Like many things in Cajun country, the plan was hatched over a meal. Fiddler and guitarist Joel Savoy, founder of the Louisiana-based Valcour Records, had invited music producer Steve Berlin to visit him to discuss a tribute album to the late, great zydeco accordionist Clifton Chenier. Born in 1925 in Opelousas, Louisiana, Chenier is widely considered the founding father of zydeco music, a rollicking blend of Creole-Caribbean sounds with elements of soul, blues, and rock. A mutual friend connected the two, but they had never met, and Savoy wanted to show Berlin how much Chenier meant to the region. “Steve came to a crawfish boil at my parents’ house, and we hit it off immediately,” Savoy recalls. “It’s been neat for us to be part of continuing Clifton’s legacy.”
The resulting album, A Tribute to the King of Zydeco, set for release in June in honor of Chenier’s hundredth birthday, is a joyous romp through the swamp with an all-star roster of musicians covering his fiery originals. A testament to the influence of Chenier’s music, the album features the likes of the Rolling Stones (Mick sings in French!), Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Taj Mahal, Charley Crockett, John Hiatt, and more. Unlike most tribute albums, where participating artists are left alone to record their cover, Savoy and Berlin assembled a house band of longtime zydeco musicians. They set up shop at Dockside Studio in Maurice, Louisiana, where most of the artists came to cut their versions of Chenier’s songs. “This project had to involve the right legacy families down here,” Savoy says. “We invited over the crème de la crème, the best accordion players in Clifton-style from South Louisiana, and chose songs and paired them with artists.”
Today, Garden & Gun is proud to premiere Taj Mahal’s version of the classic “Hey ’Tite Fille,” which became Chenier’s first big hit in 1955. For Savoy, pairing Mahal with the track was a no-brainer. “Taj is an avid Francophone,” he says. “He’s already familiar with Creole French, which a lot of the original zydeco music down here was sung in—still is, actually. We went to Taj and said, ‘Hey, do you want to be in a zydeco band for a day?’” Recorded with accordion player Keith Frank, the version hews remarkably close to the original, with Mahal’s booming voice replacing Chenier’s higher-pitched squeal.
The notion of family is a crucial component of zydeco music, a sound passed down through generations, and all proceeds from the album will support a new scholarship fund that provides financial assistance to students studying traditional zydeco accordion at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. “There are lots of young people coming up speaking French and playing this music,” Savoy says. “It’s so unique. We’ve got our own music, our own food, and the only goal is to get people to dance.”
Listen to Taj Mahal’s “Hey ’Tite Fille” below. A Tribute to the King of Zydeco is out June 27 and available for pre-order here. And if the album makes you crave more of Chenier’s music, keep an eye out this fall for a box set from Smithsonian Folkways / Arhoolie Records that includes extensive unreleased material.
