Clifton Chenier (1925-1987) ... the Jimi Hendrix of accordion, the Bob Marley of southwest Louisiana-and, unfortunately, like both of them, he's dead. In his time, though, Chenier, a.k.a. The King of Zydeco, was a tremendous player and innovator. Taking the simple but infectious Saturday night Creole ole dance music they called "la-la," adding piquant dashes of Chuck Berry rhythm and Jimmy Reed blues-along with the modern guitar, drums, and horns instrumentation that made those forms possible-Chenier transformed formed a simple, almost precious batch of indigenous folk songs into some roof-raising party anthems. (Rick Koster. Louisiana Music, pp. 192-193)..
On that basis, to the Louisiana afficionado, Iconic. To everyone else, perhaps, merely Significant.
File under: Zydeco Masters
Discography:
In the music library: Frenchin' The Blues Louisiana Stop: Essential Masters
Links: Wikipedia AllMusic Discogs