* En anglais uniquement
b. 10 March 1929, Kaplan, Louisiana, USA; d. 23 April 2011, Winnie, Texas, USA. Meaux was an influential figure in Texas music circles, and often acted as go-between, arranging for labels to license masters brought to him. A shrewd judge of hit potential, he also prospered as a producer with a series of excellent, contrasting acts. Barbara Lynn’s 1962 hit, ‘You’ll Lose a Good Thing,’ helped finance Meaux’s studios in Houston and Jackson, which in turn generated further success with B.J. Thomas (‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’), Roy Head (‘Treat Her Right’) and the Sir Douglas Quintet (‘She’s About a Mover’), the latter of which was released on Meaux’s own Tribe label, one of several he inaugurated. A conviction in 1967 for violation of the Mann Act (escorting a female across state lines for immoral purposes) resulted in his imprisonment, but he received a pardon from the then President, Jimmy Carter. It was the mid-70s before Meaux recovered momentum with Tex-Mex star Freddie Fender, who rose from regional to national acclaim with Meaux’s excellent Southern-style recordings. Among the many acts to use this intuitive individual’s production skills were Johnny Copeland, T-Bone Walker and Johnny Winter. ‘Before the Next Teardrop Falls’ was a US number 1 single in 1975, and the producer continued this roots-based direction with several other acts, enjoying a 1985 hit with Rockin’ Sydney’s version of the Cajun ‘standard’ ‘My Toot Toot.’ He made an appearance as a disc jockey in David Byrne’s film True Stories in 1986. In 1996 he was arrested and charged with child pornography, sex with a minor, and drug trafficking. He was found guilty and given a 15-year jail sentence in the summer of 1996. Out on parole in 2002, he was back in prison in February 2003 after violating the rules of his parole. Meaux was released in 2007 and was reportedly in ill health during subsequent years; he died on 23 April 2011 at the age of 82 at his home in Winnie, Texas.