"Round Up Hop" - Miller's Merrymakers

As the recording industry began to abandon the accordion-led sound in 1937 for the more palatable and marketable string-band sound, fiddle players like J.B. Fuselier arrived on the scene eager to record their stomps, hops, breakdowns and waltzes.  His opportunities increased when he decided to leave his childhood home town and move further south to where dance-halls dominated HWY 90. 

Bethoven Miller was born in the Jennings area near Lake Arthur and picked up the banjo as his primary instrument.   Fuselier was discovered by Miller when J.B. moved from Oberlin to the area in the mid 1930s.   Still in grade school, the sixteen-year-old banjo player invited J.B. to play in his Merrymakers band.  Together, they traveled to New Orleans with Preston Manuel to record their string band rendition of the Angelas Lejune song "Perrodin Two Step" entitled "Round-Up Hop" (#2014).  Their recording closely resembled the fiddle-led melody most apparent in Happy Fats recording of "Rayne Breakdown" and the Jolly Boys' self-entitled "Jolly Boys Breakdown". 

Not much is known about Bethoven after the Bluebird recording sessions.  As soon as he was eligible, he left his residence in Elton, Louisiana and joined the US Army.  By 1940, he was stationed at Fort Jay.  He served throughout WWII and decided to remain in the New York area.  He re-enlisted in 1945 manufacturing "electrical machinery and accessories".  After his military career, he retired in New York. 

Release Info:

BS-07236-1 Ma Jolie Noir So | Bluebird B-2014-A

BS-07235-1 Round-Up Hop | Bluebird B-2014-B

Find:
Cajun String Bands 1930's: Cajun Breakdown (Arhoolie, 1997)

"Ponce A Moi" - J.B. Fuselier

"Think Of Me!"  In the 1930s, Cajun fiddler Jean Baptiste "J.B." Fuselier was generally overshadowed by the less traditional players such as Leo Soileau and Luderin Darbone – both of whom had their brands of Cajun string band music.2  Having moved near the Lake Arthur area, he worked with people such as banjoist Bethoven miller and fiddler Varise Conner.  Varise, who played with J.B. for years, recalled why he left and how tough it was after the Depression:

For three musicians you'd get fifteen, maybe twenty dollars per night.  Then when the Depression of the 30's came, you were only guarantee half or maybe sixty percent of what was collected at the door.  The people would come but they didn't even have enough money to pay to enter the dance hall.  Things were serious.1  

Quand même tu m'as oublie,

Oui, pense à moi,

Quand même une fois par jour,

Et moi je t'ai pas oublie.

Quand même tu m'as quitte,

Pourquoi tu voulais,

Oui, j'aime voir ma chere,

Comment tu crois je vas faire?

Crowley Daily Signal
Jan 29, 1952

During a 1938 recording session in New Orleans, Fuselier recorded "Ponce A Moi" (#2055) with Preston Manuel and Mathius Joseph "M.J." Achten on guitars and possibly Bethoven Miller on banjo. By 1962, J.B. had dusted off his accordion, one which he had played in the earliest years, and recorded at least four more songs for Eddie Shuler's Goldband Records. One of the songs, pressed on 45 RPM, was "Think Of Me". 

Even though you forget me,

Yeah, think of me,

Even if it's once a day,

And I won't forget you.

Even though you have left, 

Why did you want to?

Yeah, I'd like to see my dear woman,

How do you think I'll handle this?

1. Ye Yaille Chere by Raymond Francois
2. http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/sfc/index.php/2013/11/11/rivers-studio-dispatch/
3. Lyrics by Stephane F and Smith S

Release Info:
BS-027847-1 Valse De Rebot | Bluebird B-2055-A
BS-027848-1 Ponce A Moi (Think Of Me) | Bluebird B-2055-B

Find:
Louisiana Cajun Music, Vol. 3: The String Bands of the 1930's (Old Timey, 1971)
Cajun String Bands 1930's: Cajun Breakdown (Arhoolie, 1997)

"La Valse De Rebot" - J.B. Fuselier

J.B. Fuselier was a slender and probably fairly shy man, who had joined young guitarist, Beethoven Miller by the mid-1930s, in the band known as Miller's Merrymakers.   Fuselier never gained the wide popularity of Leo Soileau or Luderin Darbone (of the Hackberry Ramblers) but his classic way of playing Cajun fiddle and his emotional singing style made him locally well liked. J.B. Fuselier influenced many of the musicians who followed him and he continued to play and record until after World War II.1  

Hier au soir, j'ai bu du bon whisky, 

J'ai bu du bon tout(e) la nuit, oui, ça fait de la peine.

Oh jolie, mais, donnez (premier*-donc), chere coeur,

L’était criminelle, mais, (quant meilleur)* pour moi-même.

Oh, aujourd'hui, m'en vais la captiver, 

Écoute, viens voir ton nég, malheureux.

Daily World
Oct 8, 1944

"La Valse de Rebot" (#2055), sometimes referred to as the "Drunkard's Waltz", seems to be an alternate take to Joe Falcon's "Madame Sosthene".  While Preston Manuel filled in on rhythm guitar, Beethoven Miller's banjo can be heard quite distinctly, filling out the melody in the same manner.  Preston recalls:

We made four recordings per session. Bluebird record's Eli Oberstein from New York would call us.  Then we'd go to the St. Charles Hotel in New Orleans.  We'd make records there.2   

A ribote (mis-spelled here as "Rebot") is a drunken spree.   In Cajun French, the common words used for "drunkard" are usually either soûlard or bambocheur, however, a habitual drunkard is referred to as a riboteur.

Last night, I drank good whiskey,

I drank well all night, yes, it's been painful.

Oh, pretty girl, well, give me the best, dear sweetheart,

It was criminal, well, saving the best for myself.

Oh, today, I'm going to charm her,

Listen, come see your man, oh miserable one.

1. Arhoolie 7014 Liner notes
2. Ye Yaille Chere by Raymond Francois
3. Lyrics by Stephane F

Release Info:
BS-027847-1 La Valse De Rebot | Bluebird B-2055-A
BS-027848-1 Ponce A Moi | Bluebird B-2055-B

Find:

Cajun String Bands 1930's: Cajun Breakdown (Arhoolie, 1997)

"Merrymaker's Hop" - Miller's Merrymakers

During the 1930s, a tenor banjo player named Beethoven Miller created the band called Miller's Merrymakers and they recorded in New Orleans. After Beethoven left the group, a Cajun fiddle player named Jean Baptiste Fuselier took over as bandleader and changed it's name to J.B. and the Merrymakers. He included guitarist Preston Manuel.

Fuselier began playing the fiddle when he was five. He claimed that when he started violin, he was too small to pick it up to play. He had to lie on the bed.  His cousin suggested that they sit him in a chair so he could hold the fiddle.  His fingers were so short at the time, he learned to play with only three finders and never learned to use his fourth finger during his career.  He recalls:

All that money I made, I made it with three fingers. I played my first dance for fifty cents.  The violin by myself.  A country dance in a house.  I was so hot.  The sweat was pouring in my shoes.  I was not quite ten years old.  That's the first time I got money to play.1   

J.B. Fuselier (fiddle)

Eh, chère, tu m'as quitté, bébé,

Oh, s'en aller avec un autre,

Comment j'vas faire, moi tout seul, à ma maison, jolie monde.

Eh, cher joli 'tit monde, catin,

Moi, je m'en vas chez moi, tout seul, jolie.

His first recording at this very first session in 1936 was ""Merrymaker's Hop" for Bluebird (#B-2004).  It's a slower version of Leo Soileau's "Le Blues De Port Arthur" with a different twist during the song's bridge.  His most covered tune is one about his daughter Myrtle named "Chere Tout Tout", recorded in 1937. However, their signature tune would be recorded in 1938 entitled "Ma Cher Bassett" in New Orleans for Bluebird.

Hey, dear, you have left me, baby,

Oh, going away with another,

How will I handle this, I'm all alone, at my house, my pretty everything.

Hey, dear pretty little everything, pretty doll,

I'm going home, all alone, pretty girl.

1. Cajun Dancehall Heyday by Ron Yule
2. Lyrics by Stephane F and Jordy A

Release Info:
BS-02674-1 Merrymakers' Hop | Bluebird B-2004-A
BS-02677-1 Lake Arthur Waltz | Bluebird B-2004-B

Find:
CAJUN-Rare & Authentic (JSP, 2008)

"Redell Breakdown" - J.B. Fuselier

During the 1930s, a tenor banjo player named Beethoven Miller created the band called Miller's Merrymakers and they recorded in New Orleans. After Beethoven left the group, a Cajun fiddle player named Jean Baptiste Fuselier took over as bandleader and changed it's name to J.B. and the Merrymakers.

Live radio broadcasts propelled Fuselier's huge success. His early band, including Miller on drums, Preston Manuel on guitar and Atlas Fruge on steel, would work live radio shows during the day and then play dances at night.1  

The song "Redell Breakdown" was an ode to the small Louisiana town of Redell located north of Mamou.  It familiar similarities with Joe Falcon's "Au Revoir Cherie".  Melodies such as this one would go on to influence Iry Lejeune's "Evangeline Special" in 1947.   After WWII, the band was composed of J.B. on accordion, Manuel on guitar, Norris "T-Boy" Courville on drums, and Elius Soileau on fiddle.1

Quitter toujour, tit fille chere, avec ton neg, aujourd'hui.

Tit monde, m'en aller toujour, jamais te 'joindre, me t'veux encore.

(You're) leaving forever, dear little girl, with your old man, today.

Little everything, I'm leaving forever, never returning to you, yet still want you.

In Sam Tarleton's interview, J.B. states:

When we'd go to New Orleans to make some records, part of the road was gravel, part of the road was dirt.  The last time I went to make records in New Orleans, I had a Model A.  We went in a a Model A; four of us.

1. The Encyclopedia of Country Music.  Ann Savoy

Find:
Cajun String Bands 1930's: Cajun Breakdown (Arhoolie, 1997)
Cajun Country, Vol. 2, More Hits from the Swamp (JSP, 2005)

"Elton Two Step" - J.B. Fuselier

Jean Baptiste "J.B." Fuselier was a popular and innovative musician, recording a number of popular Cajun hits in the 1930s and 1940s, adding drums and steel guitar to his traditional Cajun ensemble.1  Fuselier was generally overshadowed by the less traditional Leo Soileau and Luderin Darbone – both of whom had their brands of Cajun string band music.1,2  In 1937, himself along with Preston Manuel and Beethoven Miller left for New Orleans to record "Elton Two Step" (#2016) for Bluebird records.

Eh, cherie

Moi, je m'en vas toujours, mais, moi tout seul,

Tu m'as quitte personne mais pour m'aimer,

Comment tu crois que moi je peux faire, jolie,

Toujours tout seul a ma maison.

He, petite mom, quoi moi je vas faire,

M'en aller si loin de toi, jolie,

Mais tu cois plus ces beaux yeux noirs, catin,

Comment t'aime ca, tu sais que moi j'aime tant.

J.B. Fuselier

The same melody appears even earlier in Amede Ardoin's 1929 recording "Two Step de Mama", not to be confused with Ardoin's "Two Step De Elton".    Eventually, in 1948, Iry Lejeune would make this into his well known "Lacassine Special".   Both Elton and Lacassine are small towns in the southwestern part of the state.

I'm going forver, well, all alone,

You left me, noone to love me,

How do you think that I will handle this, cutie,

Always alone at my home.

Hey, little moma, what will I do,

Went away so far from you, cutie,

But you want to see these pretty black eyes again, doll,

How do you like that, you know that I love you so.

In the late 1950s, Lawrence "Blackie" Fruge re-titled the Chester Pee Wee Broussard's "Creole Stomp" on Khoury's recordings as "Elton Two Step".  After WWII, Fuselier joined with Iry LeJeune and the Calcasieu Playboys and the two ruled the dance hall circuit until 1955 when LeJeune was killed and Fuselier severely injured when hit by a car while changing a tire at night on a dangerous South Louisiana highway. Despite his injuries, Fuselier never stopped playing and recorded a number of sides for Goldband in the 1960s.1

1. http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/sfc/index.php/2013/11/11/rivers-studio-dispatch/
2. http://www.downhomemusic.com/product/cajun-string-bands-the-1930s-various-artists/

Find:
Louisiana Cajun Music, Vol. 3: The String Bands of the 1930's (Old Timey, 1971)
Cajun String Bands 1930's: Cajun Breakdown (Arhoolie, 1997)

"Ma Chere Basett" - J.B. Fuselier

My Dear Little Woman! From the mid-1930's, J.B. Fuselier was a leading fiddle pioneer of Cajun music.  The height of his success was in the Cajun stringband era, from 1935 to 1942.  During that time period, he and Preston Manuel recorded "Ma Cher Bassett" for Bluebird records.  Initially, Fuselier was the fiddler in Miller's Merrymakers, let by Beethoven Miller. But Fuselier's talent quickly had him leading the band, and when Miller left the group, the act's name changed to J.B. Fuselier and His Merrymakers.1 

Yeah man.

Chere catin, tu m'as dit tu m'aimais,

Aujourd'hui, moi, je peux voir c'est pas crai,

C'etat tous des accroires tu me faisais.

Yeah man.

Et, c'est la maniere, j'ai jamais pu te t'arreter.

Moi, je croyais dans mon coeur,

Que je t'avais avec moi,

Aujourd'houi moi je vois c'est une erreur.

Et, chere, j'ai jamais pu t'empecher.

Tu voudrais t'en revenir,

A ma maison, chere bassette,

Moi, je fais tout qu'est a faire pour toi-meme.

Desbra Fontenot, J.B. Fuselier, 
Norris Courville, Preston Manuel

Image courtesy of Johnnie Allan & the 

Center for Louisiana Studies, 

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

"My Dear Short Girl" is probably the most well known songs by Jean Baptiste Fuselier.   It was written for one of his wives, Regina Fontenot, and by far his greatest Cajun hit.1,2  Fellow musician Tonice Lafleur played with J.B. and recalled the song:

He named it after her.  I drove the car to Cottonport and he practiced it in the back seat of the car.3

Many numbers by Fuselier contained the words "Ma Chére" in the title such as "Ma Chére Catain", "Ma Chére Jolite", "Ma Chére Vieux Maison Suet", and "Ma Chére Bouclett" and "Ma Chér Joui Rouge".  "Chére" and "chér" itself is a corrupted form of the French word "chérie" which means "dear", commonly used as a term of endearment.   The vocalist is not quite identified however, J.B played the fiddle and Preston Manuel played guitar. Preston recalled the song:

We made "Chere Bassette, Ou Toi T'es" for his wife who was given this nickname because she was very short.3  

Dear doll, you told me you loved me,

Today, I can see it's not true,

It is all believed you did this to me.

And, it's always been this way, I never could stop you.

I thought in my heart,

That I had you with me,

Today, I see it's a mistake,

And, dear, I could never make you stop.

You wanted to come back,

To my house, dear short girl,

I'd do all that's necessary for you.

1. The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Ann Savoy.
2. Cajun Breakdown: The Emergence of an American-Made Music By Ryan Andre Brasseaux  
3. Louisiana Fiddlers By Ron Yule, Bill Burge

Find:
Louisiana Cajun Music, Vol. 3: The String Bands of the 1930's (Old Timey, 1971)

Cajun String Bands: The 1930s: "Cajun Breakdown" (Arhoolie, 1997)

"Two Step De Te Momou" - J.B. Fuselier

It's one of Jean Baptiste Fuselier's more obscure tunes.   Not to be confused with Lawrence Walker's "Mamou Two Step", this tune was recorded among a slew of string band songs during the later part of the Cajun string-band era.   Misspelled version of "Tit Mamou", "Two Step De Te Momou" (#2079)  was an ode to the town of Mamou, Louisiana, not far from where J.B. was living.  The small group consisted of  Fuselier on fiddle and vocals, Preston Manuel on guitar, and probably M.J. Achten on guitar.

Oh, Mamou!

Oh chère, moi, je m’en vas dans ‘tit Mamou,

C’est pour voir, oh yaille, les jolies p‘tites filles.

Ohh, comment je vas faire là béb?

Oh chère, comment tu crois je peux faire?

Tu m’as quitté, moi tout seul, à ma maison, jolie.

Ohh ye yaille comment tu veux que je faire, jolie,

Ohh dans ma maison, jolie?

Crowley Daily Signal
Nov 18, 1949

One of the best-known lineups of the Merrymakers consisted of J.B. on fiddle, Desbra Fontenot on steel, Norris Courville on drums, and Preston Manuel on guitar.  Fiddler Varise Connor knew J.B. fairly well and played with him often, but after the Depression, money became an issue.  He recalled:

Back then, the Great Depression was so bad that they couldn't pay us enough to play dances.  You weren't guaranteed a fixed price, you had to play for a certain percentage of the money paid at the door.  I worked hard all the time, all the time.  When I stopped playing dances, that's when I started my saw mill.  I told J.B. "If you want to play your life for nothing, go ahead.  I quit."2   

Crawford Vincent sometimes sat in on the drums after J.B. moved to Lake Charles.1

Oh, Mamou!

Oh dear, I'm going to little Mamou,

It's to see, oh yaille, the little pretty girls,

Oh, how am I going to handle this, baby?

Oh dear, how do you think I can handle this?

You left me all alone at my house, pretty one.

Oh ye yaille, how will I do this, pretty one,

Oh, at my house, pretty one?

1. Louisiana Fiddlers By Ron Yule, Bill Burge
2. Ye Yaille Chere by Raymond Francois
3. Lyrics by Stephane F and Jordy A

"Vien Don Ma Reguin (Come And Meet Me)" - J.B. Fuselier

Jean Baptiste "J.B." Fuselier was a popular and innovative musician, recording a number of popular Cajun hits in the 1930s and 1940s, adding drums and steel guitar to his traditional Cajun ensemble.1    He was a brilliant accordion player, playing it during house dances, however, the recording label was only interested in string band music.   This 1938 recording would be his last for Bluebird records and for a national label.  He wouldn't record again until the 1960s.

J’l’ai quitté hier au soir pour aller, ouais, te rejoindre, 

Mais brailler, ouais, mais toi, t’aurais venu me rejoindre, jolie. 

Mais t’es après t’en aller, pour toujours au si loin, 

Où jamais je vas te revoir encore, ouais mais toi,  ma chère catin. 

Tu voudrais, ouais, venir avec ton nég’ à la maison, 

Gardez-donc que c’est vrai, mais tout seul pleurer pour toi. 

Ma quitté pour t'en aller, dans le Bayou Teche avec un autre, 

Plus jamais ma jolie, te voir jamais avec ton nég’.

Crowley Daily Signal
Mar 12, 1960

In this, he chose to loosely cover one of the more popular Amede Ardoin tunes from 1929 called the "Eunice Two Step".  The session had Preston Manuel on guitar and possibly M.J. Atchen on guitar as well. The title was a corrupted form of the phrase "viens donc me rejoindre".  It would later become Iry Lejeune's "Jolie Catin".  

I left yesterday evening to go away, yeah, to join you,

Well exclaiming, yeh, well you, you have to come to join me, my pretty.

Well, afterwards you went away, for ever so far away,

Where I'll never see you again, yeh well, you my dear little doll.

You wish to, yeh, come back with your old man to the house,

Look here, since it's true, well, you're crying all alone.

Left me to go away, into the Bayou Teche with another,

Forever, my pretty one, you'll never see your old man.

After WWII, Fuselier joined with Iry LeJeune and the Calcasieu Playboys and the two ruled the dance hall circuit until 1955 when LeJeune was killed and Fuselier severely injured when hit by a car while changing a tire at night on a dangerous South Louisiana highway.1   After Iry died, he re-formed his band, releasing one record by an obscure label called Southern records.  By 1962, he picked up his accordion again and worked with Eddie Shuler of Goldband records to record 6 tunes between 1963 and 1968. 

1. http://blogs.lib.unc.edu/sfc/index.php/2013/11/11/rivers-studio-dispatch/
2. Lyrics by Stephane F

Find:

Le Gran Mamou: A Cajun Music Anthology (CMF, 1990)

Cajun Country, Vol. 2 (JSP, 2005)

"Pine Island" - Miller's Merrymakers

The Merrymakers were a string band led by Beethoven Miller, fiddler Jean Baptiste Fuselier and guitarist Preston Manuel.  They band didn't live far from the area known as Pine Island.  Pine Island is a small community west in southwest Louisiana where dancehalls such as Forestier's would dot the region catering to Cajun musicians of the 1930s.  This farm community was settled in the middle of a prairie around a hill thick with pine and oak trees. Pine Island became the home to many in the late-1920's after the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. The many people that lost their homes and livelihoods moved west and settled in Pine Island.2 According to Preston Manuel, his guitarist:

When I first playing, I was about eighteen or nineteen years old, my first dance was in Iota, Louisiana.  I started playing with J.B. Fuselier and the Merrymakers, just a little group. We played in Pine Island there, so we made "Pine Island Two Step".1 

Eh, chère p'tite fille,

Me quitter ma chere mignonne pour toi.

Il y a pas jamais pleurer tout seul,

Quoi te faire avec ton nègre aujourd'hui.

Eh, moi j'm'en va la-bas, dans la maison,

Oh, toujour li mon tout seul, chérie, (aw, chère),

Eh, personne, pour mamay, chere belle,

Pour ma yeh chere blonde (....).

J.B. Fuselier

In 1936, they recorded the tune "Pine Island Two Step" (#2006) with either Manuel or Miller on guitar.  His line "Il y a pas jamais pleurer tout seul" maybe heard as "je croyais pas jamais t'aurais tout ça" meaning "I never thought you would do that".   It resembled a slowed down version of "Abbeville" by the Jolly Boys of Lafayette.  Given that Cleoma Breaux used a slightly different version of the melody for her "Pin Solitaire (Lonesome Pine)", it's not surprising the same melody was chosen for his Pine Island.

Hey, dear little girl,

I've left my dear cutie for you,

There, you'll never cry alone,

Why have you gone done this to your old man today.

Hey, I'm going over there to the house,

Oh, I'm always alone, dear (aw dear),

Hey, no one, for my mom, dear beautiful,

For my dear blonde girl (.....).

Like many pre-war Cajun tunes, the melody was used in other recordings, including Fuselier's own "Lake Arthur Waltz".  Other notable tunes of the era was Happy Fats' "Gran Prairie" with Harry Choates on fiddle and Papa Cairo's "Allons Kooche Kooche" and "Big Texas".   All of these tunes would eventually become Hank William's "Jambalaya" in 1952.  Slow versions, such as Fuselier's, became known better as "Quelle Etoile"

The town of Pine Island also had a general store, a Catholic church, and a big dance hall where the Merrymakers and Hackberry Ramblers often played in the late 1930’s. In a PBS documentary, Independent Lens, Make 'Em Dance, Edwin Duhon remembered playing in the dance hall in Pine Island where they first used an amplifier.2,3

1. Louisiana Fiddlers By Ron Yule, Bill Burge
2. http://hathawayhistory.blogspot.com/2007/02/pine-island.html
3. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/makethemdance/
4. Lyrics by Stephane F

Find:
The Cajuns: Songs, Waltzes, & Two-Steps (Folkways, 1971)
Gran Prairie: Cajun Music Anthology, Vol. 3: The Historic Victor Bluebird Sessions (Country Music, 1994)
Cajun Louisiane 1928-1939 (Fremeaux, 2003)
Cajun Country, Vol. 2, More Hits from the Swamp (JSP, 2005)
Cajun Capers: Cajun Music 1928-1954 (Proper, 2005)

"Ma Chere Joui Rouge" - J.B. Fuselier

J. B. Fuselier joined the string band craze in the mid 1930s, first joining banjo player Beethoven Miller and guitarist Preston Manuel.   Over time, Miller left the group and J. B. and Preston formed J. B. Fuselier and the Merrymakers.   They played in many of the same dance-halls around south Louisiana in which hosted Joe Werner, Hackberry Ramblers and Happy Fats.  

Tard dans l'après-midi, joue rose, dans le champ du blé,

Tard dans l'après-midi, joue rose, dans le champ du blé,

Dans le champ du blé, joue rose, dans le champ du blé,

Tard dans l'après-midi, joue rose, j'vais t'en revenir.

J'vais t'en revenir, joue rose, j'vais t'en revenir,

Tard dans l'après-midi, joue rose, dans le champ du blé.

Jongle a moi, joue rose, jongle a moi, 

Jour et nuit, joue rose, jongle a moi, 

Tard dans l'après-midi, joue rose, dans le champ du blé,

Tard dans l'après-midi, joue rose, dans le champ du blé,

Champ du blé, joue rose, dans le champ du blé

Tard dans l'après-midi, joue rose, mais, j'vais t'en revenir.

Jour et nuit, joue rose, je (suis) dessus mes genoux,

Jour et nuit, joue rose, je (suis) dessus mes genoux,

Dessus mes genoux, joue rose, je (suis) dessus mes genoux,

Jour et nuit, joue rose, pour toi qu'est si doux.

Champ du Blé

The tune is based on an old traditional American folk song known as "Down In The Valley" or "Birmingham Jail".1 This song is thought to have originated in the British Isles centuries ago. It appeared in the Southern mountains, populated by English, Scotch and Irish immigrants, around 1803. Later on the song was sung by the people traveling westward over the mountains of Tennessee and Kentucky into Arkansas and Missouri. The song was passed down through the generations by memorization, in the true folk-song tradition, and has remained popular through the years.2  The first appearance of the lyrics were in sheet music by H. M. Belden in 1909.  It was first recorded by Darby and Tarleton in 1927 for Columbia Records as "Birmingham Jail".   Two years later, they would record it again as "Down In The Valley" followed by Ezra Hill & Henry Johnson the same year.  Later in 1934, John Lomax published the song as a prison convict tune in his "American Ballads and Folk Songs" publication. The melody resembles another song called "Bird In A Cage".

Many numbers by Fuselier contained the words "Ma Chére" in the title such as "Ma Chére Catain", "Ma Chére Jolite", "Ma Chére Vieux Maison Suet", "Ma Chére Bouclett" and "Ma Chér Bassett".  "Chére" and "chér" itself is a corrupted form of the French word "chérie" which means "dear", commonly used as a term of endearment.  In this 1938 Bluebird recording entitled "Ma Chere Joui Rouge" (#2041), he refers to his "dear, rosy cheeks".    

Late in the afternoon, little rosy cheeks, in the wheat field,

Late in the afternoon, little rosy cheeks, in the wheat field,

In the wheat field, little rosy cheeks, in the wheat field,

Late in the afternoon, little rosy cheeks, I'm going to return to you.

I'm going to return to you, little rosy cheeks, I'm going to return to you,

Late in the afternoon, little rosy cheeks, in the wheat field.

I reminisced, little rosy cheeks, I reminisced,

Night and day, little rosy cheeks, I reminisced,

Late in the afternoon, little rosy cheeks, in the wheat field,

Late in the afternoon, little rosy cheeks, in the wheat field,

The wheat field, little rosy cheeks, in the wheat field,

Late in the afternoon, little rosy cheeks, I'm going to return to you.

Day and night, little rosy cheeks, I am on my knees,

Day and night, little rosy cheeks, I am on my knees,

On my knees, little rosy cheeks, I am on my knees,

Day and night, little rosy cheeks, for you are so sweet.

Joue rose can be found in the title of the Balfa Brothers song "Chere Joues Roses" covered by Steve Riley, Joel Sonnier, and others.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_in_the_Valley_(folk_song)
2. http://www.darachweb.net/SongLyrics/DownInTheValley.html
3. Lyrics by Stephanie D and Stephane F