By the time he reached his teens, LeJeune was making a few dollars on weekends playing dances around Church Point, and occasionally traveling as far as Eunice, LA to perform.
At the conclusion of World War II, LeJeune moved west to Lacassine, Louisiana (near Lake Charles, LA) where there were many more venues in which to play music.
In postwar Louisiana, many felt Acadiana should assimilate with the rest of America and eliminate the French language, culture and music.
Together they traveled to Houston, Texas where they recorded "Love Bridge Waltz" and "Evangeline Special" on Leblanc's "Opera" label with Virgil Bozeman's Oklahoma Tornadoes supporting.
LeJeune stayed in Houston with LeBlanc, performing and enjoying the popularity of the record, but returned to Louisiana after six months.
Upon returning to Lacassine, LeJeune went to radio station KPLC in Lake Charles and asked to perform on the air.
The station manager wasn't keen on hearing the primitive, wailing accordion, but disc jockey Eddie Shuler liked what he heard and featured him on several broadcasts.
The cameo on Shuler's show proved so successful that Lake Charles listeners demanded more French music.
[3] Selling the release from the trunk of his car to record shops and jukebox outlets, the disc did remarkably well in the area.
Accordionists Lawrence Walker, Aldus Roger, Sidney Brown and Nathan Abshire would soon follow with their own records, but they couldn't touch LeJeune in terms of popularity or sales.
The Playboys were known for their casual appearance on the bandstand as LeJeune, never further than an arm's length from a cigarette and a cold bottle of Jax, often looked like he'd just arrived from a day of fishing.
B. Fuselier were returning home after playing at a dance at the Green Wing club in Eunice on October 8, 1955, when tragedy struck.
Frustratingly for Cajun listeners, unless you were lucky enough to possess some of his original 78s or 45s, until a few years ago, you couldn't hear LeJeune's undoctored masterpieces.
This was undone when Ace Records in England assembled Iry LeJeune: Cajun's Greatest — The Definitive Collection using original discs and master tapes as sources.