Former Accession # TI1-009

0:00 interview on road with Lil Buck.
Lil Buck, John Hart, Joe Brouchet, Robert St. Judy -- original Red Hot Louisiana Band started in 1969
1:00 Lil Buck met Clifton Chenier one night at the Blue Angel Club after Buck's rock n' roll band had broken up. Buck's uncle owned the club. Clifton asked Buck to play that night because his guitar player was stuck in Houston. After the gig, Clifton asked his bass player to pick Buck up for the rest of the gigs that weekend in Houston without even asking Buck. Buck recorded 9-10 albums with him after that over about 11 -12 years.
2:50 Buckwheat, The Hitchhikers
3:28 Lil Buck says when he left to play Zydeco, that turned everything around. he says he's the one who brought the younger people to Zydeco.
4:30 Claude Boudreaux -- Lil Buck'ss uncle that owned Blue Angel
6:05 They recall a story Clifton had told them when a black accordion player was hired to play but they thought he was white when they hired him. They made him play outside and put white gloves on him.
6:55 Clifton came up with the name Red Hot Louisiana Band. Clifton played songs in different keys often. He was creative on the bandstand trying out different things and taking chances.
11:00 They talk about how Clifton would hang out with the guys in the band during the day, but at night during the shows, he'd sit at another table planning. When together, he liked to tell and joke with the band about how hard it was in the past being on the road playing for little money or for BBQ. Buck said after the shows Clifton would take his shoes off and pour the sweat out. They'd get on the stage at 9pm and it was nonstop til 1.
15:17 Leaving CA going to Austin a week before coming back to Lafayette. Lil Buck did all the driving. An ice chest full of beer and water and snacks also had Clifton's insulin. They cleaned out the chest and accidentally threw out the insulin. Clifton's feet started to swell and he told Buck to speed to Austin. He got there and went to the doctor and got the shot and went to bed and still played the gig that night. Lil Buck says Clifton was an 'Iron Man'. They talk about other stories when Clifton was sick but kept playing. Clifton said 'whenever people are waiting for me that's where I'm gonna be'.
20:38 Etta James Buddy Guy. Buck talks about how Clifton's last name was pronounced different everywhere and how Clifton pronounced it.
22:40 Tisserand asks if Clifton or Clevland would say they invented the rub board. Buck says Clifton. Playing with Lightin' Hopkins. Buck said the way the washboard started was when Clifton worked in Port Arthur at a refinery and asked a metal worker if he could make a washboard the way he drew it. The man said he could make it any way he wanted. Ernest Johnson had been with Clif a long time and ended up playing with Buckwheat.
24:50 They'd that tour to California/Pacific NW all the way to Canada twice a year and be over there for two months. They had a few agents Big Pete (accordion player) Oakland, CA, someone named Buddy.
26:14 Helen Faulk-- Buck said she was his number one agent and Tisserand says Helen said she was his other woman so she knows him well. Buck says she used to do the driving for the band in a '59 Cadillac.
27:50 Clifton got his crown in California and also was given the key to Paris, France. There's a street named after Clifton in Paris.
29:30 Passe-partout television. Danny Caron. C.J. Sparking Paradise. C.J. replaced John Hart and Hart went on to play in Doopsie's band. Swamp party every Monday.
33:27 change to an interview with Lil Buckin Opelousas. Lil Buck says John is a master mechanic. They've been friends since before they played together in Clifton's band. John played with Little Bob on Monday nights before Lil Buck played with Clifton at the Peppermint Lounge. Lil Buck says John drinks scotch and milk.
36:15 Clifton didn't mind the band drinking as long as they could do there job. Lil Buck says Clifton used to drink heavily. Funny story about a gig in St. Martinville. Lil Buck says Clifton and Cleveland got along in the band. Cleveland was the older brother. Buck tells a story about playing the prison in San Francisco. C.J. was quiet in the band. Buck says he was with the band from 1969 to about 1982. Buck talks about Clifton becoming ill and his cousin played in his place for a gig in Galveston. His cousin was killed in a car accident on the way back to Lafayette.
41:20 Buck says the last time he saw Clifton was the night before he died. He went to the hospital with him and friends and family. The next day Buck left to play a gig in Houston and got the call that Clifton had died when he got to the motel. They announced it from the bandstand and everyone was upset. They were playing a Catholic Church in Houston.
44:10 They talk about records made with Chenier. One album was with Elvin Bishop and Steve Miller. Buck tells a funny story about kicking Elvin's pipe under the table so that he could solo.
45:47 John Hart comes in.
49:00 John Hart says Zydeco is far-fetched and says he's an authority on it. Hart is 64 years old and says you have to do research to be authentic. Clifton Chenier created it. Claude Faulk.
58:40 Hart says People are playing music and calling it Zydeco when it isn't. He says it's a fast name for a fast dollar. Talks about someone named Larry who is going to expose the truth about Zydeco and put it on the internet.