"Rou Li Aie" - Cliff Lemaire

Rôdailler!  A native of Cow Island, George Clifford "Cliff" Lemaire led a group called the Kaplan Swingmasters during the late 1940s, playing Cajun music in the western swing style.  Cliff worked as a car salesman during the day but led the Swingmasters at night from the town of Kaplan, Louisiana. 

"Bye bye," jolie blonde et "bye bye," jolie brune,

C’est tout pour la blonde et ina rien pour la brune,

J’arrive à la prairie, mon cheval est bien là,

J’ai soif et j’ai faim et j’sus si loin de ma famille.

Je demande à mama, "Si je fais ça, si c’est dur?"

Elle a répondu, "C’est rôdailler les chemins."

C’est rôdailler les chemins,

Avec le jogue au plombeau,

Et avec les patates dans la poche,

Et la bouteille dans la main.

C’est rôdailler les chemins,

Avec le jogue au plombeau,

Et avec les patates dans la poche,

Et la bouteille dans la main.

Cliff Lemaire

"Rôdailler", from the French verb "rôder" directly translates to "roaming around".  Having a certain dialect from the area, Neal Pomea explains:

The song's French title should have been spelled "Roulailler", but he definitely sings "Rôdailler" as they would have in Vermilion parish.1  

The song features a lively performance with one of the musicians clapping loudly in the background, maybe to represent the feel of a honky-tonk crowd.  The fiddle leads the tune with the background filled with slide steel guitar and electric lead guitar.  These backup musicians were three Romero brothers of New Iberia.  "The Swingsters" comprised of Harold Romero on fiddle, Johnny Romero on drums, and Louis "Bee" Romero on bass.  With record producer Virgil Bozman at the helm, the Cliff and the Romeros recorded the songs around 1950 at the Romero Music Store.  The place was one of the first in the state to have access to magnetic tape medium and a tape recorder.2     

Bye bye, pretty blonde and bye bye pretty brunette,

It's all for the blonde and nothing for the brunette,

I arrived at the prairie, my horse is there,

I'm thirsty and hungry and I'm so far from my family.

I asked mama, "If I do this, is it hard?"

She replied, "It's like roaming the roads."

It's like roaming the roads,

With a whiskey pommel jug,

And with potatoes in the pocket, 

And a bottle in hand.

It's like roaming the roads,

With a whiskey pommel jug,

And with potatoes in the pocket, 

And a bottle in hand.

1. Discussions with Neal P
2. Discussions with Lyle F
3. Lyrics by Smith S

Release Info:

Rou Li Aie | Hot Rod 104
Cow Island Special | Hot Rod 104