Purchase the Album
- Himself – Audio CDOn Sale
Himself – Audio CD
- Himself – Full Album DownloadOn Sale
Himself – Full Album Download
Released in 2010
Valcour Records is honored to present, through cooperation with our friend, Gérard Dôle, a never-before-released recording of Cajun music’s historical master of the fiddle, Dennis McGee.
A special thanks to Claire Oliver Caffery for contributing her artful illustrations to bring this album to life.
Download the English transcription of this CD here>
Purchase Tracks
- 1. Tous les Deux Pour la MêmeOn Sale
1. Tous les Deux Pour la Même
- 2. RosalieOn Sale
2. Rosalie
- 3. ContredanseOn Sale
3. Contredanse
- 4. J’ai un peu dansé les Valsuriennes et les MazurkasOn Sale
- 5. GalopOn Sale
5. Galop
- 06 Valsurienne (Varsovienne)On Sale
06 Valsurienne (Varsovienne)
- 7. PolkaOn Sale
7. Polka
- 8. Jim Crow ou GalopOn Sale
8. Jim Crow ou Galop
- 9. MazurkaOn Sale
9. Mazurka
- 10. Two-Step: Adieu RosaOn Sale
10. Two-Step: Adieu Rosa
- 11. Reel De CoquinOn Sale
11. Reel De Coquin
- 12. J’ai quatre manières pour accorder mon violonOn Sale
12. J’ai quatre manières pour accorder mon violon
- 13. La Valse Du Cow-BoyOn Sale
13. La Valse Du Cow-Boy
- 14. Courtilienne (Cotillion)On Sale
14. Courtilienne (Cotillion)
- 15. ValseOn Sale
15. Valse
- 16. Reel du Sauvage PerduOn Sale
16. Reel du Sauvage Perdu
- 17. J’ai toute sorte de vieux sangOn Sale
17. J’ai toute sorte de vieux sang
- 18. La Reel FâchéeOn Sale
18. La Reel Fâchée
- 19. J’ai appris à jouer le violonOn Sale
J’ai appris à jouer le violon
- 20. La Valse des BallotsOn Sale
20. La Valse des Ballots
- 21. ReelOn Sale
21. Reel
- 22. Reel de MarcantelOn Sale
22. Reel de Marcantel
- 23. La Valse à Guibaud PelikanOn Sale
23. La Valse à Guibaud Pelikan
- 24. La Valse à TolamOn Sale
24. La Valse à Tolam
- 25. Deux violons – Joueurs de violon sur une tableOn Sale
25. Deux violons – Joueurs de violon sur une table
- 26. Corina CorinaOn Sale
26. Corina Corina
- 27. J’ai joué l’accordéonOn Sale
27. J’ai joué l’accordéon
- 28. La Marche de la NoceOn Sale
28. La Marche de la Noce
- 29. La Sauvagesse et le Nèg’ violonneurOn Sale
29. La Sauvagesse et le Nèg’ violonneur
- 30. Fais DodoOn Sale
30. Fais Dodo
- 31. Skip to my LouOn Sale
31. Skip to my Lou
- 32. Le Bal de MaisonOn Sale
32. Le Bal de Maison
- 33. La JalouserieOn Sale
33. La Jalouserie
Valcour Records is honored to present, through cooperation with our friend, Gérard Dôle, a never-before-released recording of Cajun music’s historical master of the fiddle, Dennis McGee.
A special thanks to Claire Oliver Caffery for contributing her artful illustrations to bring this album to life.
“Dennis McGee, who was Irish-American on his father’s side and French and Seminole Indian on his mother’s, was born January 26, 1893, at Bayou Marron (Evangeline Parish). He died in Eunice (Evangeline Parish) October 3, 1989. A fiddle player and singer, he recorded and performed between 1927 and 1934 with Sady Courville and Ernest Frugé, Angelas LeJeune, and with black Creole accordion player and singer Amédé Ardoin.
I had the chance and privilege to be introduced to Dennis McGee by Sady Courville in his Eunice furniture store during a field trip to Southwest Louisiana in the summer of 1975. My journal entry for the next day reads:
‘Wednesday, August 27, 1975: At around 3 in the afternoon, I went to Eunice to visit Dennis McGee in his little house. The old barber is so talkative that he almost immediately began telling me stories about his past and playing me old dances on the fiddle. He may very well be the only person who still knows them.’
With his consent, I opened my Nagra reel-to-reel tape recorder, hooked up a mike, and recorded this legendary fiddler who, to tell the truth, had been nearly forgotten by most people at the time.
[Himself] is a lengthy excerpt from those field recordings, in which you will be able to hear Dennis McGee play 19th-century ballroom dances, with clarity and energy, in his specific old-time Cajun style: Contra Dance, Varsovianna (“Valsurienne”), Mazurka, Gallop, Polka, Waltz, Cotillion (“Courtilienne”), Reel and Two-Step. To the greater delight of the listener, Mr. McGee occasionally comments on the variety of fiddle tunings and about the tunes themselves.”
- Gérard Dôle
