A 90-Year Old Mystery Solved
'The Guidry Brothers'
In the late 1920s Cajun music experienced a resurgence of popularity and the new recording companies quickly wanted to produce 78-rpm records of this locally popular music. St. Landry Parish in Louisiana quickly "jumped on the bandwagon" and sponsored a major two-day accordion contest on 27 and 28 September 1929 in Opelousas. The idea of Sheriff Charles Thibodeaux, who was the master of ceremonies, the contest was promoted widely by Dr. A. J. Boudreaux, a local pharmacist and a representative of Okeh Records in the local area. Sponsored by the Opelousas Herald newspaper as well as local businesses, the contest drew tremendous interest from throughout south Louisiana. Bands and folks from miles away journeyed to Opelousas for the event. Fifteen winners in various categories were chosen with the prizes totaling $400. In addition, the grand prize winner received a trip to New Orleans to produce a record for Okeh Records. Several national record companies including Okeh, Columbia, Victor and Brunswick (recording under the Vocalion label) sent representatives to Opelousas for the contest.
Each day the bands competed during the day and in the evenings they played outdoors for the crowds to dance (a fais do-do) . Interests about the contest ran high as everyone had a great time. The grand prize winner was Angelus LeJeune of Acadia Parish with his accompanying fiddlers Dennis McGee and Ernest Fruge. They received the $50 grand prize and on 30 September headed by automobile to New Orleans for a 1 October recording session. (Clarion News; Opelousas, LA; 26 Sep 1929, p. 1; Rayne-Acadian Tribune; Rayne, LA; 20 Sep 1929, p. 5; Abbeville Meridional; Abbeville, LA; 19 Oct 1929, p. 1; Abbeville Progress; Abbeville, LA; 5 Oct 1929, p. 1)
Although the local press does not mention by name any other bands present, one must have been the Guidry Brothers. They certainly impressed the Brunswick (Vocalion) representative present with their unique music as they too went to New Orleans. On 1 October 1929 they recorded six sides (three 78-rpm records) for Vocalion. The songs included Le Recommendation du Soulard (Vocalion 15844-A), Mes Beaux Yieux (Vocalion 15844-B), Homme Abondonne (Vocalion 15849-A), Le Garçon Negligent (Vocalion 15849-B), Le Garçon Chez Son Père (Vocalion 15854-A) and La Valse du Mariage (Vocalion 15854-B). The song Le Garçon Negligent provided the melody that led to several later hits including Papa Cairo's Big Texas and Hank Williams' Jambalaya. The Guidry Brothers band included a fiddle, accordion and guitar with vocals and yodeling.
After their brief recording stint in 1929 the Guidry Brothers seemed to disappear from the music scene. They recorded no other records and an extensive search in the local newspapers located no mention of them. Unfortunately neither the record labels nor the recording studio notes identify the band members by name. They have remained unknown for 90 years although Early Cajun Music historians have searched far and wide for their identity. They are the only Guidry band that recorded music for which the names of the band members are not known.
In a recent issue of Generations (Fall 2017; Volume 15 Issue 3, pp. 2 & 18) two articles appeared that mentioned the Guidry Brothers and that noted the lack of information about their identities. In January 2019 Janice Guidry Hulin saw the articles and realized that she had the "key" that solved this 90-year old mystery. She contacted Marty Guidry with a photograph of the three men holding their instruments and her reasoning why they were the Guidry Brothers.
Between 1992 and 2005 she had organized eight family reunions for her grandfather's (Isidore Guidry) family of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. During these reunion attendees shared old photographs of the family and discussed them. One photograph shown caught Janice's attention and she inquired about the three men in it - one of whom was her grandfather. Her cousin told her it was the Guidry Band that had recorded records; however, they no longer had any of the records. In 1993 and later years Janice also attended several family reunions of the Dosite Guidry (her great uncle) and they also mentioned the Guidry Band and that they had recorded some records. One person said he had the records, but did not have a phonograph that could play them. He has since died and Janice was not able to view the records. All three men in the photograph were brothers and the sons of Alcide Honorat Guidry and Marie Louise Herbert of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. The three brothers were Arthur Guidry (1875-1948) on accordion, Jean Dosite Guidry (1885-1965) on fiddle and Isidore Guidry (1883-1949) on guitar. The three young ladies were Celiman 'Meyon" Guidry, daughter of Dosite Guidry, and Denneigne Mathieu and Birdie Mathieu, nieces of Isidore Guidry.
On receiving the information from Janice, Marty immediately contacted Wade Falcon, a well-known Early Cajun Music historian, and provided him with the photograph and reasoning. Wade knew immediately that the identities of the Guidry Brothers were no longer a mystery. The fact that their ages were correct, their instruments were the same as in the records and, most importantly, that older family members remembered that they had made some records left no doubt that these men were the Guidry Brothers. Remember that they were the only Guidry band that recorded Cajun music for which the names of the band members were not known.
Although all, but one, of their offspring have died, many grandchildren still live in south Louisiana and southeast Texas. Wade has spent many days interviewing these relatives learning more about the Guidry Brothers band. Although the family members remember the name as the Guidry Band and the records use the Guidry Brothers, this is not unusual as the record producers probably used the name Guidry Brothers as it was a bit flashier than the simple Guidry Band. We know that Arthur Guidry sang in addition to playing the accordion although other band members may have sung also. We do not know yet who yodeled. The band apparently did play at local dance halls and travelled as far as Hackberry, Louisiana - a distance of approximately 100 miles - to play. They also entered music contests throughout their careers.
Wade Falcon produces a superb blog on early Cajun music at: http://earlycajunmusic.blogspot.com/2015/08/la-recomendation-du-soulard-guidry.html