Dennis McGee (born January 26, 1893, Eunice, Louisiana

Eunice, Louisiana

Eunice is a city in Acadia, Evangeline and St. Landry parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 11,499 at the 2000 census.The St...

 – October 3, 1989) was one of the earliest recorded Cajun musicians.

A fiddle player, he recorded and performed with black Creole

Louisiana Creole people

Louisiana Creole people refers to those who are descended from the colonial settlers in Louisiana, especially those of French and Spanish descent. The term was first used during colonial times by the settlers to refer to those who were born in the colony, as opposed to those born in the Old World...

 accordionist and vocalist Amédé Ardoin

Amédé Ardoin

Amédé Ardoin was an American Louisiana Creole musician, known for his high singing voice and virtuosity on the Creole/Cajun Accordion...

, with accordionist Angelas LeJeune, and with fiddlers Sady Courville

Sady Courville

Sady D. Courville was a Cajun fiddler noted for his extensive collaboration with Dennis McGee.-Early life:...

 and Ernest Frugé. The recordings with Courville and Frugé are among the few surviving examples of Cajun music as it existed before the influence of the accordion

Accordion

The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....

 became prominent.

McGee's repertoire included not only the waltz

Waltz

The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...

 and the two-step common to Cajun music but also such dances as the one-step

One-Step

The One-Step was a ballroom dance popular in social dancing at the beginning of the 20th century.Troy Kinney writes that One-Step originated from the Turkey Trot dance, with all mannerisms of the latter removed, so that "of the original 'trot' nothing remains but the basic step".The One-Step...

, polka

Polka

The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...

, mazurka

Mazurka

The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...

, reel

Reel

A reel is an object around which lengths of another material are wound for storage. Generally a reel has a cylindrical core and walls on the sides to retain the material wound around the core...

, cotillion

Cotillion

In American usage, a cotillion is a formal ball and social gathering, often the venue for presenting débutantes during the débutante season – usually May through December. Cotillions are also used as classes to teach social etiquette, respect and common morals for the younger ages with the...

, the varsovienne

Varsovienne

The varsovienne, also known as the varsouvienne or varsoviana, is a slow, graceful dance in ¾ time with an accented downbeat in alternate measures. It combines elements of the waltz, mazurka, and polka. The dance originated around 1850 in Warsaw, Poland...

, and others.

Early life

Dennis McGee was the son of John McGee, Sr. who was of Irish ancestry and Amelia of French and Seminole Indian ancestry. Amelia died when Dennis was two years old. He received his first violin at the age of 14, and started playing dances within 6 months.

Legacy

In the 1970s and 80s, McGee continued to perform with Sady Courville

Sady Courville

Sady D. Courville was a Cajun fiddler noted for his extensive collaboration with Dennis McGee.-Early life:...

 at festivals and special concerts and recorded for various American and French labels including Morningstar, Cinq Planetes, Swallow, and Music of the World.

His records are contemporary with Joe

Joe Falcon

Joe Falcon is a former US middle distance runner whose greatest success was his victory in the 1990 Oslo Dream Mile with a time of 3:49.31 minutes, which was the fastest mile in the world in 1990. In the course of the race, he ran a personal best over 1500 m of 3:33.6...

 and Cléoma Falcon's

Cléoma Falcon

Cléoma Falcon was a Cajun guitarist and vocalist born in southwest Crowley, Louisiana. She is best known for being the wife of Joe Falcon as well as being one of the first people to record Cajun Music. The song "Allons à Lafayette" was recorded on April 27, 1928 in New Orleans...

. Also, his legacy includes his knowledge of playing older styles of Cajun music before the 1900s, when the accordion was introduced.

Notable recordings

• Chère Mama Creole (My Sweet Creole Mama, Vocalion 5319)
• Madame Young, Give Me Your Sweetest (aka Colinda, Vocalion 5319)
• Courville and McGee Waltz (Vocalion 5315)
• Happy One Step (Vocalion 5315)
• Jeunes Gens Compagnard (Jeune Gens de la Campagne, Vocalion 15848)
• Adieu Rosa (Vocalion 15840)

Family

McGee had three wives: Nita Rozas (1910–1911), Marie Young (after 1912), and Gladys Courville (1925). He stayed married to his final wife until she died in 1990. One of his sons, Gerry McGee, is a member of The Ventures

The Ventures

The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...

.