ZYDECO (haricots) SONT PAS SALE (snap beans are not salty) is not only the title of the oldest African-American French Creole tunes from Acadiana but, as recorded by Clifton Chenier in the 1960s, defines what we today know as ZYDECO music.  Zydeco (accent is on the 'o') not only refers to the song, but is a term generally applied to a unique musical and social gumbo found mainly along the Gulf coast where Creoles have blended rural Louisiana African-American French Creole traditions with Cajun music, Rhythm and Blues, a shot of Rock 'n' Roll and a bunch of other local ingredients!  Along with the music, Zydeco also includes out-in-the-country style dancing and celebrating with food, drink and enjoyment for young and old.  In cities like Houston, Galveston and Port Arthur, Zydeco refers to what goes on at the many neighborhood jook joints, taverns and house dances which cater to recent immigrants from rural southwest Louisiana.  In the early 1960s, most Zydeco bands usually consisted of accordion and drums or accordion and rub-board or maybe two or even three accordions.  When these musicians were asked what they called the music they were playing, the answer was far from uniform.  Some replied: French music, Push and Pull, French La La, Accordion dance, Zydeco or Rock 'n' Roll.

The Cajuns, a colloquial shortening for Acadians, who for the most part operated small subsistence family farms, seldom if ever had slaves. They mingled with Native Americans, other groups of European background and Creoles.  African-Americans moved into the region already before the Civil War and some even became land owners.  Some were of French speaking background.  Others were not but soon acquired the culture, language, religion and music of the Acadians or at least were strongly influenced by them just as the Acadians were influenced by the traditions of their black neighbors.  According to Nick Spitzer, folklorist with the Smithsonian Institution, today's French Creoles of Acadiana may include in their ancestry free people of color (gens libres de couleur), slaves from the Caribbean and the American South, Spanish, French and German settlers and merchants, Native Americans, Anglo Americans and Cajuns.  The music of the wealthier Creoles, like that of the upper class white Acadians has just about died out but was apparently relatively sophisticated with emphasis on string and brass ensembles which were still heard as late as the 1920s.  What has survived and gained in popularity under the name Zydeco is basically the music of the rural Creole farm workers with various urban and African-American influences.  Many African-Americans, like most people who moved to Acadiana, rapidly adopted the ways and traditions of the Cajuns including their music and Roman Catholic religion.  Others, however, retained their own regional French Creole language and Afro-Caribbean traditions.  The accordion was introduced into the area, perhaps first to African-Americans, by missionaries or German traders or representatives of the Hohner Co. of Germany in the second half of the 19th century.  By the 1920s, the popularity of the accordion was revolutionizing Cajun and Creole music.   Until then, fiddlers and small orchestras had been supplying the music in Acadiana but with the arrival of the accordion they were just about put out of business.  Caribbean rhythms obviously made themselves felt and so did the jazz bands from New Orleans who often performed throughout Acadiana at both black and white social events.

The first Creole accordion recordings were made by Amede Ardoin who made his first sides with Cajun fiddler Dennis McGee in 1929. Amede Ardoin was of African-American background.  The recordings by Amede Ardoin did not sound all that different from Angelas LeJune or Amade Breaux who were Cajun accordionists.  Two related but parallel black and white traditions developed in southwest Louisiana.  Within the French Creole tradition today we hear a wide variety of styles from the almost Cajun sounding music of Alphonse "Bois-Sec" Ardoin (a first cousin of Amede Ardoin).  Danny Poullard or Preston Frank to very Caribbean and African- American Zydeco sounds of John Delafose or Boozoo Chavis with much of the younger generation leaning towards Soul music or Rhythm and Blues with less and less Creole content. A similar range was evident in the early 1960s.

The accordion used in the 1920s and still favored by many traditionalists today, is a single row diatonic instrument which gives you different notes pushing and pulling.  The triple row diatonic accordion used by most Zydeco musicians in the 1950s, 1960s and even today is more flexible, can play in several keys, is not diatonic and is, presumably, much better for playing the blues.  In Houston, Texas, in the early 1960s it seemed to be common to use two or even three diatonic triple row accordions.  One would play the lead while the others would "bass" or second behind the lead, much in the tradition of early Creole and Cajun fiddlers.  The harmonica, much cheaper than any accordion, was also widely used.  A concertina, smaller than any other of the accordions, was sometimes used in Willie Green's band.

The old type washboard has today become a rather sophisticated "rub board" made of corrugated steel and cut like a vest so as to fit in front of the player's chest, who scrapes it with beer can openers, spoons or whatever is handy to create a very loud rasping sound.   Depending upon how much air the player leaves in back of the instrument (by either standing up straight or bending forward) determines the brightness of the sound.  Cleveland Chenier, who must rate as one of the very best rub board players with an extraordinary sense for dynamics and syncopation, was backing blues singer Lightning Hopkins in the early 1960s.  By the mid-1960s when Clifton Chenier was getting more popular, Cleveland rejoined his brother's band and most players today have taken their inspiration from the Master, Cleveland Chenier.

The violin is seldom heard in Zydeco music today, perhaps because it was not loud enough to be heard alongside the high volume accordion, or perhaps it just lost its appeal long ago among African Americans.  Other instruments used in Zydeco were jaw bone, tub bass, triangle and a broom handle scraped over a wooden floor to create a bassy rasping sound. 

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