Jean Duet "Dewey" Segura (February 12, 1902 – November 15, 1987) was an American folk musician. He and his brother Edier Segura (sometimes spelled "Eddie") formed the duo known as the "Segura Brothers" (also listed as "Segura Bros"). The duo created some of the earliest Cajun music in the late 1920s.

Family

Born into a Spanish and French family, Dewey was one of twelve children. All of the children played music to some extent. While playing music, he would routinely bootleg moonshine around the region. He married Euphemie Desormeaux.

Music and career

After the success of

Joe Falcon Joseph Falcón (September 28, 1900 – November 19, 1965) was an accordion player from southwest Louisiana, best known for producing the first recording of a Cajun song, "Allons à Lafayette," in 1928. He and his wife Cléoma Breaux left f ...

and Cleoma Breaux's record "

Allons a Lafayette Allons may refer to: * Allons, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, a commune of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ''département'' in France * Allons, Lot-et-Garonne, a commune of the Lot-et-Garonne ''département'' in France * Allons, Tennessee, US See also * Al ...

", Columbia began recording

Cajun music Cajun music (french: Musique cadienne), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem w ...

; beginning their new series of "Arcadian French" records (40500-F series for Columbia, 90000 series for Okeh). Dewey read in a newspaper on his way to

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County; it is east of Houston. The largest oil refinery in the United St ...

, during a whiskey run, that recording companies were recording Cajun music in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

On December 16, 1928, Dewey, with his accordion and his brother Eddie on vocals and fiddle, recorded two records for

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

The musicians would be labeled as "E. Segura & D. Herbert" on the records. Didier Hebert, a blind guitarist from Louisiana, accompanied them on the three songs and recorded a solo song, "I Woke Up One Morning in May", during the same session. The duo would later record for

Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, s ...

, compiled as "folk" field recordings and would be the only Cajun pioneers to do so from the early period.Brasseaux, Ryan Andre. "Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music". Oxford University Press (June 4, 2009). p70. Two songs are recorded, an early version of

Jolie Blonde 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 194 ...

called "La Fille De La Veuve" and "Viens donc t'assis sur la croix de ma tombe". Didier would record a vocal called "Mes Camarades Il Faut Parier" during the Lomax session.

Legacy

On June 22, 1934, the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...

recorded both Dewey and Segura at the White Oak bar near

New Iberia, Louisiana New Iberia (french: La Nouvelle-Ibérie; es, Nueva Iberia) is the largest city in and parish seat of Iberia Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The city of New Iberia is located approximately southeast of Lafayette, and forms part of the Lafa ...

. Dewey would record again for historian

Richard K. Spottswood Richard K. "Dick" Spottswood (born April 17, 1937) is an American musicologist and author from Maryland, United States who has catalogued and been responsible for the reissue of many thousands of recordings of vernacular music in the United States. ...

in 1975 and would explain to Spottswood that the listings of "Joe Segura" were actually Edier or Dewey. :*''New Iberia Polka'
Listen (MP3)
:*''A Mosquito Ate Up My Sweetheart'
Listen (MP3)
:*''Your Small And Sweet'
Listen (MP3)
:*''Far Away From Home Blues'
Listen (MP3)
:*''Rosalia'
Listen (MP3)

Discography

1928 Session in New Orleans * "Bury Me in a Corner of the Yard" / "My Sweetheart Run Away" (40500-F

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, 1928) (90000 Okeh Records, 1928) * "A Mosquito Ate Up My Sweetheart" / "New Iberia Polka" (40507-F

, 1928) (90007 Okeh Records, 1928) 1929 Session in New Orleans * "Far Away From Home Blues" / "I Woke Up One Morning in May" (40517-F

, 1929) (90017 Okeh Records, 1929) * "Rosalia" / "Your Small And Sweet" (40512-F

, 1929) (90012 Okeh Records, 1929) Compilations * "Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 1: First Recordings – The 1920s" (OT 108 Old Timey Records, 1970) * "Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 1 & 2 The First Recordings 1928–34" (C-213

Arhoolie Records Arhoolie Records is an American small independent record label run by Chris Strachwitz and is based in El Cerrito, California, United States (it is actually located in Richmond Annex but has an El Cerrito postal address.) The label was founded by ...

, 1984) * "Louisiana Cajun And Creole Music, 1934 : The Lomax Recordings" (LP-8003-2

Swallow Records James Floyd Soileau (born November 2, 1938) is an American record producer. Biography Soileau was born in Faubourg, a small community between Ville Platte and Washington, Louisiana. He grew up speaking Cajun French and did not speak English ...

, 1987) * "Cajun Dance Party: Fais Do-Do" (Legacy, 1994) * "The Classic Louisiana Recordings • Cajun & Creole Music 1934/1937" (1842

Rounder Records Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Al ...

, 1999) * "Cajun: Rare & Authentic" (77115 JSP, 2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Segura, Dewey 1902 births 1987 deaths People from Delcambre, Louisiana American folk musicians Musicians from Louisiana Cajun accordionists Cajun fiddlers