Goodbye Beau Jocque, A Fan's Page

If you ever get the chance to see Chuck "Chucky" Bush perform you will find he has his own set of fans trying to get as near to him as they can to watch him play. He is a musician's musician, but you will never find him trying to be the center of attention. Just like at the height of Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers' popularity, when all the bands would come to see them play. Sitting or standing in the front row watching every move and studying every note they played. Who could be a Beau Jocque fan and not love the band behind the man. Chuck Bush was a member of one of the greatest Zydeco bands ever and continues in his own way to be a force in Zydeco music.

I called Chuck Bush at his home in Lake Charles, La where he lives with his wife of 17 years Rose and their three children. Chuck has a strong accent, which is a dead give-a-way of his Cajun background.. I was able to speak to Rose briefly and I expressed to her how being married to a musician must have been difficult, to which she quickly responded "That is his job, and he always comes back home to me."  Talking with Chuck Bush, for this article, was something I had looked forward to for a long time. I just had to get past being over-excited. Chuck loves to talk music and many times we got sidetracked, then I found myself not writing things down. Time was always the issue. Finding enough time to ask all the questions was not always convenient. Chuck was always gracious and I want to thank him for allowing me to interrupt his life when I called. This article for me personally was an honor as I attempted to write about one of the most innovative and talented musicians alive today.

Chuck Bush was born in Lebeau, La. Born into a family of twelve, four sisters and nine brothers. He was the 7th son. I asked Chuck what year that was and we both started laughing. Well age is not the most important thing. Chuck picked up his first guitar when he was 9 years old. "My brothers Mike and Motsy, along with my Uncle Dave Romar taught me to play", Chuck told me." It was an old guitar with a couple of strings, but I kept plucking at it." By the time Chuck was 11 he was playing in a local soul band. Chuck also credits his brother Motsy for bringing him the music of Santana that he admired early on. "I also loved Ernest Isley and of course Jimi Hendrix." Just listen to some of the lead guitar solos Chuck plays today on Sean Ardoin's CD, "Pullin", and you can hear those influences. Playing music became second nature to Chuck and he readily admits that it amazes him also.

Chuck recalls the day he became a Hi-Roller. It was at a festival near the Chuck's hometown. Beau Jocque went to play and also wanted to check out Chuck. Chuck was in a band called Fashback, along with other members of the Bush family. They played top 40 songs and the band consisted of brothers' Gerard, Gary, Gregory, Motsy, Tony, and sisters Michelle and Christi. Chuck was making a name for himself playing the unique style of slapin and pluckin the bass. He was so good at it he was called "Thunder Thumbs". Other musicians would come around just to see Chucky do this because it was new and hard to do. Well anyway, it was at this local festival where the Bush family was very popular, that Beau Jocque decided to check out Chuck Bush. Beau was so impressed with him, he asked him to sit in on guitar. The crowd went wild for the hometown favorite and so Beau's guitar player got angry and quit. "See you have to join my band now" said Beau,"I don't have a guitar player anymore."The next night Chuck was a Hi-Roller and playing at Richard's Club. For the next 6 years Chucky Bush played behind the legendary Beau Jocque.

.   Scott Billington, rounder records producer wrote, that one of the most pivotal events in Beau Jocque's success was to have Chuck Bush switch from playing lead guitar to playing bass.

Chuck started laughing when I reminded him about that and said, "It happened one night in New Iberia, La. our bass man went to the bathroom and Beau asked me to take over the bass. When they started playing together Beau Jocque said "THAT IS IT THAT IS WHAT I WANT!! ". The very next night Beau bought a 5 string bass and handed it to me".   Now not only was Chuck the bass man of the Hi-Rollers, "now I had to learn how to play a 5 string bass, that was very new at that time." But learn he did. On over 93 songs Chuck's unique style of bass helped propel Beau Jocque and the Zydeco Hi-Rollers to popularity.

Chuck's strong bass lines and inventive turn arounds helped to create the Beau Jocque sound. Always on time and key, he played each song with a passion that brought people to their feet ready to dance. Just listen to "Motor Dude" the live version and hear how Chucky walks all over the bass and never miss a lick. Listen to " Just One Kiss" the live version and listen to the song build to a mighty turn around between Chucky and Skeeta (drummer). Who can ignore his contribution to "Give Him Cornbread","Tighten Up", "Do It All Night" and "Damballa". I could go on and on. Pluckin and slappin, whatever he chose to do always fit.

We talked about some of these songs. I asked Chuck about their first big hit, "Give Him Cornbread". "It didn't surprise me it would do that well because we had become so popular at that time locally. But what I really remember most was that I was just so excited to be recording my first CD."  I asked him about "Tighten Up". "We used to play that song all the time when I was in Flashback. We started every show with that song to introduce the band. Well we was in the studio and I started playing that bass line. Then everyone started joining in. Next thing you know we are all playing it and everyone was dancing in the studio." I mentioned "Damballa". "Now that is a funny story. I used to make my own wine out of muskidyne. I would take the seeds and put them in a little sack. Well everyone knows that Beau Jocque was very superstitious so just before we were gonna play at the Rock-N-Bowl, I took the sack and started shaking it at him. A scary movie had just come out called "Chucky" and had the line Damballa, dame vu, so I started saying it while I was shaking that little bag." Chuck said laughing, "Beau Jocque got real scared and we had a big laugh about it. Later Beau said I ain't afraid of that and to show you, I am gonna write a song about it." "Some other songs had that superstitious stuff like black cat bone or mojo sack". I asked Chuck what his favorite song was and he said it was "Just One Kiss". I got really excited when he said that cause that was my favorite also. " We used to start allot of our shows with that song, I would beg Beau Jocque to play it again. It was not unusual for us to play it twice". I mentioned the one key songs that they often played and pulled off successfully. One of my favorites was "Gardez Donc". "I used to say that all the time to Beau Jocque. Gardez donc, which means "looky here". He took that and made a song out of it. Yeah, you have to have a strong rhythm section to carry a one key song without sounding boring."

Chuck pointed out that they really never practiced. Most of their songs came from experiments from their live shows. Chuck went on to add "That was the way allot of our songs happened. Sometimes Beau would start to play something and we would take off from there. I hate to practice.  I don't even own a guitar" Chuck said. "I haven't owned a guitar of any kind for over 20 years." Chuck's bass solos are some of the best and Beau Jocque would holler for one almost every other song. "Yeah sometimes Beau would get on a roll and if the groove was right he would holler for me to solo" (remember Beau Jocque shouting out  "Bass bass wont you get me in the place, or them high notes Chucky, them high notes,). Chuck laughed at the time Beau tried to get him to solo during a waltz. As a matter of fact we both took time to laugh at that. "You will never hear me play the same solo twice." Chuck added. "Each time I play anything I always change something up. That is because I play from the heart. My feelings are different each time."

Beau Jocque and the Hi-Rollers were being asked to play everywhere. I asked Chuck about those times. "You could say I have been around the world" Chuck said," Man we played all over the country and toured Guam, Italy, France, Switzerland, Japan, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia. Australia was OFF THE HOOK." "France really loved Beau Jocque. Beau could speak proper French and he amazed the French people. In France we also got to stay in a real castle with a mote and drawbridge."  Chuck also added "Turkey was a bust cause they were like 30 years behind everyone else at the time. They were still dancing to disco" "In Scotland I visited Lochness and brought my wife back some bagpipes". I joked with him that he probably could play them too. "He replied "No, no, they are too hard to play. You have to pump allot of air in them". Which told me he tried.

I asked Chuck to tell me about the, so-called, Boozoo Chavis/Beau Jocque feud. "Well it was a feud all right. They may have tried to act like it was fake but both them.guys had allot of pride. I remember one night they staged a battle of the B's at the Rock-N-Bowl. At the Rock-N-Bowl they have two floors. We played on the top floor and Boozoo played on the bottom floor. The place was packed out. I don't know who won the battle but we all know who made all the money:" laughed Chuck.

It was then that I asked Chuck what he missed most about Beau Jocque. "Whenever I needed something Beau was there for me. It didn't matter what it was. If it was a car or a place to stay, he was there for me." Chuck, the day before we spoke, received a gift from Rounder Record producer Scott Billington. It was the entire Beau Jocque and the Hi-Rollers collection. He told me as he began to listen to some of the songs he was reminded again of how great an accordion player Beau Jocque was. "Beau told me that you can play a thousand notes and still sound ordinary, but if you play a few notes with feeling, then you sound special. Beau Jocque was a hell of a player. Beau Jocque would just dominate everything with his voice and his size. When he started to sing it would just grab you." "When Beau Jocque passed away Zydeco music sorta went down some."

We then moved on the rest of the Hi-Rollers. Chuck loves to talk about drummer Steve "Skeeta" Charlot. You get the genuine impression that they had a special bond. Many people talk about the chemistry between Beau and Skeeta considering only the vocals, but the chemistry between Chucky and Skeeta was just as special. "It could just be me, Skeeta, and Beau Jocque on stage and we could put on a show". Chucky told me. "We would invent so many things that people didn't have names for at the time. That little fella (Skeeta) could play. He was only 17 years old when we spotted him playing at a double bill. I told Beau Jocque man, we have to have that drummer. Beau Jocque told me he would get him and sure enough. The next day Beau called me to come meet our new drummer. " "Skeeta was the big hype of the band. He kept us laughing all the time. He came up with so much stuff." Chuck then mentioned that Skeeta was still taking Beau's death hard. "Skeeta has played with different bands and is currently forming his own band."

I asked about Wilfred "Caveman" Pierre and he said he was doing real well. He played with Rosie Ledet for a while and was now playing with Geno Delafose.  When I asked about Michael Lockett Chuck said, "Michael Lockett is a musical genius.  He is producing but wants to get back into performing Zydeco music." Chuck admired all the things that Michael Lockett brought to the band. He pointed out some of the things that Michael played on certain songs, that even though small sometime, made an impact on the song. One of those things that his sharp ears really appreciated. He especially admired his flute Hammond organ playing on "Knockin On Heaven's Door". When Chuck began to talk about the music they were making as a band, he made sure to always add that is was so much fun. Then Chuck went on to add, "You see Zydeco music is fun. If you ever see anyone performing it, and they don't look like they are having fun, then they are playing it wrong."

Chuck Bush has played on many other artists CD's since Beau Jocque passed away. He has recorded and performed with Andre Theirry He has also has recorded with JJ Collier, Rosie Ledet, Carl Rambo. He also played lead guitar on the highly acclaimed Sean Ardion-N-ZydeKool's CD "Pullin" with whom he is currently touring.

Chuck Bush told me that there is a saying written in the House of Blues. Chuck quoted it to me "The best music is played from the heart." Then he said," That is how I have always played, straight from the heart."

"Dedicated to Chuck Bush from one of your fans. This is straight from the heart too."

Goodbye Beau Jocque A Fan's Page