Joe Falcon
| Joe Falcon | |
|---|---|
Joe Falcon in 1934
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| Background information | |
| Born |
September 28, 1900 Roberts Cove, Louisiana, United States |
| Died | November 19, 1965 (aged 65) |
| Genres | Cajun |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Accordionist |
| Instruments | Vocals, Accordion |
| Labels | Columbia Records, Arhoolie Records |
Joseph Falcon (September 28, 1900 – November 19, 1965) was a Cajun accordion player in southwest Louisiana, best known for the first recording of a Cajun song; "Allons à Lafayette" in 1928 . He and his wife Cléoma Breaux left for New Orleans to record the first Cajun record and went on to perform across southern Louisiana and Texas.
Joe was the fifth child of Pierre Illaire Falcon and Marie Arvilia Boudreaux. Pierre (whose paternal grandparents, José Félix Falcon and María Antonia Damasa Falcon, were descendants from Spanish settlers Cristóbal Falcón and Gaspar Falcón, who hailed from Telde (Gran Canaria) and migrated to Louisiana in 1778), spoke Canarian Spanish and French. Marie was of Acadian descent. He was born near a small German community north of Rayne, Louisiana known as Roberts Cove, located by Bayou Plaquemine Brule. He began playing accordion at the age of seven.
His career as a professional musician began some years later at a fais-do-do hall called the "Blue Goose" (Oneziphore Guidry's dance hall) in Rayne, Louisiana when the regular band didn’t show up and the dance hall owner insisted that Joe take their place.
As a young man, Joe was friends with accordionist Amédée Breaux of the legendary Breaux family and sometimes accompanied him on triangle. Amédée’s sister, Cléoma, a gifted guitarist and singer, became Joe’s frequent accompanist and they married not long after the onset of their recording career.
In April 1928, a police juror from Rayne, Louisiana and native New Orleanian, George Burrow, persuaded Columbia records to record Joe and his wife Cléoma and their friend, Leon Meche, by agreeing to purchase 500 records. However, in the hotel recording studio, Meche backed down; scared he would mess up the recording. Joe stepped up and sang instead. In a 1962 interview with Mike Seeger, Columbia executive, Frank Buckley Walker, recalls recording the duo:
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