He was born in Merced, California, United States, the son of Herman Arceneaux from Ascension Parish, Louisiana and Virginia Grant of Waushara County, Wisconsin. His father was of Acadian (Cajun) descent, while on his mother"s side his ancestry included English, Norwegian, Scottish, German, Dutch, Welsh, and Native American (Mohawk). Also on his mother"s side he was a direct descendent of accused Salem witch Sarah Cloyce.
He spent some of his preteen/early teens in France where his Air Force father was stationed for three years. He spent some of his childhood in the French countryside. Arceneaux took his stage name from a Louisiana legend, in which a naughty child called Coco Robicheaux, is abducted by a werewolf (Loup Garou or Rougarou).
The name "Coco Robicheaux" is repeated in the song "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" from Doctor John the Night Tripper"s 1968 album, Gris-Gris.
Robicheaux claimed that he played regularly with Mac Rebennack (Doctor John) in the early 1960s, and said: "Many times I gone and played with him, all around the world, different places. Doctor John, he was very much interested in metaphysics.
We had this little place on Saint Philip Street. Mystically they appear like little gilded splinters, like little gold, like fire that holds still.
They’re different strengths at different times.
I guess it ties in with astrology, and influence the energy. That’s what that’s about."
Robicheaux appeared in the episode "Hotshots", of the United States of America Network series The Big Easy, playing a New Orleans musician named "Coco", who had sold his soul to the devil. Two of Robicheaux"s songs were also featured in the episode, "Broken String" and "Spiritland".
Coco Robicheaux appeared as himself in the second episode of Home Box Office"s Treme, first broadcast in the United States on April 18, 2010.
Coco Robicheaux died in November 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the age of 64. Robicheaux died quietly, in his usual spot, at his favorite Barometer
The Apple Barrel. One of his last recordings were for the Danish singer Naja Rosa"s album The Place I Call Home (2012).
His last recording took place on his 64th birthday, one month before his death, with singer Frenchie Moe. Mike Hood, Leon "Kid Chocolate" Brown, Jimmy Carpenter and Jack Cruz also contributed to the song.
Quotations:
"Many times I gone and played with him, all around the world, different places. Doctor John, he was very much interested in metaphysics. We had this little place on Saint Philip Street.
In voodoo they call the gilded splinters the points of a planet.
Mystically they appear like little gilded splinters, like little gold, like fire that holds still. They’re different strengths at different times.
I guess it ties in with astrology, and influence the energy. That’s what that’s about." Robicheaux appeared in the episode "Hotshots".
