Interview and Musical Performance by Morris Ardoin
00:43 - Born and raised in Duralde, lived there most of his life, only left for a few years for work in Mississippi
01:00 - Father is Alphonse "Bois-Sec" Ardoin and Marceline Victorian Ardoin;
02:00 - Morris was born on September 21, 1935. Morris says there were many other musicians in their circle when he was growing up - Canray Fontenot, Adam Fontenot, Amédé Ardoin, Thomas Ardoin, Joseph Frank, etc;
04:30 - His family farmed cotton and rice;
04:50 - Morris was the oldest of 14 children, started playing triangle at 9 years old with his father;
05:30 - Morris says that Canray and Bois-Sec have been playing together for as long as he can remember, somebody named George Linnert (?) played guitar with them.
06:20 - Started learning guitar around 15 years old, also learned fiddle and accordion.
07:00 - Says that his wife didn't want him or the kids to play the fiddle because "it was for the Cajuns, not the Creoles." Lisa clarifies that comment - Morris says that it's not true, talks about the Carrière and Frank families, Ed Poullard, Canray Fontenot, etc who all play fiddle;
11:05 - Morris and his wife have 8 kids, 3 play music;
12:30 - When he was younger, they called it Creole Music, not Zydeco;
13:30 - Recorded an album with his dad and brothers in 1974, they talk about the song that Morris sang "Bossman;"
14:20 - Says that Bois-Sec played house dances for black and white people, probably a majority for white people;
15:40 - Listing some of the clubs that Bois Sec played - Avalon, Queen's Lounge, Rainbow Club;
17:00 - Band was usually comprised of accordion, fiddle, guitar, t-fer. Drums came along in the late 40s. Lawrence "Bee" Lafleur played drums with them until Lawrence "Black" Ardoin started playing drums;
18:30 - Places they've traveled for music - Washington, D.C., Toronto, California, France, Morris talks about how excited he always was to travel for music;
19:30 - Talks about crowd reactions while traveling and how proud his is of Creole music. Mentions that he really has no desire to play anything else.
22:20 - Fights in dancehalls
23:15 - Bois-Sec taught Morris most of what he knows on accordion, started learning when he was 12 or so years old. Played for years with Nathan Fontenot on fiddle;
24:10 - Talks about the club that he owned - Opened it in the 70s and ran it for a dozen or so years - They hosted one dance a week on Sunday evening, was usually the family band that played. Tells stories about some of the fights that they had - Morris says he was stabbed once while trying to get a drunk person out of the club;
31:20 - Talks about dancing styles;
33:20 - Mary Jane Broussard is his cousin - she plays accordion; Carlton Frank's style of playing fiddle;
34:10 - Adam Fontenot;
34:20 - Lawrence Ardoin's style - Says that he started out playing Creole music then moved on to a more modern Zydeco style;
35:00 - Talking about BooZoo Chavis
35:45 - Discussing why Bois-Sec never turned to playing Zydeco music;
36:55 - Geno Delafose;
Morris plays some songs on accordion;
38:25 - La valse de gros garcon;
40:11 - Chameau two step;
41:55 - La valse de fermiers (Nathan Abshire tune);
43:25 - Johnny peut pas danser;
45:02 - Kaplan Waltz;
Morris switches over to fiddle;
46:20 - Les maringouins ont tout manger ma belle;
47:35 - Morris says he never took lessons on fiddle, only listened to other Creole fiddlers and figured it out. Says that Canray was the best, also liked Dewey Balfa;
48:30 - Jolie Bassette;
Morris' son, Dexter joins and plays some accordion;
50:20 - Jolie catin
51:33 - Shoo Black;
53:20 - Chère ici, chère la bas;
55:55 - Lovebridge waltz;
