Hiram Sampy and the Bad Habits performed "Mo Coeur Cassé I Mo Kèr Kassé" in two languages: Louisiana Creole (also known as "Kouri-Vini," or, as Sampy sometimes called the language, "Breaux Bridge Talk") and Louisiana French. George "Blackie" Derouselle is the lead vocalist on this song.
The release of Sampy and the Bad Habits's bi-lingual recording narrowly predated the 1980 publication of Sybil Kein's "Gumbo People," which has been regarded as the first literary collection in the twentieth century to employ the Louisiana Creole language. Produced with the assistance of Louisiana Creole philologist and poet Ulysses Ricard, Kein's tome (containing elements from several languages, to include Louisiana Creole, Louisiana French, Spanish and Haitian Creole) sought to challenge, disrupt and shatter the notion that profound and abstract thought could not be expressed in the Louisiana Creole language.
And, although regarded as the first collection of Louisiana Creole language poetry, Kein's work(s) were not the first twentieth century Louisiana Creole poems to appear in a collection, as the works of scholar Debbie Clifton appeared in "Cris Sur Le Bayou," a predominantly Louisiana French poetry collection, featuring the original works of various Louisiana and Louisiana-descended authors. "Les Cenelles," which translates to mean "hollyberries," was published in the nineteenth century and contained some poetry written in the Louisiana Creole language.
To read more about the culture of Creole Louisiana and the Louisiana Creole diaspora, visit Mo Creole MAGAZINN at mocreolemagazinn.blogspot.com.
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