Murphy "Chuck" Guillory was born in Mamou, Louisiana on August 16th, 1919, to farming parents Made' and Lena Fontenot Guillory. Chuck grew up in a large family which consisted of 6 other siblings, 3 brothers and 3 sisters. He grew up around music as his father and an uncle were a big influence on him early as fiddle players. Like many children in that era, he wasn't allowed to play his father Made's instrument, as it was very costly for many Cajuns who didn't have an abundance of money. So, a similar story of how Chuck learned to play came about. When he was around 8 years old, he would wait until his father was gone from the house and snuck it out and played it. His mom heard him playing around with it but allowed him without telling on him. He would safely return it to the spot he found it just before his dad would arrive home. The 1st tune he taught himself was Grand Mamou. Eventually Chucks dad found out he learned to play so a year later he would drive Chuck to the town of Eunice every Saturday to perform at an establishment called Nick's Bar on Main Street and where they would play for tips. They also played at house dances in the area. The extra money made supplemented the family's income along with farming. Times were hard by the time Chuck reached his teens, as the Great Depression was gripping the entire country. Like many children back then, he had to walk a long distance to school as there was no school bus, about 10 miles one way to the community of Duralde. By his eight grade year he dropped out (common for many poor Cajun kids who worked the farms) to concentrate on playing music and working. As a teenager, Chuck was playing in the same circuit as some of the Cajun musicians that had made names for themselves around that time, such as : Angelas Manuel, Dennis McGee, Adam Landreneau, Sady Courville, Cyprien Landreneau, Amar "T- Frere" Devillier, Maurice Berzas, Edius Naquin, Hadley Fontenot, just to name a few. He played some of the same venues such as Cozo's dancehall, Piersalls (later French Casino), and Manuel's Bar in Mamou. I recall few years back listening to a recorded interview on the internet with the late Chris Strachwitz founder of Arhoolie Records, which is no longer available for some reason, Chuck tells a story of a fiddle contest that he had entered at Abe's Palace in Eunice in the late 1930's to early 1940's, just before WWII. At stake was the 1st place winner would play the dance that night to get paid a sum of $50. He played against great locals such as Leo Soileau, Isaac Soileau, Harry Choates, Merlin Fontenot, etc. and won it. His band played a mixture of French and country music that night. Another story that has been repeated by some who were close to Chuck is the one he tells of Hank Williams Sr., upon hearing Chuck play offered him a job playing for him but his wife Joyce was against it. Then the war broke out and Chuck answered the call and went into the service. Towards the end of the war Chuck had a band consisting of fellow servicemen, calling themselves The Tokyo Ramblers, and traveled to many places to play play music and entertain the GI'S. A few months after his discharge from the service after the end of the war, Chuck would hook up with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys for a few months in Texas. He learned a lot of country songs from Bob and considered him a great influence. Around 1946, he formed a Cajun/Country/String band called the Rhythm Boys from the Acadiana region featuring members Julius "Papa Cairo" Lamperez, Jimmy Newman, Isaac Soileau, Kersey "Pork Chop" Roy, and Albert McCauley, Herman Durbin, and P.D. Benoit. The bands 1st gig was in the town of Bunkie and Chuck recalled that the young Jimmy Newman was raw and that particular performance was a particularly rough start. But Chuck decided to give him a few more chances and noticed improvement. After a few more gigs Chuck knew he had something special. The band mostly stayed intact for several years, which included additions Red Fabacher and Milton Molitor. By the late 1940's, Chuck also realized early on that him and the band was not making the money playing around the Mamou area so they traveled to cities such as Lake Charles, Alexandria, Lafayette, Baton Rouge and even in Mississippi. They played at a very well known establishment located at the famed Silver Strip, which consisted of line of bars and dancehalls along the highway 90 west corridor from Lake Charles to the Sabine River, known as the Silver Star. It was there that a poor out of work young man from Southeast/Beaumont Texas, who played guitar and sang mostly country tunes would hitchhike to the club to hustle work. He was very persistent in asking Chuck if he could sing with the band. Upon asking the other members of the band, Chuck relented and paid the man five dollars per session. The poor musician was none other than future legend George Jones. George would stay on with the band for about six or seven months. Also in late 1940's, The Rhythm Boys were very successful and well sought after, even playing for Louisiana Governor Jimmy Davis. In 1948, they recorded two popular singles, "Big Texas" and "Chere Petite" for Modern Record label out of New Orleans and in 1949, record producer J.D. Miller of the Feature and Folk-Lyric labels, recorded the groups original version of "Tolan Waltz" But things eventually started to unravel. Chuck would announce he was quitting the band one night while playing at the Evangeline Club in Ville Platte due to burnout. Jimmy was somewhat successful in talking him into continuing but it only lasted for several more months. Then the band would lose the talents of Jimmy and a few of its members when he left for Nashville after being discovered by a talent scout. He initially tried to get Chuck to join him but he was not interested. In 1953, Jimmy would sign with Dot Records and the following year record his hit "Cry, Cry, Darling and would go on to have a distinguished career on the Grand Ole Opry. Also in the early 1950's, Chuck joined the Merchant Marines for awhile and eventually embarked on an around the globe sort of tour on the SS Paoli, a cargo tanker docked in Lake Charles to New York harbor, then set out for Aruba, Venezuela. From thereto Port Said, Africa then to Calcutta, India before returning back to the states. The trek lasted 3 months and covered 28,820 miles. Upon his return to his wife Joyce Guillory bought a general merchandise /meat market in Mamou which he ran for 27 years. Even during those times there was no void of excitement, as they were once robbed at gunpoint, which resulted in a massive manhunt that ended with two fugitives getting captured. During that time around 1958, he retired from playing small country dances, got involved in local politics and ran for office, getting elected as an alderman or councilman. Even then, he never really gave up playing music completely, getting together with other musicians for jam sessions, leading to a release of an album for Dr. Harry Oster and continuing to play throughout the 1960's and 1970's. In 1982, at Master Trek Studio in Crowley, Chuck re-recorded the tune "Tolan Waltz" as part of an album with members Michael Doucet, David Doucet, Preston Manuel, Pork Chop Roy, and Gervis Stanford, on side A and in 1987 Papa Cairo, Preston Manuel, Pork Chop Roy, Dave Boudion, Tina Pilione, and Marc Savoy completed the B side. It was released in 1988 by Arhoolie Records. After closing the family business soon after, Chuck re-formed his band The Rhythm Boys along with original members 'Papa Cairo", "Pork Chop" Roy and new members Preston Manuel, Todd Ardoin, and Dave Benoit This time they would return more to their original Cajun roots music instead of the big country string band sound from the past. They didn't venture too far from his home area, playing such venues as the Liberty Theater in Eunice, Freds Lounge in Mamou, VFW'S in Mamou and Ville Platte, the Jazz Festival in New Orleans, various festivals, dances and benefits. They recorded several singles for the Arhoolie label that also appeared on compilation albums. In 1989, he was nominated for an award at the Le Cajun banquet sponsored by the Cajun French Music Association. In 1989 he was inducted into Fred's Lounge Wall of Fame in Mamou. Chuck was also an instrumental figure along with the Rhythm Boys band and others in getting a resolution passed in getting the town of Mamou officially named " Cajun Music Capitol of the World" in 1987, an idea led by Paul Tate Jr., and was pushed by Senator John Saunders of Ville Platte, Representative Danny Lemoine, and Mamou mayor Warren Pierrotti. Chuck passed away on October 19th, 1998, in Alexandria, Louisiana and is buried in the town of Woodworth leaving a lasting legacy. Thanks to the sources who helped in contributing to his story including: The Evangeline News Today archives in Ville Platte, The Eunice News Archives, The Opelousas Daily World archives, The groundbreaking work of Wade Falcon's Early Cajun Music blog, Author and musician Ann Savoy's book Cajun music Volume II interview, the late Chris Strachwitz of Arhoolie Records, Ancestry.com, Kirk Menier, and family members Janet Ann Guillory Lavergne, and especially Candace Guillory (thanks for answering many questions). *Dedicated to the family of Murphy "Chuck" Guillory. Composed by Neal P Granger
