Rod Bernard
Biography
Swamp pop musician Rod Bernard was born in Opelousas, Louisiana in the early '40s and made his professional debut on KSLO Opelousas when he was only ten. Two years later, Bernard was a deejay at the station, but in 1954, his family moved to Winnie, Texas. There Bernard became accquainted with the town barber Huey Meaux, who later became a major producer of Cajun recordings. By the time he was a teenager, 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 the Top 20 on the pop charts. Bernard then appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand (where he had to sanitize some of the lyrics for mainstream audiences) and signed with Mercury Records. After recording over 40 songs for the label, Bernard watched as only four sides were released.
Selected Discography
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