I continue to preach that if you want to participate in Louisiana’s rich music culture, you don’t have to run out and buy an accordion and a cowboy hat.
You can be the next Sid “El Sido” Williams, who died earlier this month at the age of 73.
A fast talker who was never without a hat and a one-liner, Williams played the accordion. But he also built El Sido’s Zydeco and Blues Club in Lafayette, which became a launching pad for future Grammy winners, like the Emmy-winning band Buckwheat Zydeco. The band played on opening night in 1984.
Every Mother’s Day and Christmas, Buckwheat Zydeco returned from world tours to play at El Sido’s.
El Sido’s was the first stage for Williams’ brother’s well-traveled band, Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas. Nathan Williams Jr. grew up in his dad’s band and uncle’s club. Lil Nathan and the Zydeco Big Timers now reign as one of the genre’s most popular bands.
The club’s annual Thanksgiving food drive fed thousands of local residents. Music producers, documentarians and authors knocked on Williams’ door, eager to record and tell the story of El Sido’s. The documentaries include the CNN travel and food series “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.”
El Sido’s is just a block away from Sid’s One Stop, Williams’ convenience store, plate lunch spot and gas station that eased the neighborhood food desert.
The business and cultural success is remarkable for Williams, who described himself as “notorious” in our 2015 interview in the Daily Advertiser. The oldest of seven children, Williams lost his 41-year-old father, Sidney Sr., from a fatal heart attack.
“I used to fight, get in trouble and go to jail,” said the younger Williams. “My mama said, ‘Don’t make mama cry like that.’ I thought about that for a long time.”
Now family, friends and fans are crying about Williams’ passing and his enormous impact on zydeco and Creole culture. Social media is overflowing with memories, tributes and photos.
There is also an unsettling video interview, a reminder about the importance of community support. El Sido’s is the last of the original zydeco dancehalls.
In some of our last conversations, Williams spoke about the tour buses that no longer came. Casinos and new clubs, imitating what he had been doing for decades, were taking the big crowds.
“I had a good run,” said Williams in the video. “But you know what — people forget you, man.
“This place should be packed every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. People that get to be successful in life, they should try to help another generation — because somebody helped me.
“I got to make a song about that — bad luck and trouble don’t last always. If you live long enough, the sun gone shine once again.”
Rest well, Sid Williams. Your legacy will shine for many years to come.
Herman Fuselier is executive director of the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission. A longtime journalist covering Louisiana music and culture, he lives in Opelousas. His “Zydeco Stomp” show airs at noon Saturdays on KRVS 88.7 FM.