Buckwheat Zydeco (born Stanley Dural Jr.; November 14, 1947 – September 24, 2016), was an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He was one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success. His music group was formally billed as Buckwheat Zydeco and Ils Sont Partis Band ("Ils Sont Partis" being French for "They have left," or a race announcer's "And they're off!"), but they often performed as merely Buckwheat Zydeco.

The New York Times said: "Stanley 'Buckwheat' Dural leads one of the best bands in America. A down-home and high-powered celebration, meaty and muscular with a fine-tuned sense of dynamics…propulsive rhythms, incendiary performances." USA Today called him "a zydeco trailblazer."

Buckwheat Zydeco performed with famous musicians such as Eric Clapton (with whom he also recorded), U2 and the Boston Pops. The band performed at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics to a worldwide audience of three billion people. Buckwheat performed for President Clinton twice, celebrating both of his inaugurations. As a teenager, he played piano for Little Richard, Fats Domino, and Ray Charles.

In 1971, he founded Buckwheat & the Hitchhikers, a funk band that he led for five years before switching to zydeco. They were a local sensation and found success with the single, "It's Hard To Get", recorded for a local Louisiana-based label.

Dural's relationship with Chenier led him to take up the accordion in 1978. After practicing for a year, he felt ready to start his own band under the name Buckwheat Zydeco. They debuted with One for the Road in 1979 on the Blues Unlimited label and then recorded for New Orleans' Black Top label. In 1983, they were nominated for a Grammy Award for Turning Point and in 1985 for Waitin' For My Ya Ya after switching to the Rounder Records label.

Buckwheat Zydeco's version of the classic "Cryin' in the Streets" appears on the benefit album for Hurricane Katrina recovery, Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf Coast. His version of Memphis Minnie and Kansas Joe McCoy's "When the Levee Breaks" appeared on 2011's Alligator Records 40th Anniversary Collection. It originally appeared on the 2009 Buckwheat Zydeco album Lay Your Burden Down.

Death

Dural died of lung cancer at age 68 on September 24, 2016, at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center. He was funeralized at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Lafayette.

Discography

  • 2010 Bayou Boogie (Music for Little People)
  • 2009 Let the Good Times Roll: Essential Recordings (Rounder Records)
  • 2009 Lay Your Burden Down (Alligator Records)
  • 2006 The Best of Buckwheat Zydeco: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection (Island Records/UMe)
  • 2005 Jackpot! (Tomorrow Recordings)
  • 2003 Classics (Rounder Records)
  • 2001 Down Home Live (Tomorrow Recordings)
  • 2000 The Ultimate Collection (Hip-O Records)
  • 1999 Buckwheat Zydeco Story: A 20 Year Party (Tomorrow Recordings)
  • 1997 Trouble (Tomorrow Recordings)
  • 1996 The Best of Louisiana Zydeco (AVI Entertainment)
  • 1994 Five Card Stud (Island Records)
  • 1994 Choo Choo Boogaloo (Music For Little People)
  • 1993 Menagerie: The Essential Zydeco Collection (Mango Records)
  • 1992 Buckwheat's Zydeco Party (Rounder Records)
  • 1992 On Track (Atlantic Records)
  • 1990 Where There's Smoke There's Fire (Island Records)
  • 1988 Taking It Home (Island Records)
  • 1987 On a Night Like This (Island Records; reissued on MCA Special Products)
  • 1985 Waitin’ For My Ya Ya (Rounder Records)
  • 1984 Ils Sont Partis (Blues Unlimited Records)
  • 1983 Turning Point (Rounder Records)
  • 1983 100% Fortified Zydeco (Black Top Records; reissued on Shout Factory Records)
  • 1982 People's Choice (Blues Unlimited Records)
  • 1980 Take It Easy, Baby (Blues Unlimited Records)
  • 1979 One for the Road (Blues Unlimited Records; 1991 reissued on Paula Records)

Music videos

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Year

! Video

! Director

|-

| 1990

| "Hey Good Lookin'" <small>(with Dwight Yoakam and David Hidalgo)</small>

|

|-

| 2002

| "New Orleans Is a Mighty Good Town" <small>(with Eddy Raven)</small>

| Peter Lippman

|}

Awards and honors

Grammy Awards

{| class="wikitable"

|+

!Year

!Category

!Work nominated

!Result

!Ref.

|-

|1985

|Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording

|100% Fortified Zydeco

|

|

|-

|1986

|Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording

|Turning Point

|

|

|-

|Best Accordionist

|

|