From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Jan 23, 2002  7:37 pm
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Doug Kershaw
 
DOUG KERSHAW

Born Douglas James Kershaw, 24 January 1936, Tiel Ridge, Louisiana

Doug Kershaw plays 20 instruments, but is best known for the Cajun
fiddle. With his younger brother Russell Lee Kershaw (1938-2001) he
formed the duo Rusty and Doug. The brothers first recorded for Jay Miller's
Feature label in 1953. By 1955, the Kershaws had appeared on the
Louisiana Hayride and switched to Hickory in Nashville, where they would
stay until 1962, although their career was interrupted by Doug's military
service. In Tennessee their essentially idiosyncratic style was buttressed
by the emergent sound of rockabilly. They never had a pop hit, but scored
five country chart hits (1955-61), among them "Hey Sheriff" (a mock-Everly
treatment of a Boudleaux Bryant song, 1958), "Louisiana Man" (a real
Cajun classic, recorded over 850 times) and "Diggy Liggy Lo", both in
1961. Inevitably, contact with Nashville's country pop mainstream began
to dilute Rusty and Doug's visceral Cajun blues. After recording for RCA
and Princess, brotherly differences led to a separation in 1964.
Doug's oft-revived solo career can be traced via Mercury, MGM and Warner
Bros. He has played rock festivals and worked with Cash and Dylan, but
his music still retains a lot of that grass-roots Louisiana soul.

CD recommendation: Rusty and Doug Kershaw, Louisiana Man (Sundown
CDSD 022, Hickory tracks).
Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/country/artistdb/kershawdoug.shtml