{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = La Chanson Perdue | type = studio | artist = Geno Delafose | cover = La Chanson Perdue.jpg | alt = | released = 1998 | recorded = | venue = | studio = Ultrasonic Studios, New Orleans | genre = | length = | label = Rounder<ref>{{cite news |title='Creole Cowboy' set to perform at city club |work=Charleston Daily Mail |date=29 July 1999 |page=2D}}</ref> | producer = Scott Billington | prev_title = That's What I'm Talkin' About! | prev_year = 1996 | next_title = Everybody's Dancin' | next_year = 2003 }} '''''La Chanson Perdue''''' is an album by the American musician Geno Delafose, released in 1998.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/geno-delafose-mn0000197890/biography|title=Geno Delafose Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=World Music: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific |date=1999 |publisher=Rough Guides Ltd |page=566}}</ref> He is credited with his band, French Rockin' Boogie.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.offbeat.com/music/geno-delafose-and-french-rockin-boogie-la-chanson-perdue-rounder/|title=Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie, La Chanson Perdue|magazine=OffBeat}}</ref> Delafose considered the album to be a combination of Creole zydeco and Cajun music; however, the title of the album ("The Lost Song") in part refers to the popularity of zydeco overtaking traditional Creole music.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/separate-but-equal-6397143|title=Separate but equal|first=Rob|last=Patterson|work=Dallas Observer}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Himes |first1=Geoffrey |title=Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie: 'La Chanson Perdue' |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=17 July 1998 |page=N14}}</ref> Delafose supported the album with a North American tour.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wolgamott |first1=L Kent |title=Musical Smorgasbord |work=Omaha World-Herald |department=Ground Zero |page=3}}</ref>
==Production== Recorded at Ultrasonic Studios, New Orleans, the album was produced by Scott Billington.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cpVeEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT201|title=Making Tracks: A Record Producer's Southern Roots Music Journey|first=Scott|last=Billington|date=June 16, 2022|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=9781496839169}}</ref><ref name=MH/> Delafose switched between piano accordion and diatonic button accordion.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6BrMDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|title=The Real Singing Cowboys|first=Charlie|last=Seemann|date=October 3, 2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781493022328}}</ref> Most of the songs are sung in French.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McDonald |first1=Sam |title=Foot-Stompin' Style |work=Daily Press |date=3 Feb 2002 |location=Newport News |page=K1}}</ref> Christine Balfa played acoustic guitar on several songs; Dirk Powell played fiddle.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/la-chanson-perdue-mw0000039001|title=Geno Delafose La Chanson Perdue|website=AllMusic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmAHLojPN64C&pg=PA165|title=Disenchanting Les Bons Temps: Identity and Authenticity in Cajun Music and Dance|first1=Charles J.|last1=Stivale|date=June 26, 2003|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=0822330202}}</ref>
==Critical reception== {{music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="auto"/> |rev2 = ''The Baltimore Sun'' |rev2score = {{rating|3.5|4}}<ref name="BS">{{cite news |title=Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie La Chanson Perdue |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=17 Sep 1998 |department=LIV |page=12}}</ref> |rev4 = ''MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide'' |rev4score = {{rating|5|5}}<ref name="MH">{{cite book |title=MusicHound World: The Essential Album Guide |date=2000 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=210}}</ref> |rev5 = ''Orlando Sentinel'' |rev5score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name=OS>{{cite news |last1=Gettelman |first1=Parry |title=Zydeco Master Favors Tradition |work=Orlando Sentinel |date=11 Sep 1998 |department=Calendar |page=12}}</ref> |rev6 = ''The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings'' |rev6score = {{rating|4|4}}<ref name="PG">{{cite book |title=The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin Books |page=161}}</ref> }} ''The Province'' deemed the album "edgy and raw with all the moonshine-fuelled fire of a jam session at a back-porch crawfish boil."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Derdeyn |first1=Stuart |title=Cajun/Zydeco Music |work=The Province |date=20 Aug 1998 |page=B9}}</ref> The ''Orlando Sentinel'' noted that "Delafose is not a commanding singer, but his simple, unadorned vocals are full of the restrained longing that infuses the old Cajun and Creole tunes."<ref name=OS/>
''The Baltimore Sun'' wrote that, "in Creole and Cajun French, accordionist Delafose pines away for lost love, launches lilting waltzes and kicks back with an irresistible dance beat."<ref name=BS/> ''The Wall Street Journal'' determined that Delafose, "perhaps zydeco's ultimate neo-traditionalist, borrows heavily from the Cajun repertoire and forges a distinctive approach that is at once rhythmic and romantic."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Havighurst |first1=Craig |title=Zydeco Picks Up the Beat |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=19 Apr 1999 |page=A20}}</ref>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_writing = | title1 = Je Va's Jamais la Voir Encore (I'll Never See Her Again) | length1 = | title2 = Bernadette | length2 = | title3 = 'Tite Monde (Little One) | length3 = | title4 = Bon Soir Moreau (Goodnight Moreau) | length4 = | title5 = Chère Ici, Chère là Bas (Dear One Here, Dear One There) | length5 = | title6 = La Chanson Perdue (The Lost Song) | length6 = | title7 = Une Autre Soir Ennuyante (Another Night Without You) | length7 = | title8 = Mon Vrai Amour (My True Love) | length8 = | title9 = Bayou Pon Pon | length9 = | title10 = I Want It All | length10 = | title11 = Double D Two Step | length11 = | title12 = Valse de Opelousas (Opelousas Waltz) | length12 = | title13 = 'Quo Faire/Jolie Bassette (What to Do?/Pretty Bassette) | length13 = | title14 = 'Tits Yeux Noirs (Little Dark Eyes) | length14 = | title15 = Save the Last Dance for Me | length15 = }}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanson Perdue}} Category:Geno Delafose albums Category:1998 albums Category:Rounder Records albums