“Hamburger’s and Popcorn” (c. 1965) – Boozoo Chavis and His Zodico Accordian * Written by Eddie Shuler * 45: “Hamburger’s and Popcorn” / “Tee Black” * Label: Goldband Records
Judging from where its serial number falls in relation to other Goldband releases, this Boozoo Chavis record appeared circa 1965, although the session for it likely happened near the mid-fifties. Based in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Goldband owner Eddie Shuler enjoyed regional success in 1954 with Chavis’s “Paper in My Shoe.” Cuts like this one, though, must have been let loose in dribs and drabs, with Chavis having gone on a studio strike until the mid-eighties. When Chavis re-emerged, he did so as an acknowledged zydeco pioneer. A key part of Chavis’s appeal throughout his entire career was his musical looseness and unpredictability. Stories about the original Goldband sessions depict scenes of mayhem. The words on the label themselves tell stories too, with the misspelling of zydeco indicating it as a barely conceptualized genre at that point. The music’s lunacy is the sort that attracts “real thing” devotion, and since Shuler is the credited songwriter, one imagines a bizarre scenario of him actually sitting down and teaching it to Chavis.