Day 44: Natchez to Lafayette
Today we
crossed from the state of Mississippi into Louisiana. This was to be the day that we learned a
great deal about two styles of music that were previously unknown to me: Cajun
and Zydaco music.
But first
we remained with the traditional blues music when we visited yet another Delta
Blues museum, this one in the little town of Ferriday. Although by this time I think most of the
folk on the coach are almost saturated with music history and museums, this one
put yet another piece into our ever-expanding music jigsaw. Just as the old
deserted town of Clarksdale lays claim to so many blues musicians from the 20s
and 30s, so Ferriday lays claim to iconic musicians of the 50s and 60s: Fats
Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimmy Swaggart, Percy Sledge, Conway Twitty, Johnny
Horton and many more whose names were not familiar to me.
Known mostly for his distinctly frenzied piano technique, Jerry Lee Lewis (Great balls of fire) has featured in nearly every museum we have been to.
We have become very much aware of what came to be known as the ‘Million Dollar Quartet’, of which he was one. This came about when, at Sun Records in Memphis, Lewis, Elvis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins met to do a ‘jam session’. Unknown to the singers, studio owner, Sam Phillips, recorded the session and took a candid photograph of them working. When each of these singers rose to fame, the impromptu group became known as the ‘Million Dollar Quartet’. At this museum today, Roger managed to buy the CD of this recording, now released in its entirety and in the same order that it was recorded, so it will be a great one to listen to.
Growing up in Ferriday at the same time as Jerry Lee Lewis were his two cousins, Jimmy Swaggart and Mickey Gilly (Room full of roses). All three were born within twelve months of each other: 1935 and 1936. Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggart both ‘cut their musical teeth’ at the Assembly of God church in Ferriday. Previously, Jimmy Swaggart’s name was known only to me as a television evangelist from the 1980s, but according to what we read at this museum he describes himself as ‘an old fashioned Holy Ghost-filled, shouting, weeping, soul-winning, gospel-preaching preacher.’ From what I remember of him, he certainly was that!
The other
big names that Ferriday Delta Museum has inducted into their Hall of Fame include
Fats Domino
- Blueberry Hill,
Walking to New Orleans, Ain’t that a shame….
Apparently
he wasn’t able to personally receive his induction into the Hall of Fame
because it coincided with Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I remember him being interviewed at the time
and the lady at the museum reminded me that he had needed to be rescued from
his roof as the flood waters rose.
At New
Orleans in the Hurricane Katrina Museum, there is on display Fats’ grand piano
in the state and position that it was found after the flood waters subsided.
Jimmy Davis 'You are my sunshine' - 1939
'When a man loves a woman' (1966)
‘North to Alaska’, (1960) ‘Going to sink the Bismark’ (1960)
From
Ferriday, we went to visit to a working cotton plantation named Frogmore. It
was the owner of the plantation who briefly explained and showed us how such a
business works today. Then she directed
us to the old chapel on the property, where we were treated to some wonderful
Negro Spirituals, music from Porgy and Bess and Amazing Grace.
Next we
were taken to see some slave cottages that have been moved to this plantation
for preservation and to show visitors.
One two-room cottage was set up to show the living conditions of slaves
before the Civil War and then after emancipation when they could become share
croppers.
With emancipation, the living quarters became somewhat more comfortable. Walls were decorated and a slow combustion fire was put into the fireplace.
We went to the overseer’s cottage to see that he and his family lived in comparative comfort.
Finally, we
went to the original cotton gin, still standing as it was in the late
1800s. Some of its equipment was still
in use until fairly recent years.
Artwork gave us an idea of what the property would have looked like in those days.
Solomon Northup’s book ‘Twelve years a slave’ apparently gives great insight into the life of a slave.
There was ‘Little Black Sambo’ – the cover of its original edition and the edition that I had as a child. I was astounded to see that a new version is on sale now.
Between
Peter’s commentary and that told to us by the owner of ‘Frogmore’, we learned a
great deal about slavery in America and in this area in particular. We also
learned about the tensions that led to the Civil War and the eventual
abolishment of slavery. I have written
this information into a separate blog entitled
Day 44: Slavery, Civil War, blues music and Civil Rights
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Our third
and last excursion of the day was to ‘Martin Accordians’ at Lafayette. There we were introduced to Cajun music,
which is quite like country music but with some differences. We were
entertained and educated by a very talented Cajun family of three generations.
‘Cajun’ is
a derivative of ‘Arcadian’. It was the
French people from Arcadia who were exiled from Nova Scotia and no doubt they
were known as the ‘Arcadians’ which of course eventually slid into ‘Cajun’.
The Cajun
people all speak French, the older generations better than the younger. The grandfather of this family speaks it
fluently and he speaks English with a French accent.
Grandpa was on the slide guitar, mum on the bass guitar and her son Joel on guitar and accordion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yXIcCIepic
In this clip they demonstrate Cajun music
This family-owned business makes accordians and has gained a world-wide reputation for their instrument.
From there we checked into our hotel, where our room had a great view over the bayou.
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