Artist:Beau Jocque & the Zydeco Hi-Rollers
Song:Give Him Cornbread
Album:The Best of Beau Joque & the Zydeco Hi-Rollers
Before his untimely 1999 death, Beau Joque was well on his way to becoming the new king of Zydeco music. Give Him Cornbread was Joque's signature song. Zydeco is the music of the Louisiana French Creole. Clifton Chenier was the original King of Zydeco. But after his 1987 death, there were several guys jockeying to be the new king. Beau Joque was born Andrus Espre Nov. 1, 1953 in Duralde, LA. His father played accordion but quit performing when he started a family. Espre played guitar in a high school rock band. After graduating high school, Espre enlisted in the US Air Force. After nine years, an explosion left him in the hospital with amnesia. He came home to work as an electrician at an oil refinery. While recovering from a work related accident, Espre started playing his father's accordion. He got good enough at it that he thought he could start a band. He called himself Beau Jocque which is Creole for Big Guy. He first recorded on his own label in 1992. And that got the attention of Rounder Records producer Scott Billington. Beau Jocque Boogie was his first Rounder album in 1993. Give Him Cornbread was on the album. The reaction was that Beau Joque was updating Zydeco with rock and other music elements. Musicians on the album were Ray Johnson on guitar, Chuck Bush on bass, Steve Charlot on drums and Wilfred Pierre on washboard. Other than Pierre, these guys were younger than musicians that would normally appear on a Zydeco album. And Billington sold them as having a fresh sound. Beau Joque & the Zydeco Hi-Rollers headlined Rounder's 1995 Louisiana Red Hot Music Tour. This was very effective strategy. Beau Jocque recorded five albums for Rounder. This comp is a good intro to their music. There was even a rivalry with veteran Zydeco musician Boozoo Chavis who accused Beau Jocque of not paying his dues. Of course that rivalry was good for business. It was the subject of Robert Mugge's 1994 documentary The Kingdom of Zydeco. The rivalry continued until Andrus Espre died of a heart attack on Sept. 9,1999 at age 45. It's too bad. He was just getting started. Here's Beau Jocque & the Zydeco Hi-Rollers performing Give Him Cornbread from Robert Mugge's 1994 documentary The Kingdom of Zydeco. This can be streamed on Hoopla for free with a library card.
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