Rockin' Dopsie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rockin' Dopsie
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The cover for Rockin' Dopsie's 1986 Crowned Prince of Zydeco (Maison de Soul)
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alton Jay Rubin |
| Born | February 10, 1932 Carencro, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | August 26, 1993 (aged 61) Opelousas, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Zydeco |
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| Years active | 1970–1992 |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | Rockin' Dopsie and the Twisters |
Alton Jay Rubin (born February 10, 1932 – died August 26, 1993) was a famous American musician known as Rockin' Dopsie. He was a talented singer and accordion player who played zydeco music. Zydeco is a special kind of music that comes from Louisiana, U.S. Rockin' Dopsie first became popular in Europe and then in the United States.
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The Early Life of Rockin' Dopsie
Alton Jay Rubin was born in Carencro, Louisiana. His father, Walter Rubin, also played the accordion at local dances. Alton's first language was Louisiana Creole French. When he was 14, he got his first accordion. Because he was left-handed, he learned to play it upside down!
He started playing music at parties and soon became even better than his father. At 19, he moved to Lafayette, Louisiana with his parents. In the mid-1950s, he began playing in clubs with his cousin, Chester Zeno, who played the washboard. Alton got his stage name, Dopsie, from a dancer he met. Even while playing music, he also worked as an electrical contractor.
Rockin' Dopsie's Music Career
Dopsie played music that was perfect for dancing. He mixed R&B music with zydeco, sometimes even playing R&B songs in his own zydeco style. He performed all over Louisiana and made some recordings for small music labels in the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1976, he played at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. After this, a Swedish record company called Sonet signed him. They released his first album, Doin' The Zydeco, that same year. From 1979, he often toured Europe with his band, the Twisters. His popularity there led him to record many albums for Sonet in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Gaining Fame in the United States
In the 1980s, Rockin' Dopsie started to get noticed in the U.S. He played the accordion on the song "That Was Your Mother" for Paul Simon's famous album Graceland in 1986. He recorded his own album, Crowned Prince Of Zydeco, in 1987. His last album, Louisiana Music, released in 1991, was even nominated for a Grammy Award.
Dopsie also recorded music with other famous artists like Bob Dylan and Cyndi Lauper. In 1992, he appeared in a movie called Delta Heat. He passed away from a heart attack in 1993 when he was 61 years old. He was buried in Lafayette.
Rockin' Dopsie's Musical Family
After Rockin' Dopsie passed away, his band, The Twisters, kept playing music. His son, Dopsie Jr., now leads the band. He plays the accordion, sings, and plays the washboard. Dopsie Jr.'s brothers, Alton Jr. ("Tiger") on drums and Anthony Rubin on accordion, are also in the band. They now call themselves Rockin' Dopsie, Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters.
Dopsie's younger son, Dwayne, also plays the accordion and leads his own band, Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers. Rockin' Dopsie was also related to the professional tennis player Chanda Rubin.
A Quote from Rockin' Dopsie
Rockin' Dopsie once said, "I'm the only man in the world that plays the accordion upside-down. It's all because daddy didn't taught me how to play. I just picked it up."
Images for kids
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The cover for Rockin' Dopsie's 1986 Crowned Prince of Zydeco (Maison de Soul)
See also
In Spanish: Rockin' Dopsie para niños
- List of folk musicians
- Long Beach Blues Festival
- San Francisco Blues Festival
