Description
Release Date: 2010
Label: Swallow Records
Track List
- Les Bons Temps Rouler
- Ossun Two Step
- Midnight Waltz
- Walker Special
- ‘Tits Yeux Noirs
- Chere Alice
- Unlucky Waltz
- Lena Mae
- Reno Waltz
- Allons Rock And Roll
- Tous Les Deux Pour
- Johnny Can’t Dance
- Creole Waltz
- Wandering Aces Special
- La Valse Qui M’Fait Du Mal
- Keep Your Hands Off Of It
- Country Waltz
- Waltz Of Sorrow
- Little Bitty Girl
- Evangeline Waltz
- Madame Sosthene
- Mamou Two Step
Notes
This long-awaited Essential Collection of Lawrence Walker & the Wandering Aces includes all of his essential recordings: his earliest Khoury/Lyric recordings, the Swallow singles, and his last studio recordings, the La Louisianne Recordings of 1961. Released in November 2010, 22 tracks.
Lawrence Walker was both September 1, 1907, near Duson, Louisiana. He joined his father Allen and his brother Elton to record traditional fiddle tunes between 1928 and 1932 as the Walker Brothers Band. By mid-1930s, young Lawrence has learned to play the accordion. While other accordion bands were beginning to give way to more popular string bands, Lawrence continued to perform and record, adapting his music to include popular American tunes. As early as 1936, he was featured at the National Folk Festival in Dallas, Texas, accompanied by the Broussard Family Band.
Even the Walker accordion finally succumbed to the flood of string bands during the late 1930s and early 40s. He returned, however, along with Nathan Abshire, Austin Pitre, and others, after World War II to take his place in the Cajun music revival. In the 1950s, Walker became an immensely popular band leader, bringing outstanding musicians like Dick Richard, U.J. Meaux, and Lionel Leleux into his Wandering Aces band. His smooth accordion style and original compositions in traditional and contemporary styles made Walker a favorite among dancers throughout South Louisiana and into the Golden Triangle of Southeast Texas.
His many fans invariably describe him as perhaps the best accordion player and singer in Cajun music. Yet, his popularity seems to have remained in the dance halls and in the memory of the crowds who were lucky enough to have heard him perform. Lawrence Walker died August 15, 1968, too late to be a legend and too early to be a star of the renaissance. ~Barry Jean Ancelet
