ROF= Ring of fire Odyssey MEF-H = Marine Expeditionary Force- Hargus
ITW= Into The West Journey
March 14, 2017
ZYD ROF
Tracks of the StoneBear/ Uncle Hargus Copyright MCMLXIII ALL Rights reserved
ROF= Ring of Fire odyssey
ZYD Cajun/Zydeco dance journey
Cajun Zydeco music 'splained
Dance for your Tribe
This
is what we gonna did. We gonna 'splain Cajun Zydeco dance to all you
taxpayers out there. There's infinite music styles... performed by many
different bands/ artists/ musicians... but there's nothing like, nothing
better than rockin' good Cajun Zydeco music.
Cajun
Zydeco music is to be danced to. This is NOT a concert where musicians
play and you listen in your seat to their talent.
Concert
musicians play great music... but often you can't dance to their
rhythm. A lot of redneck goobers with no
dance soul/ rhythm stand around at a concert, nod their head up and down
with the beat while standing in one place tapping their toe... watching
the few
dancers and wishing they knew how to dance.
When
you have a Cajun Zydeco band that knows how to play to a beat... a beat
to dance to... a drummers 4 count beat... ...or a 3 count Cajun
Waltz... with the bass player setting the lead rhythm of the
music/song... the drummer setting the beat tempo... you have music/ a
song that can be danced to.
Cajun
Zydeco music/ bands play music that you can't stand at the wayside...
you have to get up and get onto the dance floor with a lady and dance;
it is that powerful. The bands are really good, versatile and often will
play some Cajun Blues or some rock favorites.
*************
Tonight's
dance features the Little Malcolm Band from Lake Charles, Louisiana. These guys really put
on a good show and their dance music is a wonderful favorite of the
Birmingham Cajun Zydeco dancers. Thanks guys for playing Birmingham, AL.
Come back often.
*************
When
you have the right Cajun ZYDeco band... and the music beat is just
right... and you have a lady dance partner that knows how to follow your
dance lead... and you're in sync with a dance partner... you know how
to lead with the music, and your lady partner knows how to follow your
lead... and you dance to the rhythm of the music with a favorite lady;
it just don't git no better than this! I Gar-ron-TEE!!!
...
and the ZYDeco music is fantastic.... and you connect with your dance
partner with the beat rhythm... it all comes together at a point... you
move in sync with your dance partner... a very intimate connection/
language that is not spoken... dancing can make that happen. Cajun
Zydeco music is a mix of cultures, just like the Creole culture; a mix
of Native American Indian - some Seminole, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw,
Cherokee, some Spanish, French, African slave, riverboat gambler, throw
in a few British and Confederate soldiers, some Acadians... all mixed to
come out as one of Americas truly unique cultures.
I've told young students, if you want to understand a culture.... you learn their dance.
During
the Summer of '67 working in the shipyard drydocks of Mobile, Alabama I
became an official coon-ass Cajun. Working hard putting on keel plates
of ships... hanging around the Cajun guys in the shipyard... goin' out
on the causeway and drinking draft beer with the Cajuns taught me one of
the most important of life rules; you live in the moment. No one ever
said those words, it was just a lifestyle to adapt to. You learn to
enjoy life... the hardships and the Laissez les bons temps rouler!" is a
Cajun expression meaning "Let the
good times roll!" It strongly conveys the "joie de vivre" ("joy of
living") attitude that pervades south Louisiana. It is mostly associated
with New Orleans. (THE BEST CITY IN THE WORLD! according to Cajuns),
but my preference is Mobile, ALabama. Cajun Zydeco music is most
centered around Lafayette, Homa, Lake Charles, ect... Louisiana.
My main Cajun buddies adopted me into their Cajun culture and I was changed forever.
Drinking
draft beer in the juke joints with Willis and Somerville, on the Mobile
causeway, Plateau, Telegraph road,... The Rocket Club... Chickisaw,
Creola, Satsuma, Saraland, Pauls where you could buy a pound of pound
jumbo shrimp for $1... steamed in beer... with a pint of cocktail sauce.
Eat bayou seafood 'til you were stuffed. Draft beer, Cajun music....
Cajun women.... at 17 I thought I'd found heaven.
The
Cajuns all had family,... farms, cattle, shipyard workers... they all
worked hard and when payday Friday night came... they knew how to live
in the moment. Drinking 'till dawn, Cajun women... you haven't lived
'til you've dated a Cajun lady!
We'd
fight and fuck 'til dawn.... sleep a couple hours... get up... drink a
couple of Jax beers for breakfast... and go out again on a new day and
do it again all over. I learned this lifestyle at 17.
This was '67 and I knew I would be swept up into the Marines and into Viet Nam.
When I got to Parris Island I thought... I've lived in Prichard, Alabama... I can handle this.
The
Cajun Zydeco bands come up into The South pretty regular to play music
festivals, city/town festivals, and individual dance bookings. A weekend
circuit of Birmingham Friday night, Atlanta Saturday night, Huntsville
Sunday night was a regular circuit by the bands when they came through
Birmingham for the ACME = Association of Cajun Music Enthusiasts.
Here
at Tracks of the StoneBear one of the many interests of Uncle Hargus'
study is archaeology and the many cultures, subcultures, and tribes. If
you want to understand a culture of people; learn their dance. Learn how
they dance, and why. ?Do they dance to get ready to go to war? ?Do they
dance around the fire ring for a wedding? ?...or do they dance around
the fire ring while they burn an enemy captive at the stake?
To dance for your Tribe is a great honor; for your Tribe, for yourself.
You never drink twice from the same stream.
StoneBearTracks Uncle Hargus Copyright MCMLZIII ALL blog posts/photographs/video ALL Rights reserved
I
don't do commercials or ads on this blog but occasionally we highlight
and make note of exceptional artists, craftsmen, and unique people of
character. No money or royalties are paid to the blog, or me. These
photos and short clips of art, music, and craftsmanship are intended to
be a gratis highlight of exceptional talent and a thank you to the
artists.
You never drink twice from the same stream.
StoneBearTracks Copyright Uncle Hargus MCMLXIII ALL blog posts/photographs/video ALL Rights reserved
ALL Blog posts/photographs/video Copyright MCMLXIII ALL Rights Reserved
