Angelas Manuel was born on December 5th, 1909, to parents of predominantly Acadian and French ancestry, and was raised on a farm near the town of Mamou, Louisiana. His parents, Andrew Manuel and Anna Granger Manuel were sharecroppers. Angelas was raised with one sister, Loreina. Growing up, he was no stranger to hard work, having to work on the farm, whether it was picking cotton, planting or cultivating rice, or tending to the animals raised on the farm for food. Like most sharecropping families in that region, money was scarce so they did without many luxuries, but still managed to find entertainment in the form of music. As a young boy, Angelas watched his father Andrew play the fiddle in front of relatives and friends. Eventually, Andrew would teach Angelas how to play the fiddle. Angelas then self taught himself to play the accordion and the guitar as he became a very well-rounded musician. While still in his teens, Angelas met and married a beautiful teenage girl by the name of Essie Reed, the daughter of Aurelien Reed and Theresa LaFleur (Devillier) Reed of L'anse Maigre community near Mamou. Besides farming, Angelas figured out another way to generate supplemental income for his family as a young teenager. In the early 1920's, he taught his brother-in-law, Amar "T-Frere" Devillier, how to play the basics on the accordion and as soon as they learned to play enough old French tunes they began playing at bals de maison (house dances) in the local vicinity. In 1925, Angelas and Amar played their first dancehall at the infamous Cazo's Dance Hall which was owned by Cazeaux Bertrand (not to be confused with Cazan's Bar at the Cazan Hotel, owned by Cazan Fontenot), which was located on 6th street in Mamou. In 1922, Cazo's had been the scene of a tragic gunfight which left two men and a teenage boy dead. The town council had closed the dancehall's for a year, but in 1924, they had re-opened. Angelas and Amar were payed $2.50 for that 1st gig, plus 35 cents in tips. Angelas is quoted as saying in a national magazine feature out of Washington, D.C. that "Since that day I never gone without money in my pocket". An interesting story written by local newspaper columnist Pascal Fuselier in his weekly column titled "Crows Nest", he writes: "Angleas told me Lavab McGee had made a propeller which was operated with a Chevrolet 6 motor. This was rigged in the back of the hall in a big hole in the wall. The engine made so much noise that sometimes when Angelas and Amar would finish a number, the dancers would keep on dancing to the noise of the fan. Bobby McGee told me that his grandfather, Henry McGee, had helped his daddy in making the fan, and he (Bobby) thought it was operated with a Ford Model A engine." "Admission was 25 cents, so one night a young man decided he would "Voler mon pass" (steal his pass). He went to the back of the hall and saw the big hole; the propeller was turning so fast that the blades were invisible. The blade caught him on the side of the head and a chunk was lost, but fortunately the fellow survived. And as far as we know, nobody sued". The brother-in-laws became a formidable duo in the local music scene, playing in various clubs, bars, and dancehalls: Cazo's Dancehall in Mamou, Fred's Lounge in Mamou, French Casino in Mamou, Cazan's Bar located in Hotel Cazan, Dup's Bar located off Hwy13 North of Eunice, Snooks in Ville Platte, among others. But as years passed Angelas decided to give up the the dancehall scene "because music ain't good for married life" according to another newspaper quote of his. There is a photo of Angelas and Amar hanging on KVPI'S Wall of Fame in Fred's Lounge located in Mamou, Louisiana still to this day. Angelas would continue to play at house dances, festivals, and various family and friend gatherings. His list of other Cajun musicians he had played with at various functions and sessions through the years is impressive. Names such as: Amar Devillier, Jerry Devillier, Preston Manuel, Dudley Rozas, Roy Fontenot, Bois-Sec Ardion, Wade Fruge, Chuck Guillory, Isom Fontenot, Cyprien and Adam Landreneau, "Cabri" Menier, Walter Mouton, Dewy Balfa, Floyd Soileau, Marc Savoy, Lurlin Lejuene, Vorance Berzas, and Jimmy C Newman. Angelas worked in various sawmills, had a partnership in an ironworks business, then became a machinist for H. Brown and other companies. He eventually moved from the mid Acadiana farming region to the booming petro-chemical and oil industry of Port Arthur, Texas, after WWII like many families did back then. He got his seaman's document and received his machinist endorsement and served on the S.S. Texaco Florida in the mid 1960's as did his friend Pascal Fusilier, who was an A.B. that steered the ship. Angelas eventually worked as a Chief Pumper in the merchant marines at the Port Arthur docks. He played at several venues around the Port Arthur area and across the border at Holly Beach and Southwest Louisiana including an appearance at the Lake Charles Contraband Day Festival's "Cajun Day" event with friend Dudley Rozas. Jerry Devillier recalls the only trips he took out of the Mamou area was when growing up, his family visited his Nunc Angelas and Taunte Essie. He recalled his Dad and his Uncle playing music like they never stopped playing together. Jerry also visited them in Port Arthur when he got older and he would bring his harmonica and him and his Uncle would have a jam session. Angelas and his wife Essie had one son, Kallen , and two daughters, Lavina Mae and Shelva Dean. They had 11 grand-children and many great grand-children. In 1966, Essie passed away leaving Angelas a widower. He eventually re-married to Loris LeBouef Manuel in 1968 until her death in 1987. A few years later, Angelas would move back to Louisiana, closer to his Cajun roots near Lakeview Park located off of Highway 13, just north of Eunice and remained a widower for the remainder of his life. With a decent pension and social security, Angelas was able to freely enjoy getting back into the music circuit. Angelas recorded two 45 rpm singles at the home studio of Lee Lavergne's Lanor Records at BMI sound Center in Church Point, Louisiana. "I Can't Eat and I Can't Sleep" and "Valse de Gran Pran" with the 1st one also appearing on a compilation album called "Cajun History" Old School Cajun. He is referred to as the "one man band". He would also lend a hand with his vast source of knowledge about Cajun musicians, fais do-dos and dancehalls for several books and magazine articles. He appeared at festivals and functions around the Mamou Prairie region. He even performed on several occasions next door to his home at Lakeview Park. One was a "Floyd Soileau Day" which honored legendary fiddler Dennis McGee and J.C. Labbie's birthday celebration., featuring other Cajun artist such as Phil Menard, Joe Bonsall, Dallas Roy, Lesa Cormier, J.C. Labbie, Lee Manuel, Joe Simon, Jesse Lege, among others. Throughout the 1980's and 1990's he appeared at the famed Liberty Theater in Eunice. There are live recordings still in existence of Angelas on stage performing with some of these musicians: Roy Fontenot, Carl Fontenot, Eston Bellow, Vorane Berzas, Preston Manuel and Jerry Devillier. Angelas was considered one of the early pioneer French musicians from the Mamou area and was known for his multi-talent. He enjoyed playing music up until the early 1990's, especially entertaining his grandchildren. One granddaughter, Susan Manuel, fondly recollects listening to her grandfather play the violin and the accordion and remembering the smell of his pipe tobacco throughout the room. She also recalls that being in a military family, she and her folks would sometimes get word that Angelas was on call into the port near where they were stationed, somewhere off the coast, and they would meet him at the docks. He passed away on August 27th, 1996, in Mamou. ***NOTE*** A special thanks to everyone that contributed to this story, especially Angelas's grandson Darrell Manuel, without his input it wouldn't have been possible. Also a special thanks to Angelas's nephew Jerry Devillier, who played music with Angelas and worked at the Liberty Theater as the videographer and sound for their live broadcast, and contributed stories. Thanks also to Robert Ardoin and Peggy Newman Ardoin for their input. To the regional newspapers, The Evangeline News in Ville Platte, The Eunice News, and the Opelousas Daily World, for their archives. Columnist Rick Bowers for his article titled: "Cajun Renaissance" in 1988 for Maturity News Service out of Washington, D.C., ULL Dupre Library, The late newspaper columnist for the Mamou Acadian Press, Pascal Fuselier, Marc Savoy of Savoy Records (thought highly of Angelas ) for his input and a live recoding of Angelas , Dennis McGee, and Wade Fruge being interview by his wife Ann, that he generously donated. ***NOTE*** This biography is dedicated to the family of Angelas Manuel. Composed by Neal P Granger
Left-Right: Dennis McGee (fiddle), Angelas Manuel (accordion) and Lee Newman (triangle) performing in the school gym in the town of French Settlement, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge.
Angelas's last accordion hand crafted by Donald Thibodeaux of Eunice, Louisiana
Devillier/Reed family gathering . Top row: The woman in plaid dress center that is standing in front of Angelas is Essie Reed Manuel. Tall man with hat and glasses is Angelas. Man on bottom row far right is Amar "T-Frere" Devillier.
Surviving members of Amar "T-Frere" Devilliers group taken in the 1980's. Left to Right: Angelas Manuel, Eston Bellow, Joseph "Cabri" Menier, and Jerry Devillier with his father's accordion.