J.B. Fuselier

Born Jean Batiste, the J.B. of Cajun music is one of the very few players in this style who was actually able to survive off of his music most of his career, despite a tragic highway accident that managed to kill his bandmate Iry LeJune. Fuselier was one of the top players of the Cajun string band era, roughly comprising the '30s and '40s. His best-known work is a waltz he wrote that became a standard in this genre, "Chere Toute Toute," like many songs probably no more fabulous than its inspiration, in this case his two-year-old daughter Myrtle. He was only a bit older than that when he first started fiddling, five to be precise. He added accordion to his repertoire at nine, possibly having an inkling that one day the squeezebox would be a required item in any working Cajun band. In his teens he was a frequent winner at music contests. In the early '30s he started a group called Miller's Merrymakers with Beethoven Miller on guitar and tenor banjo and Preston Manuel on guitar. This group cut 16 songs for the RCA Bluebird line in New Orleans in 1936-1937, the tunes including the lovely "Lake Arthur Waltz," slightly more lively "Lake Arthur Stomp" and the aforementioned tribute to Myrtle. The exodus of Miller from the group didn't halt their relationship with the label. Instead, the group continued under Fuselier's name, recording 18 more songs in 1938 such as "La Valse de la Campaigne." These records helped the group draw steady crowds on the dance hall circuit, and the leader experimented with changing the combo's sound, adding instruments such as drums and steel guitar. The steel playing of Fuselier sidemen such as Atlas Frugz and Desbra Fontenot is often mentioned as an influence by country and blues guitarists. The accordion revival of the '50s created not a problem for the group, as talented Fuselier was ready and began switching between his two instruments. He recorded for the Southern label during this period. It was an October night in 1955 when he and LeJune were forced to change a tire on a late night drive home after a gig in Eunice, LA. Due to swamps and a low-rent state highway system, there was no shoulder on the road and the pair had to work in sheer peril. A passing motorist hit both men, LeJune dying instantly. Fuselier had serious injuries but his musical career was only effected for a few months. He went back to his band and the dancehalls and remained active for years, switching to the Goldband label in the '60s. Cajun music compilations and historical anthologies on labels such as Arhoolie would be incomplete without Fuselier tracks, and thus can be guaranteed to feature a generous portion of this man's tasty Cajun cooking. ~ Eugene Chadbourne