Former Accession # TI1-010

0:00 They tell stories about Clifton Chenier recording with Floyd Swallow and Clifton's band traveling all over the world. The Louisiana Red Hot Band brought the blues and rhythm and blues to Zydeco. John Hurt last talked to Clifton about a month before he died. Clifton was neat and would drink VO but he'd never seem drunk. Hart and Buck say they learned a lot from Chenier. They enter a club where Buck and Hart are going to play that night.
9:15 They started playing with Clifton in the late 60s. Clifton was crowned overseas before they started playing with him. Hart talks about having been on the road with C.J. Chenier and Rockin Dopsie.
14:35 Marcel Dugas was one of the few people who would sit in with Clifton. Clifton's uncle played on an album but never in a live show. They tell a funny story Robert St. Julian told them about making that album. They talk about the way Clifton played the accordion. There's a story about going out to Opelousas to hear Buckwheat play right after they started playing with Clifton. They asked them to sit in and Clifton played Hammond organ. He played harmonica too. Lightnin' Hopkins once came to the church hall they played and sat in. They also backed Lightnin' up at The Ranch in Duson. They backed up a lot of blues acts.
20:13 They didn't know Clifton's parents but Buck says he went with Cleveland to clean the parents' grave for three or four years for All Saints Day. They mention other players who played with Clifton after their time in the band including Tee Jim, Dopsey, Milton, Raymond Monnet,, Alonzo Johnson, Danny Caron, Sherman Robinson, Wayne Burns, Katie Webster. Hurt played in Dopsey's band on Paul Simon's Graceland album recorded at J.D. Miller's studio and they talk about that experience.
25:02 Clifton used to play a dance all night Saturday night and start another dance on Sunday morning at Truman Palace. They tell a story about Cleveland getting sick on stage after drinking and eating pork chops. There's a story about an accident while the band was on the way to Holly Beach and another story about a hurricane when they were playing in Holly Beach. Buck tells a story about a show they played on Good Friday around 1971 and why they'll never play on Good Friday again. They tell more stories about troubles on the road.
34:15 There was a club called the Four Ace Club that's a janitorial service now. One whole wall of the stage was a mural of Clifton and the band. He has a friend who bought the wall and still has it. Buck's uncle, Claude Boudreaux was Clifton's first booking agent.
40:00 They talk about the show in Houston at The Summit. Buck played with Buckwheat at that time. When Clifton started to get really sick, he'd have to sit down on the shows. The last time Buck heard him play was at the festival in Plaisance. Clifton got on stage and said to play that song "I'm Coming Home" and started crying.