Singer Rod Bernard, who died Sunday, stirred pride and controversy in 1958. The then-teenager from Opelousas was the talk of St. Landry Parish and beyond when he performed his Billboard Top 20 pop hit, “This Should Go on Forever,” on “American Bandstand.” Still a baby like the rock ‘n’ roll music it featured, “Bandstand” grew into an American television institution.
Bernard’s history-making moment also showed how times were much different. Legendary “Bandstand” host Dick Clark received a viewer complaint objecting to “sinner” in Bernard’s ballad.
Bernard sang, ‘If it’s a sin to really love you, then a sinner I will be.”
Before his TV appearance, producers flew Bernard to Chess Records in Chicago to recut the lyrics to “If it’s wrong to really love you, then wrong I’ll always be.” That modified version became a hit in England and a rare find at home.
The “Bandstand” single can be found on a 2003 CD, “The Early Jin Singles: Southland Rock ‘n’ Roll” on Ace Records, based in the United Kingdom. The album, which highlights 1950s and ‘60s swamp pop releases on Jin Records out of Ville Platte, is available locally at floydsrecordshop.com.
The 30-song CD includes selections from the Boogie Kings, Rockin’ Sidney, Phil Bo, Johnnie Allan and Red Smiley and the Vel-Tones featuring Clint West. West, aka Clinton Guillory, is the late father of current Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory.
Bernard’s regional hits can be found on “Rod Bernard: The Essential Collection,” which is also on Jin Records. Some, like “Colinda” and “Fais Do Do,” have French and English lyrics. Others, like “Good Hearted Man” and “Play a Song for My Baby, show off Bernard’s penchant for Fats Domino and the blues.
Almost two decades after his “Bandstand” glory, Bernard found more homegrown fame when he teamed with fellow Opelousas native and zydeco-king-in-the-making, Clifton Chenier, for the 1976 album, “Boogie in Black & White.” The title raised some eyebrows as public schools had just been integrated six years earlier.
But Bernard, Chenier and a sizzling band of black and white musicians raced through R&B and blues classics, like “My Babe” and “Rockin’ Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu,’ along with the Cajun waltz, ‘My Jolie Blonde.” The album found new life in 2014 when it was re-released on CD.
Bernard leaves behind groundbreaking music and fond memories. Many still smile about the day a boy from Opelousas made history on national TV and opened the do to so much more. You can read more about Bernard in the words of his son, Shane Bernard, here.
(Herman Fuselier, a longtime music journalist, is executive director of the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission.)
