Lacassine Special

A Cajun two-step in A major, traditional in origin, brought into the modern repertoire by accordionist Iry LeJeune. The melody predates him: Amédé Ardoin recorded it as “Two Step de Mama” at his first session in December 1929, with Dennis McGee on fiddle, and it turns up again in 1937 as “Elton Two Step” by J.B. Fuselier with Miller’s Merrymakers. LeJeune’s words are a husband’s ultimatum to his wife, telling her she can see the road and take it. The title refers to Lacassine, Louisiana, thirteen miles east of Lake Charles, the town LeJeune moved to after the war. He cut it for Eddie Shuler’s Folk Star label at a Lake Charles radio station, on a disc cutter normally used for commercials and jingles, backed by Milton and Ellis Vanicor on twin fiddles and Ivy Vanicor on guitar. The Balfa Brothers recorded it for Swallow on The Balfa Brothers Play Traditional Cajun Music, and the Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band cut a version for Home Music with Spirits (Arhoolie, 1992).