In classic literature, a lovesick Romeo once told his beloved Juliet “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But would that rose smell as sweet if it was a donkey?
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Don Fontenot, leader of the Cajun band Les Amis de la Louisiane (Friends of Louisiana) answers with an emphatic “yes.” Everything’s coming up donkeys for Fontenot and Friends on their hit CD, Ride The Donkey, released on Swallow Records of Ville Platte.
The title song has become a radio and record store favorite and captured international attention. Ironically, the band’s rosy donkey song almost didn’t get on the CD.
“We were originally going to call the CD A Taste Of Louisiana, since we have a little swamp pop, a little Cajun and a little zydeco on it,” said Fontenot. “As an afterthought, we put the song on the CD because every place we play, the fans would request it.
“We put it on there and brought it to Floyd Soileau at Swallow Records and he said we needed to make a few changes. He said first of all, the CD is going to be called Ride The Donkey. He was correct. Now, that’s what people know it as—The Donkey Song.”
Based on Nolan Cormier’s freewheeling Cajun hit of 1971, “Hee Haw Breakdown,” “Ride the Donkey” is a humorous ditty featuring guitarist Karl Deshotels teasing fiddler Mark Young about a cute donkey he bought at a cattle auction.
Double entendre arises in the chorus when a persistent lady at the auction begs to “ride that donkey.” The suggestive lyrics are reminiscent of Rockin’ Sidney’s million seller, “My Toot Toot.”
Since last fall, “Ride the Donkey” has been a top request on Louisiana Music station KBON (101.1FM) in Eunice. Some pop and country stations in Lafayette, Baton Rouge and Alexandria, which usually treat Cajun and zydeco songs like flu viruses, began spinning the song during their afternoon drives.
In February, Billboard magazine had a “Donkey” feature in which Eunice record store owner Todd Ortego said the song was his bestseller throughout the 2004 holiday season and continues to sell. The Billboard story has made the rounds online and is posted on the Yahoo! music site of Australia and New Zealand.
The song made Mardi Gras weekend 2005 hectic for the Fontenot and Friends. The band played five gigs in four days, including an eight-hour, Saturday engagement that started at 9 a.m. at Fred’s Lounge in Mamou. Fontenot continues to be amazed by the attention.
“People say they like the beat,” said Fontenot. “They enjoy seeing a band play and having a good time. My fiddler, Mark Young, is the donkey and he does all the animal songs on the CD. When we play it live, we get the crowd to sing along with us. We have to play it two or three times.”
Despite the popularity of the title song, the CD contains other notable numbers. Guitarist Layton Thibodeaux sings “Dad, Why Are You Gone?,” a French ballad dedicated to his father who died from cancer five years ago. Young plays fiddle on an original called “Lost in My Dream.”
The band mixes in zydeco with covers of Boozoo Chavis’ “Johnny Billy Goat” and Clifton Chenier’s “I’m Coming Home.” There’s also a swamp pop original by Fontenot, “My One and Only,” with guest musician David Greely of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys playing saxophone. Fontenot said the song was born out of a guest appearance with another band.
“Willis Prudhomme was playing at a place in Kinder and he asked me to come up and play a few on the accordion. I started playing a song, I forgot what it was, but the band threw in another note. They played it a little differently and that tune stuck in my head. I wrote the words to it and it’s not that many words.
“But on the CD, we added a guitar player, a keyboard player, a sax player. It just blossomed.”
Fontenot’s variety CD is indicative of a growing trend. Cajun musicians, who once strictly performed French waltzes and two steps, are now recording accordion songs with English lyrics, such as zydeco and swamp pop. Kevin Naquin, Travis Matte and Jackie Caillier, all top award winners with the Cajun French Music Association, have released recent CDs following the trend. Fontenot said the growing variety is a sign of the times.
“It’s definitely evolving and you see more Cajun musicians doing that. The old, old crowd that listened strictly to traditional Cajun music is dying out. It’s unfortunate, but true. The older crowd now still likes Cajun music, but they like zydeco and swamp pop. Belton Richard had swamp pop in his music and we did a song by him (‘Give Me Another Chance’). ‘I’m Coming Home’ is a crowd favorite and we play that every dance.”
Fontenot and Friends will soon “Ride The Donkey” on land and sea. The group makes its fifth-straight appearance at Cedric Benoit’s Mardi Gras in Branson Cajun/Zydeco Festival June 2-4. Other Louisiana artists scheduled to appear include Nancy Tabb Marcantel, JoJo Reed, Jeremy and the Zydeco Hot Boyz, Bernie Allan and Knight Train, Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, Sean Vidrine and Swampfyre and Cedric Benoit and Cajun Connection.
“It really has grown. There’s about eight or nine bands that play for an hour or so over a three day period. There’s just constant music. We keep bringing Mardi Gras to it because we go in our Mardi Gras costumes and perform. People that have come before usually keep going. It’s an annual thing for them. They really enjoy it.”
Fontenot and Friends celebrate Halloween with a seven-day, Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Cruise Ship Elation. The cruise leaves Galveston on October 30 with stops in Progresso, Yucatan, Cozumel, Mexico and Belize City. For more cruise details and band information, visit the band’s web site at www.donfontenot.com.
Phillip Alleman
Phillip Alleman, longtime vocalist and steel guitarist with Aldus Roger and the Lafayette Playboys, died March 5 at the Eunice Community Hospital. Alleman’s death followed a long battle with cancer. His funeral was held March 7 at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Eunice with burial at the Mount Calvary Cemetery.
Alleman was a fixture with Roger and the Playboys in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, when the band could hardly keep up with its public demand. Throughout the ’60s, the band played eight times a week (including two Sunday dances) and starred in their own TV show on KLFY Channel 10 in Lafayette.
Alleman’s Cajun crooning and steel guitar graced such Roger classics as the “KLFY Waltz,” “Diga Ding Ding Dong,” “Une Autre Chance,” “Alida,” “Lafayette Playboy Waltz” and “OST Special.”
Alleman stopped performing when his wife died in 1978, but returned in 1990 to play again with Roger, along with Blackie Forestier, Donald Thibodeaux and Cajun Fever and the Louisiana Cajun Heat Band.
In 2002, he performed with the Jambalaya Cajun Band in a Tribute to Aldus Roger at the Liberty Theater in Eunice. His last public performance came at a Roger tribute in October, 2004 at the Liberty.
Contact Herman Fuselier at [email protected].
