AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
When you're known as the King of Zydeco music, like the late Clifton Chenier was, it only makes sense that other recording legends would want to honor you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ZYDECO SONT PAS SALES")
MICK JAGGER: (Singing in French Creole).
RASCOE: That's Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones singing in French Creole. It's part of a new album to commemorate what would be Chenier's 100th birthday, called appropriately "A Tribute To The King Of Zydeco." Clifton Chenier died in 1987. From his roots in rural southwest Louisiana, Chenier and his accordion gained fans around the world.
Musicians from the Stones to Lucinda Williams joined together to create the new record. Joining us now are Joel Savoy, a musician and co-producer of the album, as well as C.J. Chenier, an accordion player and Clifton Chenier's son. Thank you both for being with us.
JOEL SAVOY: Thanks for having us.
CJ CHENIER: Glad to be here.
RASCOE: C.J., tell us about Clifton Chenier, your father. He was born in Opelousas, Louisiana, 1925. How did he become the King of Zydeco?
CJ CHENIER: Well, from my understanding, he was crowned in France. His music was infectious, and he drew people to him all the time. And he always said, if you can take this crown from me, you can be the king, but you got to take it. Because when he was playing zydeco, there was nobody that he thought could do it better than him.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M THE ZYDECO MAN")
CLIFTON CHENIER: (Singing) Let's do the zydeco. The one before the two (ph).
RASCOE: What was his early life? Was he always playing instruments and then just got more popular as time went on?
CJ CHENIER: Well, it was started off as house parties, right, Joel (laughter)?
SAVOY: Like everything does, right?
(LAUGHTER)
CJ CHENIER: Yeah. It started off as house parties, you know. And you would pay a nickel to go in or something like that, and they'd serve fish and zydeco beans, les haricots. That was a Friday night party. You know, that's where it started, you know, just a accordion and the washboard and a whole bunch of people in the house having a party.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLIFTON CHENIER'S, "I'M THE ZYDECO MAN")
SAVOY: And Clifton took these sounds that he was hearing around that were just in the air and amplified them and added drums and bass and electric guitar and saxophones...
CJ CHENIER: Yeah.
SAVOY: ...Whatever he needed to get a cut above the rest. I think if you just took an accordion and a rubboard player outside of Louisiana, it would have had less impact than something built up with a big modern blues band, like Clifton did. So it made the music accessible for a lot of people.
RASCOE: And the accordion is a big part of this. One of his earliest hits was "Ay-Tete Fee." OK, I'm not great at French, but it is (laughter) - it means like, hey, little girl. And it's on the record from Taj Mahal and Keith Frank.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEY 'TITE FILLE")
TAJ MAHAL: (Singing in French Creole).
SAVOY: "Ay-Tete Fee."
RASCOE: "Ay-Tete Fee." That sounds way better when he says it (laughter). C.J., talk to me about this style of music. Just how do you feel hearing that? You know, that's your daddy's song.
CJ CHENIER: Well, my daddy's accordion song, they were always powerful. And he incorporated a lot of blues and boogie and ballads in his stuff. But the main thing is that accordion washboard drum drive, which is a zydeco song, naturally.
RASCOE: And you can kind of hear that blues influence in a song like "Easy Easy Baby."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EASY EASY BABY ")
CHARLEY CROCKETT: (Singing) Easy, easy, easy baby. Take it easy for a little while. Easy, easy, easy baby.
RASCOE: And that's Charley Crockett and Nathan Williams Sr., right?
SAVOY: Yep.
RASCOE: Talk to me about that influence that we hear there, that blues influence and what you wanted to bring forth in that cover of that song.
SAVOY: Charley Crockett came to us by way of his manager saying that he is Clifton Chenier's biggest fan. That's what we heard about Charley Crockett, so we decided we had to have him on the album if that was the case. And what you're hearing right there is straight-up blues. To me, that's French blues, accordion blues, any kind of blues. Whatever you want to call it, that's the blues.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EASY, EASY BABY")
RASCOE: You play on the album, C.J. You perform "Hot Rod."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOT ROD")
RASCOE: So how did that feel performing on this album that's a tribute to your father?
CJ CHENIER: I traveled with him for nine years, you know, and - but the honor came in in being a part of all these fabulous musicians that dedicated their time to come 'cause my daddy had some kind of influence on them. That was a great thing.
RASCOE: 'Cause this record features so many artists from so many different genres who recognize Clifton Chenier's greatness. How do you think about the way that he has influenced music and the way zydeco and that style has influenced popular music?
SAVOY: Well, that's the whole thing about this record. I would not have made this record if C.J. wasn't going to be on it. And the reason that we didn't ask C.J. to do the entire record is because Clifton had such a big influence on so many people, not just in south Louisiana, where there are countless zydeco legacy families, but outside of Louisiana.
It's been incredible to see, for instance, like you mentioned, the Rolling Stones, Charley Crockett, Taj Mahal, these people that were touched by Clifton's sound and his performance. They wanted to come in and pay tribute to this man, so you can really start to grasp the kind of influence that Clifton had, far reaching from the little corner of southwest Louisiana that we live in.
RASCOE: The album ends with "I'm Coming Home."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M COMING HOME")
CJ CHENIER: (Singing) Before I get home. I'm gonna start, start all over again. I'm coming home to meet my dear old mother. That's one woman who love me. I know she did.
RASCOE: C.J., tell us about this one. You sing and play on this track, and I'm told it was your father's favorite song. What made this one so special?
CJ CHENIER: Well, he wrote the song for his mother, right? But before he got a chance to perform it for her, she passed away. But that was always a churchful (ph) song for him, and he played it every night and everywhere, and it kind of stuck with me, too, you know? So he feel like that about his mother, and I feel like that about my mother, too, so it's a Chenier thing, you know?
RASCOE: Yeah, yeah. This album is being released around what would have been Clifton Chenier's 100th birthday. But is there anything that makes his music particularly relevant now and that really speaks to today?
SAVOY: If you listen to mainstream music today, I don't perceive a lot of realness. I don't feel a lot from that music, and I think a lot of people feel the same. And so when you hear something like Clifton Chenier, something that's powerful and deep and soulful, you can tell this music is coming from a real person and a real place in their heart. So what I would say that makes this music relevant today is that realness of it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M COMING HOME")
CJ CHENIER: (Singing) ...To meet my dear old mother. I know she loves me.
RASCOE: That's C.J. Chenier and Joel Savoy who are both a big part of "A Tribute To The King Of Zydeco," aka Clifton Chenier. Thank you so much for joining us.
SAVOY: Thanks so much for having me.
CJ CHENIER: My pleasure.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M COMING HOME") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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