Zydeco is a popular accordion-based musical genre – the blues and dance music of Louisiana Creoles, the French-speaking blacks of the prairies of south-central and  southwest Louisiana. Contrary to popular belief, it is not Cajun in origin. Rather, zydeco is the music of south Louisiana’s “Creoles of Color,” who borrowed many of zydeco’s defining elements from Cajun music. (In turn, Cajun music borrowed many of its traits from Creole music.)

The word zydeco (also rendered zarico, zodico, zordico, and zologo) derives from the French expression les haricots, meaning “beans.”  Folk etymology holds that the genre obtained this name from the common Creole expression Les haricots sont pas salés (“The snap beans aren’t salty”).  This phrase has appeared in many Creole songs, and serves as the title of a popular zydeco recording (also called “Zydeco est pas salé“).   Les haricots sont pas salés can be considered a lyrical metaphor for difficult times: in the past, Creoles seasoned their food, such as beans (les haricots), with salted meat — when times were bad, salted meat became too expensive, which explained why “the beans aren’t salty.”   

The roots of Zydeco are found in jure, a form of hand-clapping and foot-stomping used by black field hands to pray and give thanks. By the turn of the century, when instruments became available, many of the jure songs had adopted secular themes. This music was called LaLa or la musique creole and was popular at rural house parties in southwest prairie towns like Eunice and Mamou (perhaps best represented by the recordings of Creole accordionist Amédé Ardoin.)

Zydeco is actually the most modern form of Creole music from Acadiana, and it first appeared after World War II, when Creoles became influenced by the rhythm, blues and jazz that was heard on radio and juke boxes. The mixture of rural LaLa and urban black music gave birth to a genre that the world enjoys today as Zydeco, when pioneers of the genre like Clifton Chenier and BooZoo Chavis combined more traditional sounds with new R&B elements.  In 1954, BooZoo Chavis had the first recording of modern zydeco with Paper in My Shoe on Folk-Star Records. The song was a regional hit, but a dispute over royalties prompted Chavis to leave the music industry. He did not return until the mid-1980’s when he produced string of hits that helped spark a Zydeco revival that continues today.

Zydeco has evolved considerably over the decades, and now draws on pop music sources like soul, rap, and even reggae.   It also is increasingly performed in English, instead of in its original Creole dialect.  And, oddly, it generally is regarded as “party music” — even though early zydeco drew heavily on “low-down” blues elements, as demonstrated by Clifton Chenier’s repertoire.  Zydeco frequently appears in movies, TV, and commercials – even more so than Cajun music, which, unlike zydeco, has retained much of its traditional flavor.  It has attracted a loyal worldwide outside Louisiana, as demonstrated by the large numbers of zydeco dancers on the east and west coasts.  Despite its commercialization (and Anglization), zydeco remains a relevant cultural expression for the Creoles of Acadiana.

Zydeco’s instrumentation centers around an accordion and a rubboard or frottoir (originally a domestic washboard), now made of corrugated metal worn like a vest. The frottoir is scratched usually with spoons and used to provide rhythm. Generally, button accordions are played (although some musicians like Buckwheat Zydeco and CJ Chenier play piano accordion exclusively). The other instruments are guitar, electric bass and drums.

Traditional zydeco dancing is done in closed position, with an 8-count footwork generally counted slow/quick/quick, slow/quick/quick with footwork: step pause/step/step, step pause/step/step – each of the steps is a weight shift from side to side The dance does not travel around
the dance floor.

“Club style” zydeco features the same footwork done in open position, with a variety of lead & follow improvised variations. Waltzes are also occasionally played by zydeco bands, and you can do a Cajun waltz for these. In Louisiana, zydeco dancer attire is often jeans and cowboy boots.  

Source: Encyclopedia of Cajun Culture