Belton Richard has doubts about the future of Cajun music. The legendary Cajun crooner and accordionist says a market flooded with worn-out standards and young musicians who can’t hold a conversation in Cajun French will hurt the music in the long run.

“I want the best for Cajun music,” said Richard. “But you’ve heard of flooding the market? My cousin told me this a long time ago and it’s starting to flash back.

“He said, ‘They’re taking the good music and the bad music and they think it’s all the same. So what’s going to happen? Somebody’s going to be out of a job.’

“There’s no way those young people can go out there and stomp a crowd. They don’t know how. How in the hell can they put feeling in a song and they don’t know what they’re talking about or singing?”

Richard pours feeling and new French lyrics into his first album in six years, The Older the Wine, The Finer the Taste!, released by Swallow Records of Ville Platte. The CD contains six Richard originals, including “What You Did With My Life,” “God Will Come for You” and “Memories on the Table.”

Richard also performs his trademark country-turned-Cajun magic with French versions of Don Gibson’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” Buck Owens’ “Tiger by the Tail” and the ’50s rock ‘n’ roll favorite, “Sixteen Candles” (which Richard sings in French as “Seventeen Candles.”) The disc is enjoying healthy sales and radio airplay.

“I like it a lot,” said Richard. “The sales are showing it. The sales are good. I changed the music a little from my old music. In the two steps, the beats are a little different. That’s so the younger people can catch it.” The CD is Richard’s first since his comeback disc of 1996, appropriately titled I’m Back. That recording was his first since an 11-year retirement from the dancehall scene.

Although Richard stayed off the bandstand for more than a decade, he can’t escape his Cajun classics. Richard’s French ballads, like “Another Lonely Night,” “You’re So Easy to Love” and “Give Me Another Chance” have left fans with tears, smiles, apologies, newborn babies and more. In the 1960s, Richard set south Louisiana’s French music in a new direction with two landmark albums, Modern Sounds in Cajun Music, Volumes 1 and 2.

Instead of the usual “you left me, my heart is hurting” French lyrics, Richard sang of romance, dreams, parents and second chances. Those lyrics were wrapped around Richard’s honey-smooth, crooning vocals, a major departure from the high-nasal, shouting style from the dancehalls of yesteryear. Twin fiddles and other country-style arrangements added to the fresh sound. Richard and his Musical Aces were in demand nearly every night of the week and even had a dance show on KLFY-TV 10 in Lafayette. The program ran for eight years.

Richard said much of his inspiration came from rock ‘n’ roll from the 1950s, which he played as a teenager. “I was singing these songs with feeling. That’s where I got my ideas from. Then I got into country music and started writing. The old music was dying and we had to do something. I’m not bragging but we did very well.” Richard admits he sometimes grows tired of singing the fans’ favorite, “Another Lonely Night,” a French version of Jimmy Clanton’s “Another Sleepless Night.” But fans can’t stop requesting it.

“I have to sing it, at least two or three times a night,” said Richard, writer of 105 Cajun songs. “That’s the Number One selling Cajun song. I made some money with that song and I’m still making it. But people think you make a lot of money with these songs, but it’s not much. It’s not just the money. Sometimes it’s a lot of fun, recognition and I like to write. It takes time. It’s not like it used to be. I could write an album in six days. Now it takes me two years.”

Richard aims to continue to write and have fun as a living legend of Cajun music. He’s selective about his gigs, but has plans to play the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He also continues to drive home his point—Cajun music can survive only with fresh material.

“They need to cut some new French stuff. That’s the key. My album, right now, is outselling the last three albums put together. That’s because I got some new stuff on it. What does that tell you? People want to hear something different. You’re not going to see the same movie five times. It’s the same with music. You don’t want to hear the ‘Lacassine Special’ 35 times.”

In other news, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, along with slide guitarist Sonny Landreth, were not winners at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards held February 8 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Bon Rêve, the latest CD from Riley and the Mamou Playboys was a nominee in the Traditional Folk Album category, which was claimed by June Carter Cash’s Wildwood Flower.” Landreth’s The Road We’re On disc was upstaged by Etta James’ Let’s Roll in the Contemporary Blues Album category.

Although he didn’t bring the Grammy back to Lafayette, Riley was pleased with his experience in Los Angeles. Bandmates David Greely, Sam Broussard, Brazos Huval and Kevin Dugas also made the trip. “I don’t feel bad,” said Riley. “We’ve had so much fun. “Saturday night, there was a party on three floors of the California Science Center. There was free food and drinks everywhere. The most I spent was a dollar. “A lot of people were looking at us, all dressed up, and were wondering who we were. But we’re nobodies.”

Although Riley and Landreth did not win, but local efforts to establish a Cajun and zydeco Grammy category enjoyed a victory. Zydeco musician Terrance Simien reports that $1,000 was raised at a fund-raiser Feb. 7 at the Blue Moon Saloon in Lafayette. Simien performed at the event, along with Charivari, Hadley Castille, Major Handy and six-year-old zydeco accordionist Guyland Leday.

Another fund-raiser was scheduled for February 14 at Whiskey River Landing in Henderson. Proceeds will be used to pay for local memberships in National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the sponsoring organization of the Grammys.

The events were sponsored by MusicMatters, the Cajun French Music Association, Louisiana Crossroads and Louisiana Folk Roots. Since 2001, Simien and his wife Cynthia have worked to establish a Cajun/zydeco Grammy voting category. Terrance Simien said although the local nominees did not win, he remains encouraged by the increased Grammy awareness in the area. “We had 25 entries this year and that’s a good feeling,” said Simien. “That helps us get more recognition. “Even if we don’t get the category, we get more people from Lafayette voting for people from Lafayette, we have a better chance of winning. It’s good either way.”

(Contact Herman Fuselier at bboogie@bellsouth.net.)