Interview with Helen Falcon Guillot and Marie Falcon (Part 1)

Accession No.: 
BR2-024-1

Helen Falcon Guillot and Marie Falcon (with Johnnie Allan):

00:00 - Family names - Joe Falcon was their mother's brother
01:30 - Joe Falcon learning to play the accordion, his dad (Ulysse) played fiddle
02:30 - Songs that Ulysse played and how he learned to play
03:00 - Fais do-do's and old dancehalls
06:15 - How they would dance in the old days, no drinking at dances
08:00 - List of names and locations of old dancehalls
10:10 - Cleoma Breaux playing with Joe
10:55 - The Breaux Brothers
11:40 - Joe and Cleoma's first record - Playing the record on a portable gramophone
13:30 - Record stores and sales of Cajun records
15:50 - Planting crops - not selling any of it
16:45 - Cleoma starting to play with Joe before they got married
18:30 - Leo Clement
19:40 - Talking about Cleoma's father and what he would have been playing around 1900
20:00 - Instrumental Cajun music around the turn of the century
21:50 - Marie starting to sing and play Cajun music with Joe and the Breaux's
23:15 - 'Tit Maurice Dancehall - Had a bar, better dancehall
25:45 - Format of playing dances - playing requests, Joe's originals
26:35 - Joe's originals were the most requested songs at dances
27:30 - Dance times - always finished at midnight. Band made $12 per night, attendance
29:10 - Stage setups in danchalls - chicken wire around the stage
31:00 - Selling of moonshine and homemade beer at dances during Prohibition - Fights in dancehalls
32:30 - Helen playing guitar in the band
35:00 - Playing copyrighted songs at dances - clubowners being fined $500 - "Why Can't We Get Along"
38:25 - Paying fees to BMI and ASCAP
39:10 - Amount of records sold by Joe - royalties

40:00 - Amount of money Joe would make at a dance and the amount he would pay his band
-People taking advantage of Joe and his money

43:12 - How Joe came to make his first record
44:30 - Stringbands - Hackberry Ramblers, Leo Soileau, Happy Fats, etc.
46:00 - Other Cajun musicians - Mayeus Lafleur
47:00 - Marie making a record with the Louisiana Aces

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Broven
Subject: 
Louisiana; Music; Cajun, French
Creator: 
John Broven
Informants: 
Johnnie Allan
Recording date: 
Monday, October 24, 1983
Coverage Spatial: 
Lafayette, LA
Publisher: 
John Broven
Rights Usage: 
All rights reserved
Language: 
English
Meta Information
Duration: 
47:57
Cataloged Date: 
Thursday, May 23, 2019
Digitized Date: 
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Original Format: 
Audio--Cassette--90
Digital Format: 
Audio
Bit Depth: 
16 bit
Sampling Rate: 
44.1k
Storage Location: 
Returned to donor