Happy Go Lucky
SW 6219 | 2010
Cajun Memories
SW 6125 | 1995
The Back Door
and other
Cajun Hits
SW 6038 | 1980
| A brief history...
D.L. (Doris Leon) Menard, a carpenter by trade, was born on April 14, 1932, in Erath, LA. On stage and off, he is an old-fashioned teller of tall tales. When asked what D.L. stands for, he replies, "Darn Lucky."
D.L.'s earliest inspiration was furnished by his father, who played harmonica, and an uncle who played in a Cajun band. Attending a rehearsal by the group, D.L. became enchanted by his uncle's guitar playing. Convincing his uncle to teach him a few rudimentary chords, he took to the instrument quickly.
D.L. first started out playing with Elias Badeaux's band, the Louisiana Aces, but in 1952, he took over the band's leadership. In 1962, he recorded the modern Cajun classic "La Porte d’En Arrière (The Back Door)," which he based on Hank Williams, Sr.’s "Honky Tonk Blues," which sold more than 500,000 copies. Because of Williams’ obvious influence, D.L. is nicknamed "the Cajun Hank Williams."
In 1994, D.L. Menard received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Related links... Reviews...
Dale "LeBlanc" Johnson, KMVR
Happy Go Lucky SW 6219
D.L. Menard has been a "legend in his own time" for many years now. This new release is performed by the 78-year-old "Cajun Hank Williams" with members of Terry Huval's "Jambalaya Cajun Band." Also joining in are Sonny Landreth (electric slide guitar), Beau Thomas (fiddle), and Al Berard (fiddle and guitar). As always he writes all of his own songs. This winner of the National Heritage Foundation Award in 1994 is a songwriter's songwriter, who has had a lot of life to tell stories about.
This CD will grow on you if you read the English lyric translations and are able to understand his stories sung in Cajun French. Good examples of this are "Crazy People of the Country," "It's the Place I'm Going to Stay" (about not just going to Heaven but 'staying' there) and "The Pictures on the Wall" (most likely about the ones his deceased wife placed there). The pretty song "The Light in the Graveyard" is about a rare spiritual experience. In "The Town of Erath" (the place where he has always lived and had his chair factory) he tells about a small town of very friendly Cajuns. The closer, and source of the album's title, reflects his early carefree "A Bachelor's Life." |