Interview with Felton Carrière

Accession No.: 
EV1-004

00:30 - Born in Church Point, LA on June 15th, 1922. Father was Maurice Carrière and Mother was Mathilde Daigle, his father played some accordion;
01:25 - Learned to play from his brother, Clarence Carrière;
02:10 - Played with Adam Hebert prior to the Veteran Playboys forming;
02:30 - Served in the Air Force during WWII, served in New Guinea and the Philippines, returned to Church Point after serving;
03:15 - They make the connection that Felton's wife is Gervis Stanford's cousin; They married in 1941;
04:30 - Farmed cotton, corn and potatoes after returning from the service. Stopped farming in 1955, worked for the sheriff for 9 years;
05:10 - Worked as meat inspector for the state
05:25 - Played some music with Ed and Bee Deshotel, Nolan Badeaux;
06:40 - Had a band with other sheriffs called The Blockbusters. Says that he was the first person to play the accordion in the Superdome;
09:25 - Mostly played parties, not bars and dancehalls;
10:00 - Has three children, none play music.
10:30 - Talks about how the music has changed during his life;
11:40 - Mentions seeing Happy Fats, Harry Choates at the Green Lantern;
12:30 - Talks about seeing Hersey Richard, Austin Pitre, Maurice Berzas, Lawrence Walker;
13:00 - Hersey Richard's wife (one of Austin Pitre's sisters) - They mention that she's a good musician;
15:00 - Old dances - quadrille, mazurkas, polkas - Felton and his wife talk a bit about remembering their parents dancing;
16:15 - Mentions that he likes Steve Riley's music, Don Fontenot, Chester Cormier;
18:00 - Never wrote any of his own songs;

Felton plays some songs on accordion;
19:15 - Kaplan Waltz;
20:13 - Chère tout tout;
22:38 - Hathaway two step;
25:13 - La valse de grand prairie;

Interview continues;
27:30 - Fights in Marais Bouleur area;

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Evangeline Parish Oral Histories Collection
Subject: 
Louisiana, French, Creole, Folk Music, Oral History
Creator: 
Lisa McCauley, Bobby Michot
Informants: 
Lisa McCauley, Bobby Michot
Recording date: 
Wednesday, May 13, 1998
Coverage Spatial: 
Ville Platte, LA
Publisher: 
Lisa McCauley and Bobby Michot
Rights Usage: 
All rights reserved
Language: 
French
Meta Information
Duration: 
31:10
Cataloged Date: 
Monday, May 18, 2026
Digitized Date: 
Monday, May 18, 2026
Original Format: 
Cassette
Digital Format: 
WAV
Bit Depth: 
96 kHz
Sampling Rate: 
24 Bit
Storage Location: 
Returned to donor