From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Aug 12, 2002  1:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Rod Bernard
 
ROD BERNARD

Born 12 August 1940, Opelousas, Louisiana

Swamp pop singer / guitarist.
Rod Bernard made his professional debut on KSLO Radio, Opelousas,
when he was only ten. In 1954, his family moved to Winnie, Texas,
where Bernard became accquainted with the town barber Huey Meaux,
who later became a major producer of Cajun recordings.
Around 1957 Bernard formed his first band (the Twisters) and cut two
records on Jake Graffagnino's Carl label. They then recorded King Karl's
"This Should Go on Forever" for Floyd Soileau's Jin label (which eventually
licensed the recording to Chicago's Argo label) and took the records to
Huey Meaux - who was now hosting a French music show on KPAC Port
Arthur. Meaux had the song played throughout East Texas and took a copy
to the Big Bopper, who played it at KTRM Beaumont, Texas. It took seven
months, but eventually the record made it to # 20 on the pop charts and
# 12 on the R&B hitparade. Bernard appeared on Dick Clark's American
Bandstand and signed with Mercury Records. After recording over 40 songs
for the label (certainly not his best work), Bernard watched as only four sides
were released. The first of them, "One More Chance", went to # 74 on the
Billboard lists in 1959.
By 1962, Bernard's Mercury contract had run out. He began working for
Hall-Way Records, where many of his sessions were backed by Johnny
and Edgar Winter. He achieved small success with a rocked up version of the
traditional Cajun song "Colinda," before Bernard became a deejay and musical
director at KVOL, and later a sales executive at KLFY-TV, both Lafayette
stations. He also performed on television with the Shondells, a group he had
co-founded in 1963 with Warren Storm and Skip Stewart. A compilation of
12 songs he and the Shondells sang on the show were released in 1965
as Saturday Hop on the La Louisianne label. The group also released a single,
"Our Teenage Love" for Teardrop. In 1966 Bernard formed his own short-lived
Arbee label, on which appeared the driving rocker "Recorded In England".
Bernard released several albums throughout the seventies and continued
to work for KLFY-TV for years. In the late '90s, Rod Bernard returned to
the studios and recorded The Louisiana Tradition.

Recommended reading:
Shane K. Bernard (Rod's son), Swamp pop : Cajun and Creole rhythm and
blues. Jackson, MS : University of Mississippi Press, 1996. (With CD.)

Recommended CD's:
Swamp Rock 'n' Roller (Ace 488)
The Essential Collection (Jin 9056)