CMCreole MemoriesZydeco Archive
On This Day

September 15

Quiet day in the archive

Nothing is filed for September 15 — yet.

Here's what happened in the days around it. Know something that happened on September 15? Help us fill the page.

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Around September 15

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SEP · 13, 1922
Charles Brown Born

Blues Legend Charles Brown was born on September 13, 1922 Texas City, Texas. Mr. Charles Brown was a major musical figure in the pre-rock and roll era of the late Forties and early Fifties. As a membe...

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SEP · 10, 1999
Beau Jocque Dies

Andrus Espreé, known to the Zydeco Nation as Beau Jocque (which means Big Guy), died of a heart attack in Kinder, Louisiana on September 10, 1999, at the age of 47. Lead singer of the Zydeco group Bea...

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SEP · 22, 1931
Willis Prudhomme Born

Willis Prudhomme, lead accordionist of Willis Prudhomme & the Zydeco Express was born on Tuesday, September 22, 1931 in Kinder, Louisiana. Willis Prudhomme was one of twelve children and grew up as a...

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SEP · 06, 2005
Oldest Buffalo Soldier Mark Matthews Dies

Mark Matthews, the oldest surviving Buffalo Soldier in the United States Army, died on September 6, 2005 age of 111. While working at a racetrack in Kentucky, he met several Buffalo Soldiers, and when...

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SEP · 05, 1907
Albert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew Born

Blues pianist Albert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew was born on September 5, 1907 in the Mississippi Delta on a farm near Vance, Mississippi. The son of a preacher and the grandson of a slave, Albert "Sunn...

Festival History
SEP · 04, 1982
Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival founded

The Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival, the world’s oldest and first Zydeco Festival, was started on September 4, 1982 on a farmer’s field in the Plaisance community on the outskirts of Opel...

From the archive

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Zydeco Music
MAY · 16, 1921
Cleveland Chenier Born

Cleveland Chenier, rubboard innovator, band member and brother of Clifton Chenier, was born on May 16, 1921 in the rural community of Notleyville, just east of Opelousas, Louisiana. Cleveland was also...

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MAY · 03, 1933
James Brown Born

James Joseph Brown, commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business", was born on May 3, 1933 during the depression era in the small town of Barnwell, Sou...

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DEC · 31, 1930
Odetta Holmes Born

Odetta Holmes, "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement" and "The queen of American folk music", most affectionately known as Odetta was born in Birmingham, Alabama on December 31, 1930 and grew up in...

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JAN · 02, 1939
Albert “Little Smokey” Smothers Born

Albert “Little Smokey” Smothers was born on January 2, 1939, in Tchula, Mississippi, and began playing guitar at 15. Two years later, Smothers moved to Chicago and shortly after landed gigs with Arthu...

Coach Eddie Robinson
African American History
APR · 03, 2007
Eddie Robinson Dies

Edward Gay Robinson known to the world as Eddie Robinson was died on Tuesday, April 3, 2007 at 11:30 p.m. at Lincoln General Hospital. He is survived by his wife, Doris, two children, five grandchildr...

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JAN · 08, 1937
Leo "The Bull Thomas" Born

Leo "The Bull" Thomas was born on January 8, 1937 to Hubert “Ebear” Thomas and Orelia Bushnell Thomas in Basile, Louisiana. Known in the Zydeco Nation as "The Bull" and the "Best Dress Man In Zydeco,"...

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Zydeco Workout featuring Lola Love

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