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Rodney LeJeune |
According to the liner notes of the CD Rodney LeJeune and the Texas Cajun Playboys, released in 2006 by Great Cajun Recordings, Rodney LeJeune retired his guitar in 1998. As seen in the photographs at right, he came out of retirement long enough at the Lake Charles CFMA annual Christmas benefit in 2000 to do a few numbers. The CD has been greeted with enthusiasm by Cajun music fans who love the old style dance hall music that drew crowds to clubs and festivals across East Texas and Southwest Louisiana.
LeJeune is a native of Church Point and a cousin of Iry LeJeune. According to the CFMA biography, he was born July 27, 1935. After beginning his career as a musician at age 17, he moved to Texas when he was 21 and in 1957 began to perform with Andrew Cormier, who was also originally from Church Point. His first recording, "La Valse de Misère," was made at a radio station in Port Arthur. The cuts on the CD were recorded much later in the second half of the 1980s.
LeJeune and his group especially excel on the waltz numbers, with his clear, distinct, expressive vocals gliding along nicely, matched by band members whose instrumental solos flow along like dancers moving effortlessly across the floor.
The cuts on the CD, all recorded in the second half of the 1980s, include his own songs "Musicians' Waltz" and "I'm Back at the Dance Again Tonight," along with "J'ai passé devant ta porte," "World in a Jug," "Cette la j'aime (et comme un 'tit oiseaux)," "The Waltz of the Past," "Allons à Lafayette," "La Valse de Grande Chemin," "I Made a Big Mistake," "La Valse Alida," "Memories in My Heart," "I'd Like to Know," and "Jolie Blonde."
The other musicians include Garland Domingue on drums and Larry Miller on steel guitar. Andrew Cormier is heard on on three cuts. Other accordionists on different cuts are John Dale Hebert, Chris Miller, and Pat Savant. Fiddlers are Arthur Leger and Francis Andrepont.
The CD was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Floyd J. Badeaux at the Musik Faktory in Port Arthur. To order the CD, go to www.great-recordings.com.
Posted 8-2-06
All photographs and text by David Simpson.