Biography
J.O. LaMadeleine, a French-Canadian fiddler, cut more than 150 sides across the 1920s and 1930s with guitar support from his son Marcel, stepping through the entrance Isidore Soucy had already created for the style. He began life as a lumberjack and, like numerous other fiddlers, picked up the instrument together with most of his repertoire from his father, Albert LaMadeleine, a fiddler and vocalist who released records both solo and alongside his son. After settling in Montreal in 1915, LaMadeleine started his recording career a decade later with an ensemble that comprised his father, his son, his daughters, and his brother-in-law. The family band’s approach shifted once the elder musician struck out alone, because Albert preferred a gentler manner rooted in old-fashioned pop songs while the son favored intense fiddling. With his father absent, he could devote attention to selections such as the werewolf-dedicated instrumental “Reel de Loup-Garou.” He also performed American numbers like “Turkey in the Straw” and at times adopted a manner closer to that of Southern American fiddlers than to his Québecois peers. Recording continued into the late ’30s after he moved to the RCA label, where he refined his playing without introducing major changes.