.......................................................................Text: Larry Benicewicz

I suppose when one thinks of all the great zydeco bands originating in the fertile crescent of music stretching from New Orleans, LA, to Houston, TX, the first thing that may come to mind is how this indigenous musical genre has been passed down over the years from one generation to the next. Name a great performer and more likely than not a whole host of his offspring would have served an apprenticeship in his band before going on to forge careers of their own. The list is endless - the late John Delafose had sons Tony, on bass, and Geno, on drums, toiling together for many years before they finally carved a niche for themselves on the zydeco circuit; the hardworking road warrior, Roy Carrier, had sons Chubby and Troy each in turn handling the percussion chores before they eventually broke free to lead their own ensembles; the sons of the late Rockin’ Dopsie (Alton Rubin), including his longtime flamboyant rubboard (frottoir) player David, similarly carry on his legacy, as well as those (including Poncho on accordion) of the late Boozoo Chavis. And of course, C.J. Chenier ultimately put down the saxophone in his father’s (Clifton) band and took up the torch in the form of the piano squeezebox.

In fact, in Southwest Louisiana family is almost synonymous with zydeco. And we’ve watched the kids grow up, like the Sam Brothers Five (zydeco’s equivalent of the Jackson Five) with Carl on guitar, Calvin on rubboard, Rodney on drums, Leon on accordion, and Glenn on bass. Also, the short-lived Creole Junction introduced us to the Chambers brothers - Greg, Stanley, Gene, Rudy, and one-time teenage heartthrob, Javon “Deuce” on the single note. And let us not forget, perhaps, the most popular and enduring of the family bands - Keith Frank with his charming and captivating sister Jennifer on bass and younger brother Brad on drums.

And family still remains the key word in the Walker household as well and the reason why I chose “Family Rules” as the caption to this article, the title of a big hit record in these parts way back in 1957 on Eddie Shuler’s Goldband label by Guitar Jr. (Lee Baker, Jr.), now Lonnie Brooks, because no band epitomizes domestic harmony to the extent demonstrated by this unit. Indeed, even “outsiders” like the gentle giant of bassman, Pernell Babineaux, have played with the group so long as to become part of the family, although they do allow him to pursue other interests, like backing up Lake Charles blues belter extraordinaire, Isaac “Big Ike” Martin.

How many other groups can boast of a father who has stepped aside as leader in deference to his son? Jude Taylor of the Burning Flames is the undisputed headliner of his outfit and his submissive sons have always played in his shadow. Lawrence Ardoin is out of the picture now and son Chris is now heading his own Double Clutchin.’ And remember when Preston Frank fronted his own band with young Keith on guitar? Preston is now relegated to manager and chaperone. In like manner, Leroy Thomas could not share the same stage with legendary drummer, his father “The Bull Is In Town” Leo, and soon after his departure, surrounded himself with his own cast of characters.

Letting his son, Malcolm, receive top billing? No big sacrifice here for Percy Walker. No infighting. No competition for the limelight. It all seemed so natural a transition. And as the reader will soon discover, it has always been this way. Call it a family tradition.

Percy Walker was born on July 17, 1953, in Lafayette, LA, and as far back as he can remember, making music was a high priority in his home. His grandfather Willie and father Melvin would perform at house parties on the Cajun one-note and frottoir respectively. “It was called French music back then and these two instruments were pretty much all you needed for dances or house parties,” said Percy.

After Percy at an early age showed some aptitude for percussion, the father and grandfather would let him join in, forming a threesome. “Nothing much really, I just beat on a big, old, hollow cardboard box with a knife and a fork,” he added. And then there was older brother Joe (born 1944) who was already gigging in the region and would come home late after an engagement and teach the still awake and all too eager Percy how best to keep the beat. And his older brother’s lessons must have served him in good stead, because at the tender age of ten, Rockin’ Dopsie, allowed him to sit in, replacing for long spells his chronically unreliable percussionist. Similarly during this same time frame, Percy would often fill in for the “King of Zydeco” Clifton Chenier’s equally late arriving and irresponsible counterpart, his services being volunteered by his father. In fact, it was Joe who prevailed upon Melvin Walker to at long last buy the twelve-year-old Percy a set of professional drums, which he purchased from Floyd’s of Ville Platte.

Indeed, the multi-talented but enigmatic Joe, himself, is an interesting read. Like younger brother Percy, Joe took up an instrument, the guitar, at an early age determined to imitate, from their radio broadcasts, blues heroes such as Lightnin’ Slim and Jimmy Reed. By the late 50s, as a teen, he was already running with Rockin’ Dopsie’s band. Forming his own group in the early 60s, Joe would often share a Saturday afternoon bill on a variety show (Saturday Hop, Lafayette’s version of Dick Clark’s American Bandstand broadcast over station KLFY) with “swamp pop” stars such as drummer Warren Storm (of Crowley studio band fame) and guitarist Rod “This Should Go On Forever” Bernard. Later in the decade, he joined the late Rockin’ Sidney (the author of zydeco classic, “Toot Toot”) for a couple of singles on the aforementioned Goldband label of Lake Charles and even cut some material for Eddie Shuler, its proprietor, but it was never released. Moving to Lake Charles in 1967, he formed another popular outfit which opened for big-name soul and blues stars, such as Tyrone (“Can I Change My Mind”) Davis, left-handed guitarist Barbara (“You’ll Lose A Good Thing”) Lynn (Ozen), and Joe (“The Choking Kind”) Simon, when they called at the nearby Jones Auditorium. It was also in Lake Charles that Joe began his long relationship with the late session pianist for both J.D Miller of Crowley and Shuler, Katie Webster (then backing Otis Redding), and the celebrated Boozoo “Paper In My Shoe” Chavis of nearby Dog Hill.

Due to the oil boom in the early 70s, Joe and his band found opportunities to be plentiful, but by mid-decade as disco began exert its influence and the boom turned to bust, Joe, in order to economize, had to disband and go it alone in lounges with just a keyboard and drum machine. But even this drastic measure proved inadequate to sustain him through this bleak period of life. Nothing seemed to work and his solitary soul-tinged single produced by Count Rockin’ Sidney on the Nifty label (with Percy on drums) was a flop. About 1976, Joe, after struggling mightily to keep the blues scene alive, came to the conclusion that this pursuit was a hopeless proposition and for eight years thereafter he earned his keep as an accompanist to gospel music, often warming up the audience for huge touring acts like the Mighty Clouds of Joy.

In 1986, after both blues and zydeco had experienced a revival in the area, Henry Randle enticed Joe out of retirement to help with his local hit “Zydeco Ma Ma, Zydeco Pa Pa.” Cut in Crowley on J.D. Miller’s Blues Unlimited label (a roster which also included Fernest Arceneaux, Rockin’ Dopsie, Buckwheat Zydeco, and the Sam Brothers), the single served to whet his appetite for the blues and shortly after he teamed up with veteran bluesmen in the area Raymond Randle (of Alexandria) and Lake Charles’s Felton Marlbrough. In fact, after the late producer of Church Point, Lee Lavergne, heard his well timed and expertly delivered, overdubbed piano tracks on their debut album, Picking The Blues (1016), for his label, Lanor, he was determined to finally record Joe on his own.

In the early 90s, Joe Walker became one of the hottest zydeco units around, having recorded two CDs of his own on Lanor, Zydeco All Night (1018) and I’m In The Dog House (1038), as well as a shared album with Roy Carrier, The Soulful Side of Zydeco (1003), all fine accordion and vocal efforts which resulted in tours of England and the U.S., including a triumphant appearance at Baltimore’s Fell’s Point Fun Festival in 1994.

The sudden death in 1998 of his staunchest supporter, Lee Lavergne, took a lot of wind out of his proverbial sails and after this date, the temperamental Joe has had to be content to be a hired gun of sorts with stints in both nephew’s Lil’ Malcolm’s House Rockers with brother Percy and Kinder, LA, Willis Prudhomme’s aggregate, playing guitar. Although his Lanor material is now out of print and will probably never be reissued, British producer, Peter Thompson of Zane records, still retains these three items in his inventory as imports and they are available upon request by contacting www.zanerecords.com via the Internet.

Now having firmly established the genius of his brother Joe, we can return to younger sibling Percy, who by the middle-60s was not only playing drums in Joe’s band but that of his father, which often included Joe on guitar. By the time of the family’s move to Lake Charles in 1966, two more younger brothers had come aboard, Darrell on trumpet and Wade on bass. Even though father Melvin had thoroughly mastered the triple note accordion, it was mostly rock and roll licks that the band had to offer. “Well, you had to change with the times and zydeco had become music for the old timers. We really had to mix it up, playing everything from the “Twist” to the “Limbo” rock. For the most part, we kept the people happy,” said Percy, commenting modestly upon what, according to reports, was an immensely crowd-pleasing group.

Like all musicians in South Louisiana, Percy managed to survive the 70s for a spell playing with one of the few leftover performing architects of 50s electrified zydeco, the late Marcel Dugas. Later, he, too, like brother Joe, joined Katie Webster on the road, still as a drummer.

As the 80s dawned and zydeco experienced a resurgence, Percy took up the piano accordion and formed his own band, the House Rockers, which featured for several years the Texas blues guitar stylings and crying vocals of the aforementioned Raymond “Toe” Randle, who over the years has become one of the most sought after instrumentalists in South Louisiana and whose resume includes stretches in Roy Carrier’s band of Lawtell, Thomas “Big Hat” Fields of Church Point, and Roy’s son, Dikki Du and the Zydeco Crew. Some other charter members also included Raymond’s brother Butch on horn and Felton Marlbrough on second guitar. As time wore on, Percy incorporated sons Percy, Jr., on drums and Malcolm on frottoir. And by the mid-90s, he was ready to make his first recording, generously sharing the spotlight with son Malcolm, who by that time, just twenty-years-old, was already making quite a name for himself in the region - but now, like father Percy, on the piano accordion.

And Malcolm had come a long way in so short a time. Born March 28, 1974, he did not have to wait very long to be recruited into his father’s band and at six years old was playing a passable frottoir or rubboard. At the time, he recalled that uncle Joe, a great inspiration to him, was playing guitar. “I’d say music sort of dominated all our thoughts back then. It was hard to avoid the issue,” said Malcolm, who soon followed in his father’s footsteps by taking up drums in school, although older brother Percy had by then firmly secured this particular position in the band. “Yeah, he was the main man, but I replaced him sometimes. We’d actually switch off a lot,” he added.

Actually “switching off” as far as the Walkers were concerned was an understatement. By his teen years, Malcolm had not only mastered the triple note accordion (his teacher being grandfather Melvin) but also the keyboards and finally the cumbersome and daunting piano accordion, the latter which could only be played after much “woodshedding” by only a handful of modern day zydeco exponents, like Geno Delafose, Buckwheat (Stanley Dural), Jude Taylor, C.J. Chenier, and Leroy Thomas. It’s a handful (and armful) to play but offers a much wider range of harmonic possibilities than the easily-learned, but monotonous, Cajun one-note favored by most outfits. But whenever necessary, the members of this musical family would magnanimously (almost instinctively) “trade off” for the good of the production. Such was the case when uncle Joe sought help with his Lanor sessions directed by Lee Lavergne. Percy junior, stayed on drums, Percy senior reverted to the guitar, and Lil’ Malcolm “regressed” temporarily to the rubboard, all without skipping a beat.

As a family, their first recording was On My Way: Percy Walker & Malcolm X Walker on September 30, 1994 for Mike Lachney’s Bad Weather label. And the fact that Lachney would take on this project was certainly a tribute to their musicianship because, as a veteran producer and keen judge of genius, he is extremely circumspect with whom he is associated.

Lachney (b. Oct. 7, 1950) over the years has gained the grudging respect of local artists for both his long experience in the recording business and his straightforwardness. Starting in 1969, he served for years as an advance promotion man for the aforementioned Eddie Shuler’s Lake Charles-based Goldband records before founding his own label in 1975 and his willingness to take a chance on lesser-known native talent has filled a void in the region, especially after the death of Lee Lavergne of Church Point, who similarly championed those neighborhood phenoms toiling in obscurity. In fact, Lachney also leased his material to this engineer, long before the homegrown zydeco wizard, Willis Prudhomme, achieved his celebrity status of today. Another “find” to Lachney’s credit is ironically Donna Angelle’s (whom he also recorded) chief rival to the title of “Queen of Zydeco,” Rosie Ledet (now managed by Piedmont talent), whom he first recorded for Floyd Soileau’s Maison de Soul label (1050, Zydeco Sweetheart). “I guess over the years, I have recorded more that twenty or so artists for Floyd,” said Mike. And besides Ledet, some of these notables have included soul artists Angie Brown and Bad Weather and zydeco exemplars like the late John Delafose, Leo Thomas, and the Creole Zydeco Farmers.

The multi-faceted Lachney, whose studio sits in Kinder, LA, not far from the junction of Interstates 190 and 165, also has been a historian of Southwest Louisiana music and served as DJ in the early 8Os for KREH radio in Oakdale, LA, spinning platters during a long-running program dedicated to showcasing the best of indigenous Louisiana music - zydeco, blues, swamp pop, and Cajun - a labor of love which has undoubtedly contributed to thrusting this state into the national consciousness. Replaced in the 90s by the great Tommy McClain, who hit the big time in 1966 with “Sweet Dreams” on Floyd’s Jin label, Lachney (as does Tommy) deeply regrets the loss of this valuable educational tool after the station changed hands in the late 90s.

Of course, when Percy approached Mike about recording the family, he was a virtual unknown, but the producer had a lot of trust in this outfit, pronouncing it a “keeper,” even if Floyd Soileau or Lee Lavergne (still alive at the time) weren’t interested in distribution. Previously, Lachney had released both zydeco upstarts Pee Wee & the Zydeco Boll Weevils and Kojack & the Zydeco Warriors, as well as John Delafose and Les Freres Prudhomme (brothers of Willis, Charles on guitar and Joseph on bass) on his own Bad Weather label and also swamp pop stars Warren Storm and Jay Randall. With mostly original compositions by Lil’ Malcolm, the CD (BW-1001) was deemed a success and still remains a fixture in Floyd’s mail order catalogue.

Close on the heels of his first CD came Lil’ Malcolm and the House Rockers with Percy again relinquishing the accordion in favor of vocals and a guitar, Percy junior on drums, and Classie Ballou, jr. on bass. Released in 1996, it was produced by Mike Lachney and engineered by Mark Miller, J.D. Miller’s son, at the state-of-the-art Master Track Studio A in Crowley, a facility made famous by Paul Simon’s blockbuster Graceland album recorded there in 1986. It, too, featured fresh compositions by Malcolm and Lachney’s faith in the House Rockers was rewarded with a lease agreement with Floyd’s venerable Maison de Soul label. A steady seller today, Maison de Soul 1059 retains a proud niche in Floyd’s inventory. “This second CD has some overlap with the first, as far as some songs being rerecorded. I wanted to go through Floyd’s originally but a fire up in his warehouse set things back for a while. So, I recorded at home. Let’s say that I gave this second effort the royal treatment,” said Lachney commenting upon the repackaging.

Already a third CD is in the offing, completed recently in Greenville, SC, while on the road during a marathon one-day session. Having heard the master, I was surprised at its clarity and technical merit, as well as its energy. Capturing the energy of zydeco has never been a problem but the former qualities have always been the bane and bugbear of studio engineers - balancing the sound and mixing the master. It’s ready to go and waiting for a label to pick it up. And by the time this article sees the light of day, it will probably be already issued by some noteworthy label.

Meanwhile, it’s hit the road for these hard chargers, who have already visited far off lands like Australia when they’re not playing jamborees like JazzFest while stateside. Good luck, if you try to reach them at home. Lil’ Malcolm and the House Rockers still present the strongest argument for justifying the invention of the cell phone. And a few years down the line, I’d start looking for Percy’s grandchildren to be clamoring for their rightful places in this outfit. And no matter how many, I think that there will always be room for them. Youth must be served. But, for the moment, there will be no rocking chair in Percy’s future. A family that plays together stays together. Larry Benicewicz