Annotation:Perrodin Two Step
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PERRODIN TWO STEP. AKA and see “Ardoin Two-Step,” "Two-Step des Perrodins." Cajun, Two-Step (4/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Francois): AA'BB' (Reiner & Anick). The song is named for the Perrodin family; according to Marc Savoy the Perrodins were two brothers who requested the tune frequently at dances. It was first recorded in New Orleans in 1929 by Angélas LeJeune (b.c. 1890-), Dennis McGee and Ernest Frugé. As the story goes, LeJeune, accompanied by McGee and Frugé, won an accordion contest sponsored by a weekly newspaper, the Opelousas Herald, the grand prize of which was a trip to the city to record for Brunswick Records. John Lomax, working for the WPA, made a field recording [1] of the tune played by Creole accordion player Oakdale Carrière in the Angola State Prison, Louisiana, in July, 1934. A related tune is Merlin Fontenot's "Pas de Deux a Elia," according to Raymond Francois. See also versions of "Perrodin Two-Step" recorded under the titled "Round Up Hop" (1937, by Miller's Merrymakers) and "Jolly Boys' Breakdown" (by the Jolly Boys of Lafayette). Wallace "Cheese" Read's "Mamou Breakdown" is also considered a version.
Source for notated version: Cajun fiddler Wallace "Cheese" Read (b. Eunice, La., 1924) [Reiner & Anick]; Raymond Francois (La.) [Francois].
Printed sources: Francois (Yé Yaille Chère!), 1990; pp. 248-249. Reiner & Anick (Old Time Fiddling across America), 1989; p. 155.
Recorded sources: Arhoolie 5021, Wallace "Cheese" Read - "Cajun House Party" (1979). Brunswick 369 (78 RPM), Angelas LeJeune, Dennis McGee and Ernest Frugé (1929). Folkways Records FW08361, "Traditional Cajun Fiddle: Instruction by Dewey Balfa and Tracy Schwarz" (1978). La Louisianne Records, LLCD-1003, Jimmy Breaux - "Un Tit Peu Plus Cajun." Yazoo Records, Angélas LeJeune - "Times Ain't Like They Used to be: Early American Rural Music, vol. 4" (2006).
See also listing at:
See/hear the tune played by Kevin Wimmer, Steve Riley & Chris Stafford on youtube.com [2]
Hear the Balfa/Schwartz recording on dailymotion.com [3]