Jole Blon
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Jole Blon

Jole Blon or Jolie Blonde is a traditional Cajun waltz, often called "the Cajun national anthem" because of the popularity it has in Cajun culture. The song was popularized on a nationwide scale by a series of renditions and references in late 1940s country songs. It has been the subject of occasional covers later in the 20th century by Cajun and classic country revival bands.

McNeese State University adopted "Joli Blon" as their official fight song[clarification needed] in 1970, having been a part of the university band's repertoire since 1951. It is played by the "Pride of McNeese" band upon scoring at athletic events.

The original Cajun version is a brief address to a "pretty girlfriend", who had left the singer and moved back in with her family, and is also now in the arms of another man. The singer concludes that plenty of other pretty women are around. The fiddle-based melody dates to before the 1900s.

The earliest recording of the song is believed to be a 1929 version by the family trio Breaux Brothers entitled "Ma blonde est partié", recorded in Atlanta. Some mystery exists to its origin. While Amedée Breaux is credited with writing the song, his sister Cleoma actually wrote the lyrics and Amedée sang the song. Dennis McGee claims the original song was written by Angelas LeJeune as "La fille de la veuve" (also "La valse de la veuve") ("The Widow's Daughter/Waltz") during World War I and Cleoma rewrote the lyrics, allegedly about Amedée's first wife. Lejeune and Ernest Fruge eventually recorded this song on November 19, 1929, in New Orleans (Brunswick 558, Melotone M18052). In 1934, Alan Lomax traveled to Louisiana and recorded several artists, including the Segura Brothers and their version of "La Fille de la Veuve".

In January 1929, John Bertrand and Milton Pitre traveled to Chicago and recorded "La Valse de Gueydan" for Paramount Records (12748A), using the same melody. It appeared again in a 1930 recording of "La Valse de Gueydan" (Brunswick 513) by Amade Ardoin. Dennis McGee and he traveled to New Orleans and recorded this song discussing a "small young girl". This version was re-recorded with slightly different lyrics by Leo Soileau and his Three Aces. The title was "La Valse Gueydan [Jolie Fille]", recorded by Bluebird (B-2086) on January 18, 1935.

The following year, the song appeared with the title "Jolie Blonde" for the first time on two records. Both the Hackberry Ramblers and J. B. Fuselier and his Merrymakers traveled to New Orleans and recorded the song on October 17, 1936, for Bluebird Records. J.B. Fuselier named the song "Te Ma Lessa Jolie Blonde" (Bluebird B-2006) and the Hackberry Ramblers simplified the name to "Jolie Blonde" (Bluebird B-2003).

By 1937, the melody was popular among very small regions of Louisiana. On Feb 21, the Jolly Boys of Lafayette traveled to Dallas and recorded "Jolie (Brunette)" for Decca (#17032), a similar take on the song with different lyrics. Later in the year, Happy Fats traveled to New Orleans and recorded "Nouveau Grand Gueyan" for Bluebird (B-2024).

In 1951, Amede Breaux formed the band Acadian Aces and recorded the song with the title "Jole Blonde" for J. D. "Jay" Miller's Feature Records (F-1023).

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