"Bon Ton Roula" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Clarence Garlow | ||||
B-side | "In a Boogie Mood" | |||
Released | 1950 | |||
Recorded | Houston, Texas, 1949 | |||
Genre | Blues, zydeco | |||
Length | 3:19 | |||
Label | Macy's | |||
Songwriter(s) | Clarence Garlow | |||
Clarence Garlow singles chronology | ||||
|
"Bon Ton Roula" (alternatively "Bon Ton Roulet") is a zydeco-influenced blues song first recorded by Clarence Garlow in 1949. The following year, it became a hit, reaching number seven in Billboard magazine's Rhythm & Blues chart [1] and introduced the style to a national audience. [2]
"Bon ton roula" (pronounced "bahn tahn roolay") is a phonetical approximation of "bons temps rouler", [3] Louisiana Creole French for "good times roll" as in " Laissez les bons temps rouler" or "Let the good times roll", a regional invitation to join in a festive celebration. [4] A song with a similar theme, " Let the Good Times Roll", was recorded by Louis Jordan in 1946, [4] that became a R&B chart hit. [5]
In 1949, Garlow recorded "Bon Ton Roula", using a different arrangement and lyrics. The song was recorded as a sixteen-bar blues [6] with "an insistent, swirling rhumba rhythm". [4] Singer and music writer Billy Vera commented on the song's lyrics: "The song featured some of the same kind of broken Cajun-isms as Hank Williams's ' Jambalaya'": [7]
Eh toi ...
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's success prompted Garlow to record subsequent renditions. [4] A newer version with singer Emma Dell Lee titled "New Bon Ton Roola" was released on Feature Records and in 1953, he recorded a version with the Maxwell Davis Orchestra for Aladdin Records, titled "New Bon Ton Roulay". [8] The song retains most of the elements of the original song, but some new lyrics are added and the arrangement does not include a progression to the IV chord.
"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. Blues-rocker Johnny Winter, a native of Garlow's adopted home of Beaumont, Texas, also recorded a version for his Raisin' Cain album in 1980. [9]
A "Bon Ton Roulet" credited to Clifton Chenier was recorded in 1967 and released as the title track of his album Bon Ton Roulet, on Arhoolie Records. [10] Producer Chris Strachwitz notes "You will perhaps recognize the song as 'Let the Good Times Roll', which in recent years has become an R&B standard". [10]