Stanley Dural Jr. (November 14, 1947 – September 24, 2016), better known by his stage name Buckwheat Zydeco, was an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He was the first zydeco musician to be signed by a major record company, his albums were nominated for Grammy awards, his songs were heard on movie soundtracks and in television ads, he played at festivals in the US and Europe, and he opened shows for Eric Clapton and U2.
Dural was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was one of 13 children; he had six brothers and six sisters. As a five-year-old boy, he worked on a farm picking cotton. He acquired his nickname as a youth, because, with his braided hair, he looked like the character Buckwheat from Our Gang/The Little Rascals movies. His father, a farmer, was an accomplished amateur traditional Creole accordion player, but young Dural preferred listening to and playing rhythm and blues.
Dural became proficient at the organ, and by the late 1950s he was backing Joe Tex, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and many others.In 1971, he founded Buckwheat & the Hitchhikers, a funk band that he led for five years before switching to zydeco. They were a local sensation and found success with the single, "It's Hard To Get", recorded for a local Louisiana-based label.
He began backing Clifton Chenier in 1976, one of the most legendary zydeco performers.. He quickly discovered the popularity of zydeco music, and noted the effect the music had on the audience. "Everywhere, people young and old just loved zydeco music," Dural says. "I had so much fun playing that first night with Clifton. We played for four hours and I wasn't ready to quit."
Dural's relationship with Chenier led him to take up the accordion in 1978. After practicing for a year, he felt ready to start his own band under the name Buckwheat Zydeco. They debuted with One for the Road in 1979 on the Blues Unlimited label and then recorded for New Orleans' Black Top label. In 1983, they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Turning Point and in 1985 for Waitin' For My Ya Ya after switching to the Rounder Records label. The band then signed to Island Records, becoming the first zydeco act on a major label, and released On a Night Like This, a critically acclaimed album that was nominated for a Grammy as well. The band appeared in the movie The Big Easy in 1987.
In 1988, Eric Clapton invited the band to open his North American tour as well as his 12-night stand at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Buckwheat subsequently shared stages and/or recording with Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Mavis Staples, David Hidalgo, Dwight Yoakam, Paul Simon, Ry Cooder, the Cherry Poppin' Daddies and many others, including indie music band Yo La Tengo on the soundtrack of the Bob Dylan bio-pic, I'm Not There.
His music has been featured in films including The Waterboy, The Big Easy, Fletch Lives and Hard Target. BET's show Comic View used his live version of “What You Gonna Do?” as theme music for the program's 10th anniversary "Pardi Gras" season. He also wrote and performed the theme music for the PBS television series Pierre Franey's Cooking In America. Buckwheat won an Emmy for his music in the CBS TV movie, Pistol Pete: The Life and Times of Pete Maravich.
Buckwheat Zydeco played many major music festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (numerous times), Chicago Blues Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Summerfest, San Diego Street Scene, Bumbershoot, Montreux Jazz Festival, the Voodoo Experience, and countless others. During the 1990s and early 2000s Buckwheat recorded for his own Tomorrow Recordings label and maintained an extensive touring schedule. Buckwheat Zydeco's last album, Lay Your Burden Down, was released on May 5, 2009 on the Alligator Records label.
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No doubt zydeco has produced better accordionists; Dural did not plumb the depths of emotion that Chenier could when playing the blues. But he was a gifted and inventive arranger, and the bands he led struck sparks. Most significantly, he refused to be restricted to zydeco’s old creole repertoire – the songs in French, the antique accordion-and-percussion settings. He also reached out to embrace soul music, R&B numbers from Domino or Ray Charles, songs by Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and – on his last album, Lay Your Burden Down (2009) – Captain Beefheart and Bruce Springsteen.
Dural died of lung cancer at age 68 on September 24, 2016, at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. He was funeralized at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Lafayette.
(Edited from Wikipedia & The
Guardian)