The Creole Cowboy of Pied des Chiens: Wilson Anthony 'Boozoo' Chavis Memorial Highway: Louisiana Highway 385

Wilson Anthony ‘Boozoo’ Chavis was born October 23, 1930, to Creole of Color tenant farmers in Pied des Chiens (Dog Hill), a Creole community in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Chavis was always around music as a young boy, playing washboard and harmonica, while family members played accordion. It is unclear how he obtained his first accordion, but it's understood that he purchased it in his preteen years with money he earned from either a horse race or selling a horse. His mother sold barbeque lunches at Creole horse races, introducing young Chavis to the world of horsekeeping. As he got older, he began playing in dance clubs, training horses, and farming.

       Chavis’ first hit was a zydeco song called “Paper in My Shoe,” recorded in 1955. It is an upbeat song in Creole French and English that tells the story about being too impoverished to get new shoes, so he put a piece of paper in it to patch up the holes, as not to request a new pair from his parents. Unfortunately, the record company he was signed to wasn’t honest about how many records he was selling and keeping a portion of his earnings. This discouraged him from releasing new songs. Within the next thirty years, he only released three additional singles and struggled to book gigs because of it. He decided to concentrate on farming and horsekeeping.

      By the 1980s, zydeco was recognized internationally as a folk genre originating from Louisiana. In 1984, after being encouraged by his family, Chavis returned to the music scene and began playing regular shows. He signed with the record label Maison de Soul out of Ville Platte and released four albums, as well as a few for Rounder Records and Sonet Records. He went on to play numerous festivals, including the New York JazzFest for ten years and a few other jazz festivals. In 1998, he was inducted into the Zydeco Hall of Fame alongside Clifton Chenier, Corey Ledet, Donna Angelle, the Rubin brothers, and Roy Carrier. He was additionally awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2001. His band was called Boozoo Chavis and the Magic Sounds.

      Chavis’ songs often included unique content about rural Acadiana and having his choice of women. He was the first zydeco musician to receive a parental advisory sticker on his 1999 album Who Stole My Monkey? He wrote X-rated songs like “Uncle Bud,” with vulgar lyrics describing Uncle Bud and his daughter, seemingly to center the song around the curse words. “Motor Dude Special,” was named after his horse but had simple lyrics to let the music shine. He wrote “Dog Hill” that features someone barking like a dog. His songs’ subject matter, his life, and the white Stetson hat and apron he wore on stage earned him the nickname “the Creole Cowboy.”

      On May 5, 2001, Chavis died from complications from a heart attack after a performance in Austin, Texas. He was buried in Lake Charles. His son, Charles, took over as frontman for the Magic Sounds, but passed away only eight months after his father from a heart attack. Chavis’ other son, Poncho Chavis, began performing at festivals in honor of his father until 2008. The Chavis family’s legacy lives on through the Labor Day Dog Hill Festival that Chavis founded in 1989 to celebrate zydeco and Creole culture. In total, he released 15 albums. He is featured on dozens of zydeco and blues compilation albums.

      The Wilson Anthony ‘Boozoo’ Chavis Memorial Highway was officially proposed by Senator Dan W. Morrish and received a unanimous vote. The Department of Transportation installed a memorial plaque at the site of the location.