Friday, July 28, 2017
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — D.L. Menard, whose song "The Back Door" is among the most popular in Cajun music, is dead at the age of 85.
Menard died Thursday at his home in Scott, La., Louisiana Funeral Services and Crematory in Broussard said on its website.
Including covers by other artists, the Cajun French song has sold more than 1 million copies over the decades, according to Floyd Solieau, whose Swallow Record Co. released "La Porte en Arriere" as a single in July 1962.
Menard became a goodwill ambassador for Cajun music and culture, traveling to dozens of countries on State Department tours. Speaking with The Associated Press in late June, he said the resurgence of Cajun culture in the last few decades made him feel "terrific. Because that was us. It was us."
"The Back Door" is a jaunty ditty about a man who gets so drunk he sneaks home through the back door.
During a July 2 tribute to Menard and the song's 55th anniversary, folklorist and retired French professor Barry Jean Ancelet said "La Porte en Arriere," not "Jolie Blon'" should be considered the Cajun national anthem.
"'Jolie Blon' is a song about a girl who went to Texas. 'La Porte' is about a guy who slips back in at home through the back door," he said. "Now I ask you – which one best describes us Cajuns?"
Moreover, he said, nearly every youngster who wants to play Cajun music learns "The Back Door."