"Je Veux Marier (I Want To Get Married)" - Moise Robin & Leo Soileau

After Leo Soileau and Mayuse Lafleur recorded in Atlanta in 1928, Leo found himself having to replace his fellow accordionist the following year.  Lafleur was killed shortly after he had made the recordings and his records were released posthumously.  In fact they came out about the time of the trial of his slayer.3  A young Moise Robin took up the accompanying duties of the late Lafleur.  Moise had learned by watching Amede Breaux:

He would play, I was anxious too. I was young, you see. I would watch him and so that's how I learned that with him.2 


Leo invited Moise to join him. By July of 1929, the musicians arrived at the Starr Piano Company Building in Richmond, IN for a Paramount session and then later, in September of 1929, they arrived at the Claridge Hotel in Memphis, TN for a Victor session.  Moise remembered both of these sessions:

We met in Richmond, Indiana and made two records there. And a while after, we was called to Memphis, Tennessee, me and Leo, and made again two records there.2  

Clarion News
Oct 3, 1929

J'voudrais m'marier, j'voudrais m'marier

J'voudrais m'marier, mais, la belle veux pas.

Oh, la belle veux, la belle veux,

La belle veux, mais, les vieux veux pas.

La belle veux, la belle veux,

La belle veux, mais, les vieux veux pas.

Oh, les vieux veux, les vieux veux,

Les vieux veux, mais, j'ai pas d'argent.

J'ai pas d'argent, j'ai pas d'argent,

J'ai pas d'argent, mais, les poules pond pas, ye yaille.

J'voudrais m'marier, j'voudrais m'marier, 

J'voudrais m'marier, mais, les vieux veux pas, chère.

Oh, les vieux veux, les vieux veux, 

Les vieux veux, mais, j'ai pas d'argent, chère.

J'ai pas d'argent, j'ai pas d'argent, 

J'ai pas d'argent, les poules pond pas, yaille. 

Crowley Daily Signal
Nov 23, 1929

Roy Fuselier, an accordion player around the area of Ville Platte remembered the old tune as an instrumental when he was learning to play as a young boy.

I was ten years old when I started playing the accordion.  A man called Sosthene Saucier was a neighbor.  He played some little dances in the country. I watched his fingers move!  After a while, he pulled out a Bull Durham sack and rolled himself a cigarette.  He put the accordion down between him and me.  I caught the accordion and played the tune that was very popular during those times, "Je Veux Marier".  It was Leo Soileau who had made this tune.  I like it very much but I had heard it before, before the record was out.  I had heard it from Mr. Sosthene. He played it, but he didn't sing it.4  

Although Leo is credited as singing the song, according to their sponsor Frank Dietlein, it was fellow accordionist Columbus Fruge who helped Leo write the lyrics.   Columbus had tagged along for the recording session and together with Leo and Mayuse, they recorded "Je Veux Marier". (#22183)  According to Dietlein, 

The 'Cajun' singers and musicians used the old tunes that were handed down by their French ancestors, but their lyrics were extemporaneous.  They improvised the words to suit their moods.  I recall one singer, Columbus Fruge, coming up with these lyrics. "Je veux m'marier, Je veux m'marier, Je veux m'marier... La poule pas d'ouef" and the next line went this way, "Je veux m'marier, je veux m'marier... La belle veux pas".  He later said that he was a bachelor and was thinking of getting married.3  

I would like to get married, I'd would like to get married,

I'd like to get married, but, you don't want to.

Oh, the beautiful girl wants to, the beautiful girl wants to, 

The beautiful girl wants to, but, the old ones don't want us to.

The beautiful girl wants to, the beautiful girl wants to, 

the beautiful girl wants to, but, the old ones don't want us to.

Oh, the old ones want us to, the old ones want us to, 

The old ones want us to, but now, I don't have money.

I don't have money, I don't have money,

I don't have money, well, the hens don't lay eggs, ye yaille.

I would like to get married, I'd would like to get married,

I'd like to get married, but, you don't want to, dear.

Oh, the old ones want us to, the old ones want us to, 

The old ones want us to, but now, I don't have money, dear.

I don't have money, I don't have money,

I don't have money, well, the hens don't lay eggs, ye yaille.

In 1957, Nathan Abshire used the melody for his "Cannon Ball Special".  The reference to "eggs" seem to be an musical curiosity that related more to him than just in song.  Robin explains,

It was during this time, when I was growing up, that I was learning to play the accordion and sing.  I didn't have a good voice, it was too low and I never had a good voice up to this day. One of my friends advised me to drink raw eggs and that would cause me to have a beautiful voice.  So, I started watching the chicken house and looking for eggs.4  

1. Photo by Chris Strachwitz
2. http://arhoolie.org/moise-robin/
3. Daily World (Opelousas, Louisiana) 28 Nov 1958
4. Ye Yaille Chere by Raymond Francois

Release Info:
BVE-55534-2 Penitentiary Waltz | Victor 22183-A
BVE-55535-2 Je Veux Marier (I Want To Get Married) | Victor 22183-B

BVE-55534-2 Penitentiary Waltz | Bluebird B-2184-A
BVE-55535-2 Je Veux Marier (I Want To Get Married) | Bluebird B-2184-B


Find:
Louisiana Cajun Music Volume 1: First Recordings - The 1920's (Old Timey, 1970)

The Early Recordings of Leo Soileau (Yazoo, 2006)
Aimer Et Perdre: To Love & To Lose Songs, 1917-1934 (Tompkins Square, 2012)