The scraping and scrubbing rhythms of Cleveland Chenier's frottoir (rub-board) were an essential ingredient of the performances and recordings of his younger brother, Clifton, "The King Of Zydeco", for more than four decades. The son of a sharecropper and amateur accordion player, Joe Chenier" and a guitar and fiddle player and dance club owner, Maurice Big Chenier, Chenier began playing with his brother in the dance clubs of Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1944. Occassionally, the two teenaged brothers played with Clarence Bon Ton Garlow's band. Moving to Port Arthur, Texas to work in the oil refineries, in the late-1940s, Chenier continued to perform with his brother on weekends. Their recording debut came in 1954 when they recorded a single, Cliston's Blues and Louisiana Stomp, in the studios of Lake Charles radio station, KOAK. Except for a brief period in the early 1960s, when he performed with Lightning Hopkins, Chenier continued to work with his brother's group, !

The Red Hot Louisiana Band, until Clifton's death in 1987. He remained with the band, under the leadership of Clifton's son, C.J., until retiring in 1990. He died the following year. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi