Losing some of its pop

Swamp Pop legend Rod Bernard has passed away at the age of 79. An Opelousas native, Rodney Ronald Louis Bernard was a pioneer of the musical genre. Bernard rose to success in the late 1950’s, having a hit record that had him traveling the country on American Bandstand’s Caravan of Stars with artists like Etta James, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.B. King, Roy Orbison, Frankie Avalon, and Duane Eddy.
His career all started when he was only a child who learned to play the guitar, sing, and even yodel. As a teenager, he and his high school friends formed the band Rod Bernard and the Twisters. In 1958, they recorded a version of King Karl and Guitar Gable’s song “This Should Go on Forever.”
Those who knew him well will miss him dearly. His long-time friend, record producer Floyd Soileau, shared some of his fondest memories of Bernard. In his reaction to his friend’s passing, Soileau said, “It’s ironic he died Sunday which was the day after the wife and I celebrated 61 years of marriage. He was my best man at my wedding.” Soileau recounted his wedding day when Bernard drove Soileau and his wife, Jinver, from Sacred Heart Church to the reception venue. “He had a convertible he bought with success from his record. He drove us through town, honking his horn, to the Jungle Dinner Club.”
Soileau spoke of the first time he heard from Bernard. “He first called me in 1958. He had a couple of records that were released in Opelousas, but I hadn’t heard of them. I had just released a Boogie Kings record, and Rod called me to say he had a song I would like. The song was ‘This Should Go on Forever.’ I invited him to the store. He brought his guitar and sang it for me.”
The song was written and recorded by Swamp Pop artist King Karl, whose real name was Bernard Jolivette, but the song wasn’t released. Karl told Rod Bernard about the song, saying he should record it. “When Rod came over with the song I thought it was great,” continued Soileau. “Jay Miller had produced the session at his studio. I put the record out on my Jin label. Right away it took off. The jukebox operators loved it. We were getting orders for the record. Kenny Rogers’ brother was a promoter for a distributor I used in Houston. He called and said he could probably get Rod on some of the record hops the radio stations put on, and that would help to sell it in East Texas. The record did really well.”
Soileau said the record really took off after he got a call from Leonard Chess of the iconic Chess Records in Chicago. “They were an R&B label, but were looking for something else. He got a tip off that the song was taking off in the south. Chess called asked if we wanted it distributed nationally. He said they had the distribution and means to promote it and make sure it becomes a hit record under their Argo label.”
Soileau said he would agree to let Chess distribute the record under three conditions. The first was Rod Bernard would appear on American Bandstand. The second condition was the record was to be played on WLAC, a large 50,000 watt radio station in Nashville. The final condition was they wanted a $1,000 advance on the royalties. “In 1958 that was quite a bit of money,” said Soileau. “Chess said no problem. He said he would have his man there in two days with the check and to pick up the master copy of ‘This Should Go on Forever.’”
Soileau said Bernard was excited when he told him of the deal he made. With the money advance, Soileau was able to get married, and he and Jinver danced to Bernard’s hit at their wedding. All the conditions Soileau placed on Chess were met. Bernard went on to sing on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, but Soileau said there was a little problem with the song. One of the lines in the song goes ‘If it’s wrong to really love you, then I’ll forever live in sin.’ American Bandstand would not let that line of the song be sung because they thought it would sound morally wrong at the time.
“I called Jay Miller and said we had a problem that we needed to change that line,” said Soileau. “Jay changed it to ‘If it’s wrong to love you, wrong I’ll always be.’” That version of the song was used on American Bandstand. The original version was played on WLAC in Nashville.
From the success of the record, Bernard wound up being on the American Bandstand’s Caravan of Stars, bringing him across country with some of the biggest musical artists of the time, performing big shows, promoting their records. “We were really selling some records at the time. It was going great,” said Soileau. When Bernard came back from the tours, the City of Opelousas had a Rod Bernard Day in his honor, where whole city came out to welcome him and cheer him on.
“I had given Leonard Chess the option on Rod’s second record. About that same time was the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. The Big Bopper’s manager, Bill Hall, lost his star, so he figured Rod needed a manager,” said Soileau. Hall asked Soileau if he could be Bernard’s manager, saying he had contacts with Mercury Records. Bernard still had a signed contract with Chess Records. Hall agreed to cut another record and bring it to Chess, but Chess figured Hall would not want to stay with Chess because he had connections with Mercury. Chess released Bernard’s second record, but they did not promote it much.
Hall brought Bernard into the studio and made another record with Mercury. Later with Hall as his manager, Bernard had a big hit with “Colinda.” “It was big in Canada,” said Soileau. “He did well with his recordings, but not to the stature of ‘This Should Go on Forever.’”
Bernard continued to make records with Soileau. In 1976 he convinced fellow Opelousas native and Zydeco star Clifton Chenier to get his band to cut a record called “Boogie in Black and White,” which was a ground breaking biracial collaboration at the time. Bernard also released many regional hits that today remain Swamp Pop classics. These include “Congratulations To You Darling,” “Forgive,” “Loneliness,” “Fais Do-Do,” and of course his own bilingual (French and English) version of the Cajun classic “Colinda.”
In the 1960’s, Bernard found success in Louisiana, working in radio and later in television. He was a deejay, salesman, and program director at KVOL in Lafayette. He was even instrumental in hiring Lafayette’s first African-American deejay, Paul Thibodeaux, who joined KVOL in 1965. Around 1970 Bernard turned to a career in television, working nearly 30 years as an advertising executive and on-air talent for KLFY-TV 10. He often appeared in television commercials and guest-hosted the popular programs Passe Partout and Meet Your Neighbor. He retired from Acadiana Broadcasting Group in 2018. Bernard was able to give Soileau a big hand with an advertising package on KVOL and KLFY, helping Soileau’s mail order business take off.
“We’ve had some good times over the years,” said Soileau. “We always stayed in touch. He was a close, personal friend.”
According to an obituary released by Bernard’s son, Shane, “In his personal time Bernard enjoyed watching classic westerns, barbecuing, cooking chicken and sausage gumbo, and listening to country and western, blues, and rhythm and blues music. He also loved to spend time with his family, especially his three grandchildren. In 2010 Bernard celebrated his 70th birthday by parachuting from an airplane — telling his family only after he returned from the jump.”
Bernard is survived by his wife of 55 years, Jo Ann King; his brother, Oscar Bernard; his children, Shane K. Bernard and Shannon Bernard Bourg; three grandchildren, Colette A. Bernard, Alexandre T. Bernard, and Ella G. Bourg; his daughter-in-law, Amy Lancon Bernard; and his son-in-law, Rusty Bourg.
Bernard proudly served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve from 1962 to 1968, attaining the rank of sergeant. He was later active in the Lafayette-area Marine Corps League. His family asks that donations be made to the U.S. Marines’ Toys for Tots campaign at www.toysfortots.org. At his request no funeral will be observed.