Rufus Thibodeaux (1934 to 2005) was a Louisiana fiddler known as the King of the Cajun Fiddlers. He played dance halls from age 13, backed Grand Ole Opry star Jimmy C. Newman for most of five decades, and did studio work for George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, Jim Reeves, Slim Harpo, and Neil Young. He recorded his own Cajun fiddle albums in the 1970s. The National Fiddler Hall of Fame inducted him in 2010.
Why Thibodeaux matters
Thibodeaux carried Cajun fiddle into country music and kept it honest. On the Opry stage with Jimmy C. Newman, on Neil Young’s records, and in the Nashville studios, he played the same two-step and waltz feel he learned in Louisiana dance halls. Bluegrass fiddlers who want a Cajun tune in their set can start with his records. He played the style clean enough for a country band to follow and rough enough to still sound like Louisiana.
Life and career
Rufus Romain Thibodeaux was born on January 5, 1934, in Ridge, Louisiana. He started guitar at six and fiddle at 12. By 13 he was playing dance halls, first with his father. In 1949 he joined the Cajun band of Julius Lamperez. He became a studio musician for J.D. “Jay” Miller in Crowley, Louisiana, where he played on Cajun, country, and swamp blues sessions, including work with Slim Harpo, Rod Bernard, and Johnnie Allan. He also played with the Clement Brothers, Doc Guidry, and Bob Wills.
Thibodeaux met Jimmy C. Newman in the early 1950s, and the two worked together for decades. He played on Newman’s first hit, Cry, Cry, Darling, and stayed on as Newman moved to the Grand Ole Opry and later formed his Cajun Country band. Their recording of Lâche pas la patate became the first Cajun French song to earn a gold record. Thibodeaux cut singles under his own name for Starday in the late 1950s, including Cameron Memorial Waltz in 1957. In 1972 he recorded The Cajun Country Fiddle of Rufus Thibodeaux for La Louisianne Records in Lafayette, with liner notes by Newman. Cajun Fiddle followed in 1973, and he later cut A Tribute to Harry Choates with Abe Manuel.
Neil Young hired him for Comes a Time in 1978, where he played fiddle on the title track, Already One, and Four Strong Winds. He toured with Young’s International Harvesters in 1984 and 1985, and those shows came out in 2011 as A Treasure. Thibodeaux also played on records by Porter Wagoner and Jo-El Sonnier. He lost a leg to diabetes in 1999 but kept recording. He died in Nashville on August 12, 2005, at age 71.
Playing style
Thibodeaux played with a heavy bow and a big, warm tone. His two-steps have a sawing shuffle with the accent on the offbeat, the way Cajun dance bands play them, and his waltzes lean on long bows and double stops in the low register. On Cameron Memorial Waltz you can hear the whole approach: a slow, mournful melody played almost all in double stops, with the bow never leaving the string.
In the studio he could turn that sound down to fit a country ballad. On Comes a Time his fiddle sits behind Neil Young’s voice with short fills and long notes. His job was to make the song dance.
Influences and legacy
Thibodeaux came out of the Louisiana dance hall tradition and learned on the job with Julius Lamperez and in Jay Miller’s studio. His album A Tribute to Harry Choates honors an earlier Cajun fiddler he admired. He is in the Louisiana Hall of Fame and the Cajun French Music Association Hall of Fame, and in 2010 the National Fiddler Hall of Fame inducted him in the same class as Buddy Spicher and Joe Venuti.
Signature tunes and songs
Cameron Memorial Waltz Jolie Blon Lâche pas la patate Diggy Liggy Lo Port Arthur Waltz Lake Arthur Stomp.
Essential recordings
The Cajun Country Fiddle of Rufus Thibodeaux (La Louisianne, 1972) Comes a Time by Neil Young (Reprise, 1978) A Treasure by Neil Young and the International Harvesters (Reprise, 2011)
Awards and honors
Louisiana Hall of Fame Cajun French Music Association Hall of Fame National Fiddler Hall of Fame (2010)
Watch and listen
Thibodeaux plays Diggy Liggy Lo with Jimmy C. Newman in 1976. Watch the bow arm on the two-step shuffle.
His 1957 Starday single Cameron Memorial Waltz. Listen for the double stops that carry the whole melody.
What to learn from Thibodeaux
Learn Cameron Memorial Waltz from the 1957 single. It is slow, so you can copy the double stops one at a time, and it teaches the Cajun waltz feel that no bluegrass waltz will give you. The technique to steal is his bow pressure. Thibodeaux kept the bow heavy on the string through a whole phrase and let the tone get thick. Play any waltz you know as double stops with the open string below the melody, and keep the bow moving slow and hard. That is the sound of a Louisiana dance hall.
Sources
Rufus Thibodeaux, Discogs The Cajun Country Fiddle of Rufus Thibodeaux, Discogs 2019 National Fiddler Hall of Fame Inductions, Bluegrass Today Rufus Thibodeaux, Wikipedia Comes a Time, Wikipedia A Treasure, Wikipedia Jimmy C. Newman, Wikipedia
Related players
See the fiddle players hub and the fiddle guide for more players. Doug Kershaw took Cajun fiddle to a rock audience in the same years. Thibodeaux entered the National Fiddler Hall of Fame beside Buddy Spicher and Joe Venuti, and he played with Bob Wills.