Doug Kershaw Louisiana Man Performed by Glenn Campbell and Rick Nelson

The song Louisiana Man was written by Doug Kershaw while he was in the Army, and recorded, with his brother, in 1961. Doug Kershaw is also known as the 'The Ragin Cajun' for his extreme fiddle playing. Apparently, the song was covered by more than 800 artists, including Johnny Cash. What's more, according to wikipedia, "in November 1969, "Louisiana Man" was broadcast back to earth by the crew of the Apollo 12 moon mission."

Here's Louisiana Man performed by Glenn Campbell and Rick Nelson in this pretty good vintage video recording.




Lyrics of Louisiana Man by Doug Kershaw


At birth mom and papa called their little boy Ned
Raised him on the banks of a river bed
A houseboat tied to a big tall tree
A home for my papa and my mama and me

The clock strikes three and papa jumps to his feet
Already mama’s cooking papa something to eat
At half past papa he’s ready to go
He jumps in his pirogue headed down the bayou

He’s got fishing lines strung across the Louisiana rivers
Gotta catch a big fish for us to eat
He’s setting traps catching anything he can
He’s gotta make a living, he’s a Louisiana Man
He’s gotta make a living, he’s a Louisiana Man

He’s got Muskrat hides hanging by the dozens
Even got a lady Mink, a Muskrat’s cousin
Got ‘em out drying in the hot, hot sun
Tomorrow papa’s gonna turn ‘em into mon(ey)

They call mama Rita and my daddy Jack
My little baby brother on the floor that’s Mack
Bren(da) and Lin(da) are the family twins
And big brother Ed’s on the bayou fishing

On the river floats papa’s great big boat
That’s how me and papa goes into town
It takes every bit of a night and a day
To even reach a place where people stay

I can hardly wait until tomorrow comes around
That’s the day my papa takes his furs to town
Papa promised me that I could go
He’d even let me see a cowboy show

I saw the cowboys and Indians for the first time then
I told my pop I’ve gotta go again
Papa said son we’ve got lines to run
We’ll come back again but first there’s work to be done

He’s got fishing lines strung across the Louisiana rivers
Gotta catch a big fish for us to eat
He’s setting traps in the swamp catching anything he can
He’s gotta make a living, he’s a Lousiana Man
He’s gotta make a living, he’s a Louisiana Man


And here is the original Doug Kershaw with his fantastically energetic and original fiddle playing. You can buy CDs from him on his site