Jean Batiste "J.B." Fuselier (April 17, 1901 – August 13, 1975) was a Cajun music

Cajun music

Cajun music, an emblematic music of Louisiana, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem with the Creole-based, Cajun-influenced zydeco form, both of Acadiana origin...

ian most remembered for his tune "Ma Chere Bassette." He played for many years with the group J. B. and His Merrymakers.

Early life

Fuselier began playing the fiddle when he was five. In a 1937 interview, he claims when he started violin, he was too small to pick it up to play. He had to lie on the bed. He also started playing the accordion at a very young age. At the age of nine, he played his first dance.

String Band Era

In the 1930s, he recorded many records with Victor Records under banjo

Banjo

In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...

ist Beethoven Miller's Merrymakers. After Miller left the group in early 1938, Fuselier changed the name to J.B. and His Merrymakers. The group was very successful, drawing large crowds at the Step Inn Club in Lawtell and Fais Do Do in Ville Platte

Ville Platte, Louisiana

Ville Platte is a city in and the parish seat of Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,145 at the 2000 census. Its name is derived from the French ville plate, or "flat town."-History:...

.

Post World War II

It was around the time at the end of the war when he met Iry LeJeune

Iry LeJeune

Iry LeJeune was one of the best selling and most popular Cajun musicians in the mid to late 1940s into the early 1950s....

. He began playing with Iry Lejeune and the Calcasieu Playboys after he moved to Lake Charles. They played together regularly until 1955 when Iry died. Fusilier was driving from the Green Wing Club in Eunice

Eunice, Louisiana

Eunice is a city in Acadia, Evangeline and St. Landry parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 11,499 at the 2000 census.The St...

, when he got a flat tire. While changing the tire, a car hit Fuselier's car. Fuselier suffered many injuries as well. His daughter remembers his lung was collapsed and he had many broken bones and others cite a head injury. He continued playing with his Merrymakers which consisted of Norris Courville on drums, Desbra Fontenot on steel guitar, and Preston Manuel on guitar.

Legacy

Fuselier played for almost his entire life, until his death in 1976. Many other musicians have covered his songs and they are now a part of standard Cajun repertoire. His three most famous songs are "Ma chère Bassette", "Jongle à Moi", and "Chère Tout-Toute" He never learned to use four fingers when playing the violin. He is quoted as saying, "All that money I made, I made it with three fingers." He is also credited with being the first person to incorporate the steel guitar

Steel guitar

Steel guitar is a type of guitar or the method of playing the instrument. Developed in Hawaii in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a steel guitar is usually positioned horizontally; strings are plucked with one hand, while the other hand changes the pitch of one or more strings with the use...

into Cajun music by hiring Atlas Frugé to play in his band.