Bon Ton Roula

"Bon Ton Roula" (alternatively "Bon Ton Roulet") is a zydeco-influenced blues song first recorded by Clarence Garlow. The song became a hit in 1950, reaching #7 in the US Billboard R&B chart.^[1] "Bon ton roula" is a phonetical approximation of "bons temps rouler",^[2] Louisiana Creole French for "good times roll" as in "Laissez les bons temps rouler" or "Let the good times roll", an unofficial slogan for New Orleans and the Mardi Gras celebration.

One commentator noted the track as, "a rhythm and blues laced-zydeco song that helped introduce the Louisiana music form to a national audience."^[3]

Original song

A song with a similar theme, "Let the Good Times Roll", was recorded by Louis Jordan in 1946 and it became a R&B chart hit. With diiferent lyrics and arrangement, Clarence Garlow recorded "Bon Ton Roula" in 1949. Garlow, a Louisiana native who had relocated to Beaumont, Texas, was a blues guitarist and singer. "Bon Ton Roula" was recorded as a sixteen-bar blues with "an insistent, swirling rhumba rhythm".^[4] "The song featured some of the same kind of broken Cajun-isms as Hank Williams's "Jambalaya".^[5]

You see me there, well I ain't no fool

I'm one smart Frenchman never been to school

Wanna get somewhere in a Creole town

You stop and let me show you your way 'round

You let the bon ton roula, you let the moolay boolay

Now don't you be no fool-ay, you let the bon ton roula

The song was a success, reaching #7 on the R&B chart. Garlow recorded a different version with singer Emma Dell Lee titled "New Bon Ton Roola" (Feature 1000). In 1953, he recorded perhaps the definitive version with the Maxwell Davis Orchestra for Aladdin (3179), titled "New Bon Ton Roulay". The song retained most of the elements of the original song, but there was no progression to the IV chord and some new lyrics were used.

Other versions

Following Clarence Garlow's early recordings, "Bon Ton Roula" (with a variety of spellings) has been recorded by several artists often associated with Louisiana music, including Bo Dollis and The Wild Magnolias, Phillip Walker, and BeauSoleil. A different "Bon Ton Roulet" was recorded in 1967 by Clifton Chenier (Arhoolie 1031) that has inspired several subsequent versions.

References

^ Whitburn, Joel (1988). Top R&B Singles 1942-1988. Record Research, Inc. p. 164. ISBN 0898200687.
^ Differences in spelling have been attributed to Creole French being "primarily oral and aural traditions" with few written works.
^ Santelli, Robert (2001). The Big Book of Blues: a biographical encyclopedia (2nd ed.). London, England: Penguin Books. p. 177. ISBN 0-141-001453-1.
^ Sandmel, Ben; Oliver, Rick (1999). Zydeco!. University Press of Mississippi. p. 42. ISBN 9781578061167.
^ Vera, Billy (1996). Louisiana Swamp Blues – liner notes. Capitol Records CDP 7243. p. 8.

Louisiana roots music and dance

Bounce Brass Bands Cajun Jig (One Step) Cajun Jitterbug (Two Step) Cajun music* Creole music Dixieland Jazz Jazz funeral Louisiana blues New Orleans blues New Orleans hip hop New Orleans R&B Second line Swamp blues Swamp pop Zydeco Zydeco (dance)