To mark the 100th anniversary of zydeco pioneer Clifton Chenier, Smithsonian Folkways will release Clifton Chenier: King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco this November on Arhoolie Records. The 4-CD/6-LP box set is the first ever devoted to Chenier, featuring 67 tracks—including 19 previously unreleased—and a 160-page book of rare photos, liner notes, and essays.
Chenier (1925–1987), known as the “King of Zydeco,” blended blues, R&B, Afro-Caribbean, and Creole sounds into the unique Louisiana genre. The set spans recordings from 1954 to 1983, including classic songs like “Bon Ton Roulet” and “Black Gal,” unreleased performances, and live recordings from festivals and Austin City Limits.
A preview track, “Mr. Charlie,” recorded in 1971, is now available. Produced by Grammy winner Adam Machado, the collection includes contributions from music historians and Chenier’s son, CJ Chenier.
On June 27, Smithsonian Folkways, Arhoolie Records, and Valcour Records will also release a limited edition vinyl 7” featuring a new recording of Chenier’s signature tune “Zydeco Sont Pas Salés” by The Rolling Stones, produced by acclaimed musician and songwriter CC Adcock. Mick Jagger, who has been a lifelong fan of Chenier since seeing him perform live in 1965, sings entirely in French, Keith Richards provides his signature rhythm guitar, while Ronnie Wood contributes lead guitar parts, combining their talents to bring a rock and roll edge to the zydeco classic. The recording also includes Cajun accordionist Steve Riley and longtime Chenier drummer Robert St. Julien, grounding the song in its Louisiana roots. On the single’s flip side is Chenier’s version from his 1965 sessions with Arhoolie founder Chris Strachwitz, which offers a contrasting take on the rollicking shuffle heard on his debut album. The Rolling Stones’ track also appears on the upcoming Valcour compilation A Tribute to the King of Zydeco.
Long before he became the King, Clifton Chenier was a young man working as a sharecropper and manual laborer at a Texas refinery, determined to make it in the music industry and swiftly gaining fame on the local circuit. One day, the story goes, he refused to climb into a pit on the job. He was fired, only to return two days later in a white suit, driving a Cadillac, and holding his first record contract.
Clifton Chenier began to attract national attention for his Cajun and R&B inflected-accordion playing in the early 1950s. The tracks, including “Clifton’s Blues” and “Louisiana Stomp,” both available on the set, which led to big deal with Art Rupe’s Specialty Records. He had his first hit with “Ay Tete Fee” (1955), which led to co-billings with major artists and friends like Etta James, Little Richard, and Ray Charles. Briefly, Chenier’s career sputtered, but in 1964 gained new life when he was introduced to Chris Strachwitz through Lightnin’ Hopkins. Strachwitz had by then recorded and worked with many of Chenier’s influences, and encouraged Chenier to lean into a more French Cajun traditional sound than the rock and R&B that he favored. The success of “Louisiana Blues,” their first collaboration in the recording studio, began a decades-long working relationship between Chenier and Strachwitz that included Arhoolie albums like Bogalusa Boogie, Louisiana Blues and Zydeco, King of the Bayous, and more.
Chenier’s bold style and driving accordion made him a beloved figure in American roots music, earning him a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the National Heritage Fellowship, as well as a spot in the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2011, his 1975 track “Je Suis en Racolteur (I’m a Farmer)” was placed on the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.
Clifton Chenier: King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco joins several other monumental box sets released by Smithsonian Folkways. In line with the label’s non-profit mission to preserve and give context to the world’s myriad musical histories and traditions, other releases of this magnitude include the classic compilation Anthology of American Folk Music, the definitive Pete Seeger set, The Smithsonian Folkways Collection, and 2023’s seminal Playing for the Man at the Door: Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick, 1958 – 1971, which traced the history of American folk and blues through the lens of McCormick’s legendary archive.
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