The Best of the Cajun Hits – various artists CD

from the original LP liner notes…

Cajun Music is definitely enjoying a renaissance or comeback in Southwest Louisiana, and it is indeed gratifying to see that the French-Cajun language itself is no longer considered a degrading “jargon” intended only for total illiterates. We feel that when the Cajun music goes, so goes its language, its culture, its folklore, and its identity as a people, because French-Cajun music embodies a wide variety of moods with humor and pathos all wrapped in one – expressing a way of life that refused to bow to modernistic trends. That is why you will particularly enjoy this album. Keep in mind however, that the younger generation of today’s Cajun tend to sing hybrid folk songs with injections and overtones of Southern mountain music, jazz and blues, and a slight tendency to imitate the standard popular music of the day. Despite these overtones, Cajun music is still noted for its hilarity and exuberance, expressed in wild whooping and rhythmic stamping of feet as dancers gyrate through the favorite two-steps or specials, the acrobatic Contredanse and the ever popular French waltz. This Cajun album brings out a little of these characteristics, and knowing all this, we know you’ll like the music and songs of Acadiana, Louisiana. ~Revon Reed (1961)

Originally released on LP in 1961, for the very first time on CD!