lazy Lester, Slim Harpo, Skinny Domino, Warren Storm, Bobby Charles, Classie Ballou;
16:00 - Retiring from music after injuring his back and neck in a car accident;
16:30 - Does TV repair work;
17:15 - Last recording - session with Lynn August;
17:30 - The New Lollipops; Camille Bob;
18:15 - Gigs and Touring;
19:30 - Didn't use any special guitar tunings. Just used standard tuning;
21:00 - Other equipment used, didn't care for the tone of his Gretsch;
21:40 - Problems with J. D. Miller - Claiming credit for songs he didn't write;
24:00 - "This Should Go On Forever;" Miller has half writers credit. Gable says the only writing he did was correcting a word or two, here and there;
25:00 - Doesn't make any money or residuals from his recordings;
26:30 - Impersonators;
27:40 - Story about Miller bailing Lazy Lester and Slim Harpo out of jail. He made them record tracks for him in return;
28:40 - Story about a song being stolen from Rod Bernard "Pardon Mr. Gordon;"
31:40 - Racism - Needing escorts, using back doors, stories about issues in Henderson and Catahoula;
33:45 - Problems that Cookie had at Hick's Wagon Wheel Club;
34:15 - One of Lil Bob's musicians got arrested at the Jungle Club;
35:20 - Swamp pop/rhythm and blues - Doesn't consider his music "Swamp Pop;"
37:20 - "Colinda;" Gable says it's a really old song and talks about a few other old French songs;
38:45 - Clifton Chenier, says they played together a few times;
41:10 - Gabriel Jr. - Plays guitar with Lil Bob, Warren Caesar;

Interview with Oran "Doc" Guidry:
42:15 - Background information - Born in April 28, 1918;
43:15 - Musicians in the family - His dad played the fiddle;
44:10 - Ray Guidry is Doc's first cousin;
44:30 - Story about learning to play the fiddle - Was 12 years old;

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Shane K. Bernard
Subject: 
music; swamp pop
Creator: 
Shane Bernard
Recording date: 
Friday, November 1, 1991
Coverage Spatial: 
Bellevue, LA
Publisher: 
Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism
Rights Usage: 
All Rights Reserved
Language: 
English
Meta Information
Duration: 
47:27
Digitized Date: 
Monday, January 30, 2006
Original Format: 
Audio--Cassette--60
Digital Format: 
Audio
Bit Depth: 
16 bit
Sampling Rate: 
44.1k
Storage Location: 
Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore