D. L. Menard
Doris Leon Menard (April 14, 1932 – July 27, 2017) was an American songwriter, performer, and recording artist in contemporary Cajun music. He was called the "Cajun Hank Williams".
Also recorded as Doris Leon Menard
D. L. Menard
David Simpson (cajunzydecophotos) · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Name
- D.
- Birth Name
- Doris Leon Menard
- Born
- 14 April 1932
- Birthplace
- Erath, Louisiana, U.S.
- Died
- 27 July 2017
- Place of death
- Scott, Louisiana, U.S.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- musician · woodworker · songwriter
- Fields
- Cajun music
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q3011042 · wikipedia · D. L. Menard
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Institutions cited
Bibliothèque nationale de France · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — D. L. Menard • Birth Name — Doris Leon Menard • Born — 14 April 1932 • Birthplace — Erath, Louisiana, U.S. • Died — 27 July 2017 • Place of death — Scott, Louisiana, U.S. • Genre — Cajun • Instrument — Guitar • Label — Swallow, Rounder, Arhoolie
Documentary record
D. L. Menard, a musician, was born on 14 April 1932 in Erath, Louisiana, United States and died on 27 July 2017 in Scott, Louisiana, United States. Both events are recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Biography
Biography
Menard was born in Erath, Louisiana, and was the only child of Ophy and Helena Primeaux Menard. He was part of a Cajun farming family. He took up the guitar at age 16 and started playing dances in Louisiana clubs at 17. He was strongly influenced by Hank Williams, whom he met in 1951 at the Teche Club shortly before Williams's death. Throughout his career, Menard held performances in more than 30 countries and served as a good-will ambassador for Cajun culture. He had also recorded with non-Cajun artists, including Bryan Ferry. Menard, and his late wife Louella, had seven children, leading to 17 grandchildren, and 27 great-grandchildren. He died at age 85 on July 27, 2017, in Scott, Louisiana. He had maintained a separate career as a craftsman, noted for his handmade ash-wood chairs.
Style
Style
Menard was known for his "tinny" voice and popular guitar strumming style. Musician and historian Ann Savoy generalizes Cajun guitar strumming to two styles: Old Time Style (Cléoma Falcon) and D. L. Menard Style. It uses bass runs on chord changes and incorporates up-strokes along with down-strokes. He modeled his strumming style after David Bromberg, whom he met in 1973.
"La Porte En Arrière"
"La Porte En Arrière"
Menard was best known for the song "La Porte En Arrière" ("The Back Door"), which he both composed and regularly performed. Cajun folklorist Barry Jean Ancelet has called this the most played and recorded Cajun song ever, selling over 500,000 copies in 1962 alone. It has been covered by dozens of Cajun and zydeco bands and by other francophone artists such as Kate & Anna McGarrigle. Menard said he modeled it on Hank Williams's "Honky Tonk Blues", and that he composed it in less than an hour while working at a gas station in Erath.
Singles
Singles
• "She Didn't Know I Was Married" / "Bachelor's Life" Swallow 45-10139 • "The Back Door" / "I Can't Forget You" Swallow 45-10131 • "Valse De Jolly Rogers" / "La. Aces Special" Swallow 45-10121 • "Rebecca Ann" / "I Can Live A Better Life" Swallow 45-10147 • "Too Late You're Divorced" / "Riches Of A Musician" Swallow 45-10243 • "The Vail and Crown" Swallow 45-10249
Albums
Albums
• Louisiana Aces (1974) Rounder Select 6008 • Cajun Hits Volume 2 (n.d.) Swallow LP 6003 • En Bas Du Chene Vert (1976) Arhoolie Records • The Best of Cajun Hits Volume 3 (1978) Swallow LP 6033 • The Back Door (1980) Swallow LP 6038 • Cajun Saturday Night (1984) Rounder Select 0198 • No Matter Where You At, There You Are (1988) Rounder Select 6021 • Le Trio Cadien (1992) Rounder Select • Cajun Memories (1995) Swallow LP 6125 • Happy Go Lucky (2010) Swallow CD 6219
D.L. Menard playing at the 2008 Black Pot Festival in Wikipedia:Acadian Village in Wikipedia:Lafayette, Louisiana.
David Simpson (cajunzydecophotos)
Places
Named by the record
Places
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Erath.
Birth place
Louisiana.
Death place
Awards
In 1993, his album Le Trio Cadien was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Traditional Folk Album category. In 1994, he was a recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts bestowed by the United States government. In 2009, he was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame along with Jo-El Sonnier, Doug Kershaw, and Jimmy C. Newman. In 2010, his album Happy Go Lucky was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album category.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article D. L. Menard, revision 1371037062 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
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reference work
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Born at
1- ErathPlace
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 25 August 2026.
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