Shane Bernard Interviews Jake Graffagnino

Accession No.: 
BE1-002

Jake Graffignino - 732 N. Main Street in Opelousas, LA

00:30 - Played trumpet on Rod Bernard's record - Linda Gail / Little Bitty Mama. It was recorded at the Southern Club
02:45 - Talks more about his time working at the Southern Club. They would use curtains when recording records there;
04:30 - Started playing trumpet in junior high, Started an Air Force band during World War II; Played many Bob Hope / U.S.O shows
06:00 - Opened his music shop in 1953;
06:40 - Musical influences - early Jazz like Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman;
07:15 - Big Jazz bands would come to South Louisiana once a month or so;
09:15 - Talking about artists he recorded - Sidney Simeon, Jimmy James, Ricky Benoit, John Leger, Lil Bob, Hal Young;
10:00 - Three record labels owned - Carl Records, High-Up Records, Jag Records. Would put different genres on different labels;
12:00 - Talking about his regrets - Regrets not locking artists up with contracts;
13:20 - Says he regrets ever getting into the music business;
15:00 - Leased Lil Bob's recording to Decca;
15:45 - Says he didn't feel right about trying to lock artists up with contracts, didn't want to hold any musicians back from better opportunities;
21:50 - Discussing songs that he has songwriters credits on - Dale and Grace - "Stop and Think It Over";
24:25 - Helping bands around town find gigs;
28:00 - Talking more about leasing Lil Bob's recording to Decca;
29:00 - Would rent out equipment and instruments to local bands

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Shane K. Bernard
Subject: 
Swamp Pop; Recording Industry; Record Labels; Jazz; South Louisiana Music
Creator: 
Shane Bernard
Informants: 
Jake Graffignino
Recording date: 
Saturday, January 5, 1991
Coverage Spatial: 
Opelousas, LA
Publisher: 
Shane Bernard
Rights Usage: 
All Rights Reserved
Language: 
English
Meta Information
Duration: 
32:44
Digitized Date: 
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Original Format: 
Audio--Cassette--60
Digital Format: 
Audio
Bit Depth: 
16 bit
Sampling Rate: 
44.1k
Storage Location: 
Archives of Cajun and Creole Folklore - Returned to donor