Ira "Iry" LeJeune was one of the best selling and most popular Cajun musicians in the mid to late 1940s into the early 1950s.
14 Facts About Iry LeJeune
1.
2.
Iry LeJeune was born October 27,1928, on a modest sharecropping farm at Pointe Noire, a rural area near Church Point, LA.
3.
Iry LeJeune selected Ardoin's repertoire and adopted the emotive crying style of vocals that would eventually become his trademark.
4.
Unable to work in the fields because of his poor eyesight, as a youth, Iry LeJeune entertained the local sharecroppers.
5.
Iry LeJeune stayed in Houston with LeBlanc, performing and enjoying the popularity of the record, but returned to Louisiana after six months.
6.
Still, Iry LeJeune needed a new record out to get work at the dances around Lake Charles.
7.
Iry LeJeune then approached Shuler, who'd already made a record with his group, the Reveliers, and released it on his own Goldband Records label.
8.
Iry LeJeune sent the metal masters to Houston where several hundred 78s were pressed on the Folk Star label.
9.
Attire aside, Iry LeJeune continued to accumulate a phenomenal body of work.
10.
From Iry LeJeune's kitchen came the beautiful "Duraldo Waltz," a song that featured no accordion, but did include a well-timed bark by the Iry LeJeune family's hog dog, Rain.
11.
Sadly, at the peak of his career, Iry LeJeune was killed at the age of 26.
12.
Iry LeJeune hit him and knocked him into a field.
13.
Widely mourned in Acadiana, Iry LeJeune's music continued to live on.
14.
Iry LeJeune sang deeply personal songs about his life which in fact reflected the lives of all Cajuns.