Most music historians out there seem to contend that Zydeco (the term) comes from the Cajun French pronunciation of the phrase, "Les haricots sont pas sales," which translates to: "The snap beans aren't salty." Taken literally, it means one is too poor to afford salt to season their beans; idiomatically, it means one doesn't have juicy gossip to share.
Zydeco (the music) is a blend of traditional Cajun music (think: accordions and washboards), blues, and R&B, and it is tailor made for dancing.
Chenier got his start playing music in the late 40s, gigging around with his brother by night while working as a truck driver for the oil and gas industry by day. After recording a couple of singles for a small regional label, he landed a deal with Specialty Records in 1955 and cut several sides with the producer who brought Little Richard to fame, Robert "Bumps" Blackwell. Chenier scored an R&B hit with his rendition of the Professor Longhair song "Eh, Petite Fille (Hey, Little Girl)," but Blackwell couldn't help him strike gold twice. Although Chenier gained nationwide recognition after documentary filmmaker Les Blank made a film about him, called Hot Pepper (1973), he largely remained a celebrity in his home state until his death in 1987.
And while "Eh, Petite Fille" is a great song, I prefer the track "Zodico Stomp"—an instrumental that was recorded for Specialty around the same time.
"Zodico Stomp" feels so off the cuff, my guess would be that Chenier and his band just started jamming while tapes were rolling, and this unhinged, rock & roll-flavored number was the result.
Everything on this track swings like crazy—especially those drums and Chenier's accordion. (Who would've thought that an instrument associated with polkas and French art films could rock this hard?)
It's everything that came to be known as Zydeco, distilled into 2 fiery minutes.
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