Identical twins Edward and Elby "Bee" Deshotels were born on July 6th, 1920, to parents Marcellus and Athile Ortego Deshotels in the farming community of Lanse Grise, located near Vidrine and Mamou, Louisiana. The twins were the youngest of seven children, with three older brothers and two older sisters, with Ed being a few minutes older than Bee. Each of the children were charged with helping out on the family farm, whether it was picking cotton, tending to the farm animals and livestock, tilling, and plowing the soil to prepare for the next crop to plant, or harvesting. It wasn't all farm work for the Deshotels children as they attended school as well. The twins Ed and Bee enjoyed the outdoors and sports. They boxed, played baseball, and loved hunting and fishing when they got the chance, typical of many Cajun boys. As with a lot of the farming families in that era, music was also a big part of their lives, as it provided not only entertainment, but a brief respite from the daily rigors of putting in long hours in the fields. When Ed and "Bee" were very young, music was engrained in them by their grandmother Virginie Billodeaux Deshotels, who would sing and teach them the lyrics of old traditional Acadian melodic ballads from the old homeland of Acadie (Nova Scotia) and France. Their father Marcellus was a big influence also, as he was a well rounded player who could play the fiddle, accordion, harmonica, triangle, as well as a raconteur and singer. His ancestry could be traced all the way back to Normandy, who migrated to Louisiana during the French Revolution of the late 18th century. One story that Ed's son Kurt had to dispel is that Ed learned the fiddle from his father. While he was no doubt an influence, Ed couldn't learn his father's technique because he was left handed but played a right handed fiddle backwards. Ed could only mimic him, but basically taught himself. Bee learned to play the acoustic guitar. Both twin brothers were very good singers and learned to harmonize old French ballads together. As they got older they were referred to as the "Burl Ives of Acadiana" because of the old folk songs they revived and the manner in which they were performed. The twins started out playing at family gatherings and then house parties which made them very popular in the Mamou area. They were always seen as inseparable, until the 1940's, when the world went into war again, and Ed and Bee both proudly answered the call of duty for their country, both enlisting in the US Navy together, but because of a policy enacted by Congress in the early part of WWII, in which the 5 Sullivan brothers were lost on the same ship in the Pacific, the prospect of them serving together would have been difficult but another issue had risen, Ed was initially not accepted due to vision problem. The twins returned , saddened at the prospect of being separated. Six months later, to their surprise, Ed was called to serve his country as a submariner. He served as a typist clerk since he acquired the skill from his college days at SLI (now ULL), with a degree in agronomy. Bee served on a battleship with his duties unknown. In the 1950's, some years after the two had returned from the war, a folklorist and musicologist with the Louisiana Folklore Society, Dr. Harry Oster, found the brothers in Mamou and convinced them to record them acappella on his own label where they laid down some of the first recordings, including "Danse de Mardi Gras", and "Mes Souliers Sont Rouges", which is still known in Quebec and France today. On an interesting note about "Danse de Mardi Gras" (lead vocals by Bee), it was the Deshotels who had the 1st known recorded version and when the town of Mamou was re-vitalizing its traditonal Mardi Gras celebration, the town voted for a later version of the song which was performed and recorded by the Balfa Brothers as its official anthem. Those two songs are part of 1959 compilation album called Louisiana Folksong Jambalaya that were sung by Oster. In 1970, the songs were re-released on Arhoolie record label when Chris Strawitz obtained the rights to Harry Osters songbook. In a compilation album called Folksongs of Louisiana Acadians Vol. 1, those two songs along with three others, can be heard with Ed and Bee playing and singing their original recorded versions. In the mid to late 1960's what is little known is that besides the twins playing their own music together, they joined up with an early Mamou Cajun French music accordion player named Amar "T-Frere Devillier and his son Jerry Devillier, who had an extraordinary knack of playing the harmonica and the triangle simultaneously. The twins were good friends with the Devilliers for many years and would often play at Amar's home which was located next to Transco Pipeline, in the community of Lanse Maigre, near the town of Mamou , according to Jerry. They band would eventually perform and compete at the large area festivals in the region, including the Yambilee Festival in Opelousas, The Acadian Music Festival in conjunction with Mamou Mardi Gras, The Cotton Festival in Ville Platte, and the Rice Festival in Crowley. This group of four would apparently showcase each others talents not only as a group but individually. For consecutive years from 1965 to 1969, the group reigned supreme, finishing with top honors on many occasions at the festivals. Individually, Amar won 1st place in the Accordion division, as did Jerry on occasion, while Jerry would also have top finishes in the harmonica division. Ed had top finishes in the solo fiddle division, while Bee won 1st place finishes in the vocalist division. Quite an accomplishment, but sadly the group came to and end with the untimely death of Amar in 1969. Not only did Ed and Bee lose a band member and friend, but a hunting and fishing buddy. In 1972, the DesHotels brothers decided to go on their own and would call themselves the Cajun Troubadours. They would write and record their 1st 45 rpm single, believed to be "Regard Mais Touche-Pas" on the A side and "Vivre Dans La Passe" on the B side. They also recorded another 45 rpm single with an unknown release date sometime later, "Faire L'Amour A Cote" (Making Love on the Side) on side A and "Sept Jours Sur L'Eau" (Seven Days on the Water) all on the Swallow record label at Floyd Soileau's studio in Ville Platte. In 1973, they recorded an album also with Floyd Soileau under the Swallow record label called "Chantent De La Vie Des Cajuns". The album consisted of 14 songs, which featured songs written and composed by the brothers with the exception of only 5 not written by them. Ed in particular, was the main writer of the all the lyrics and arrangements of the songs, with Bee assisting with some of the arrangements. The twins would eventually go back in the studio at Floyd's and record their 2nd album, "Cajun Troubadours". The recordings consisted of Ed on fiddle and vocals, Bee on acoustic and vocals, Savey Augustine on triangle, and Cursy "Pork Chop" Roy on drums. Out of the 10 tracks, only one song was not written and composed by the Deshotels, that would be "La Porte Derriere (The Back Door) by D.L. Menard. The twin brothers also made several appearances on the Revon Reed live radio program on KEUN from Fred's Lounge on Saturday mornings in Mamou. The brothers were not known to play the bars and dancehall scenes, but did appear at various area festivals and social events, mainly near the Mamou/Ville Platte/Eunice area. Both Ed and Bee were very active in their community, both coaching baseball in different age groups, with Ed serving as the 1st President of the Little League Baseball Association in Mamou. He also served as President of the Booster Club and set up Mamou High's 1st bus for sports functions. They were both active as members of the Knights of Columbus. Ed was named Man of the Year in 1970 in Mamou. Bee traveled with a group from Church Point to Nova Scotia and entertained them by playing his music. The brothers remained popular and continued entertaining locally even as they both maintained career jobs. Ed was a salesman and State Environmental Inspector until his retirement, while Bee worked in operations at Transco Gas Corporation where he retired. They appeared with other notable Cajun musicians such as the Balfa Bros., Nathan Abshire, Ambroise Thibodeaux, Aldus Roger, Octa Clark, Camey Doucet, Lionel Leleux, Varise Conner, among others during consecutive years in Lafayette, 1st at the Cajun Music Festival sponsored by CODOFIL held at Blackham Coliseum in 1975 and Girard Park Amphitheater in 1976. The duo was scheduled to make an appearance at the Liberty Theater in Eunice, but unfortunately Bee passed away at the age of 67, on Janurary 7, 1988. He left behind his wife Elizabeth Dabney Deshotels along with 2 sons and a daughter. Bee's passing left a void with Ed, and he retired from playing for about 5 years afterwards. Ed eventually would play again, he appeared alongside guitarist Dowell LaFleur, while playing fiddle, singing in French, telling jokes and stories, in both French and English at an appearance in the Heymann Center in Lafayette. It was a part of a Cajun joke and story telling convention headed by Cajun comedian Ralph Begnaud, which was hosted by Cajun folklorist Dr. Barry Ancelet. Ed also made an appearance at the Liberty Theater as part of the Rendes -Vous des Cajuns live weekly music radio program on KRVS. On September 10, 2003 Ed passed away in Mamou. He left behind his wife Wedna Landreneau Deshotels along with 3 sons. One consistent answer that I got when I asked some the kids of Ed and Bee about their Dads, was the love they had for their families, the generosity they both shared with others, and the care they had for keeping the tradition of the stories through the songs of their ancestors. Cajun music lovers should be grateful for their contributions. In 2022, Elby "Bee" Deshotels was posthumously inducted into the CFMA Cajun Music Hall of Fame. A well deserved and overdue honor. Hopefully his twin brother Edward will be joining him in there soon, right next to Bee where he belongs. Special thanks to those who helped contribute to this article: Kurt Deshotels, Ted Deshotels, Be D Deshotels , Jerry Devillier, Richard DesHotels for his photos, Dowell LaFleur, Evangeline News archives, Eunice News archives, Opelousas Daily World archives, Flat Town Records, Ancestry.com and Author John Brovin's book South to Louisiana, Music of Bayou Cajuns. ** Dedicated to the families of Ed and Bee** Composed by Neal P Granger
