Paul
"Lil' Buck" Sinegal
Lil'
Buck Sinegal (Paul Alton Sinegal) was born on January 14, 1944 in
his parents Lafayette, LA home on St. Charles Street. Sinegal, the
fourth of six children born to his Creole parents, Joseph Senegal
and Odette Broussard, Lil' Buck honors the tradition of family ties
seen so often in Southwest Louisiana. Despite his career which has
taken him to many parts of the world, Lil' Buck maintains his family
home as a secondary residence where he and his close friends gather
to cook, barbecue, and have refreshments while reminiscing and telling
stories.
Sinegal
grew up in a typical US home before TV. The radio was the center of
entertainment. Family members would gather around the radio and listen,
talk and dance. In stories recounted by family members, Sinegal as
a young child would listen to the radio, grab a broomstick and pretend
he was playing along to the songs. Long before acquiring a guitar,
young Sinegal exhibited great dancing moves and skills. His dad would
carry him to jitterbug contests in the community where Buck would
earn money and awards for winning. He did this often. Sinegal credits
dancing for his great sense of rhythm and timing, a strength he believes
all great musicians own.
Around
the age of ten or eleven (1954-1955), Sinegal received his first guitar-
a Harmony, from his blind uncle from New Iberia. Within a short time,
Sinegal began to figure out licks and parts of tunes. It was at this
time that Sinegal began to earn money playing the guitar down at the
corner newsstand. He would sit outside on the corner and some of the
newsstand patrons would put coins in his guitar to encourage him.
Sinegal would give his grandmere the money. She kept it in a sock.
When he wanted some ice cream or a soda, she would pull some change
from the sock and give Sinegal some coins. Playing the guitar replaced
Sinegal's dancing activities.
Within
a year or so after receiving the guitar from his uncle, Sinegal had
an amazing encounter with Raymond "Swank" Monet, a very
talented Lafayette Creole guitarist. Listening to Sinegal reminisce
about this encounter, one gets the feeling it was a "mystical"
experience. Sinegal credits the encounter as the event that sealed
his fate with the guitar and music.
As
the story goes, Sinegal was doing chores in the front of his home.
Monet, a stranger at the time, approached Sinegal and asked him if
he was the little boy he had heard about who would sometimes play
guitar on the street corner by the newsstand. Buck said, "Yes."
When Monet asked Sinegal to get his guitar, Sinegal told Monet that
the guitar didn't have any strings. Monet asked to borrow Sinegal's
bike. Trusting, Sinegal lent him the bike, Monet brought back guitar
strings from his apartment,s and put them Sinegal's guitar.
For
three consecutive days Sinegal and Monet spent many hours together
with their guitars on Sinegal's front porch on St. Charles Street.
Monet showed Sinegal chord progressions and riffs. The first song
Monet taught Sinegal was the shuffle instrumental "Honky Tonk."
Sinegal said that after this three-day encounter with Monet, he was
able to figure out just about any tune he heard and liked. To this
day, Sinegal says that Monet is the one of the "baddest"
guitarists he has ever heard. Monet gave Sinegal his first nickname
as a guitar player- the " Hawk." Sinegal explained that
Monet told him that, "he would fly and soar through the songs
on the strings like a hawk." Monet was absolutely right.
Soon
after the encounter with Monet, Buck and some of his friends that
played other instruments began to play outside the Sinegal family
home drawing neighbors who would listen and dance. This led to Buck's
first band, the Jive Five. The band played then current popular tunes
from the radio, some of which were tunes by Little Richard, Jimmy
Reed and Fats Domino. Buck handled the guitar and arrangement duties.
Over the next few years until 1958, the Jive Five became regulars
at many community schools' proms and some Catholic churches' bazaars.
Although Clifton Chenier later dubbed Sinegal as "Buckaroo,"
he was nicknamed Lil' Buck while in the Jive Five.
Buck
formed his next group, the Top Cats, in 1958. This group was a fifteen-piece
band with a rhythm section (bass, drums, guitar, keyboard), horn section
and male and female vocalists and backup singers. Buck's cousin, Donald
Senegal served as the bands' valet, road manager, and MC. To this
day, Donald will MC some of Buck's shows.
The
band's repertoire was mostly R&B including tunes by Otis Redding,
James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and Joe Simon and other popular artists
of the day. The Top Cats backed up people like Barbara Lynn, Robert
"Barefootin" Parker, Percy Sledge, Millie Jackson, and opened
for Joe Tex's road revue.
To
go out on the road, the Top Cats would pile into Sinegal's Cadillac
limousine and travel to perform concerts throughout Southwest Louisiana
and Southeast Texas. Nathaniel Jolivet, the drummer on this CD played
in the Top Cats, also Buckwheat Zydeco played keyboards for Sinegal.
The Top Cats disbanded in 1968-69. Many of the Top Cats are still
around today, there is some talk of doing a reunion.
Shortly
after the Top Cat's breakup, Buck began playing with the great King
of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier. On a Monday night shortly after the breakup,
Buck's cousin, Donald Senegal, passed by Buck's to try and cheer him
up. They went to the Blue Angel, a very popular club in the Lafayette
owned by Buck's uncle. As they walked in, a number of people shouted
out Buck's name. A big, tall man in a big Mexican hat and a yellow
shirt standing at the bar called over to him, " Hey, are you
the guitarist Lil' Buck I been hearing about?" Buck said, "Yeah."
Chenier introduced himself and Buck replied, " Oh, you that Clifton
Chenier I been hearing about? " As it happened, Chenier's guitarist
was unable to make the performance at the Blue Angel that night and
Chenier asked Buck if he would help out on guitar. Buck did. That
started a musical relationship that lasted for fourteen years.
At
the time, Chenier played a lot of Jimmy Reed and other blues tunes
in his show. When Buck was called on for solos, Chenier encouraged
Buck to "sting 'dat guitar." After the concert, Chenier
suggested that Lil's Buck listen to BB King and other blues artists
to get the feel for blues guitar solos. The next day Buck bought a
copy of BB King's " Sweet 16."
While
playing with Chenier, Buckaroo got to see many fine blues bands and
guitarist at shows as they traveled throughout the world- such as
Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Albert King, Lightnin' Hopkins (a relative
of Chenier's), Lowell Fulsom, Etta James, Louisiana Red, Albert Collins.
In 1982, Buckaroo left Clifton's Red Hot Louisiana Band as Chenier's
health begin to impede his playing and travelling.
In
the years following his departure from Chenier's band, Sinegal worked
with several noted bands: Rockin' Dopsie, Sr.'s band , Rockin' Dopsie
Jr.'s and Buckwheat Zydeco.
On
this CD, Lil' Buck s used both his1954 white Fender Stratocaster and
his 1975 hollow body "f-holed" Gretch. Sinegal credits "Swank"
Monet, Jimmy Reed, Chuck Berry, Lightnin' Hopkins, BB King, Albert
King and Albert Collins as the guitarist who have influenced and inspired
him. And as with all memorable guitarist, Sinegal has developed his
own unique style and sound soaring like the " Hawk ."
- Andy Cornett
