Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2
Growing Up

      I got interested in music at an early age. There really wasn't much to do in Abbeville, Louisiana, population 9308. The biggest event in my life at that time was roaming around town at night throwing rocks at street lights with my buddies. When we would get lucky and hit one, we'd run to the other side of town before the cops would come. I grew up with two brothers, one older and one younger. I was the black sheep; the first to wreck the car, the first to receive a speeding ticket, the first to be arrested, the first to steal something. I guess I was first at everything. My Dad passed away when I was eleven, so my brothers and I grew up virtually unsupervised. My Mom was very prim and proper, but she loved and trusted us so much that we were able to take advantage of her most of the time. Mom was my life's inspiration, and I loved her deeply until the day she died. She always encouraged me to play my horn and to never give up on my dreams, no matter what. She will always be my inspiration.
      I remember the first time that I got interested in music. It went like this. One day, the whole high school class was called to the auditorium for a music test. Headphones were used to identify certain tones, at the time I didn't know a high note from a low note, but somehow I passed the test and got into the band.
My Mom, poor at the time, managed to buy me a trumpet, and she surprised me with it after school one day. I am still playing that horn today. When I laid eyes on that trumpet, my whole world changed. I picked up the horn, put it to my lips, and a sense of power and well being came over me. I knew at that moment what my destiny was going to be. Within six weeks I was playing very well and I was totally motivated. I practiced every day at school with the window open so the other kids could hear me play. I knew that I played well, and I made it my business to learn every popular song of the day. There was no air conditioning at that time, so all classes were held with the windows open. When I practiced, I would open the window so that all of the students could hear me play. By my senior year, I had become fascinated with music and I was becoming quite proficient on the trumpet. Music was beginning to change quite rapidly from basic pop and swing to a new black form of music called Rhythm n' Blues."
      As I said earlier, the late Phil Comeaux from Lafayette had an orchestra type dance band that would switch from pop to rock. When the band wanted to go into the rock mode, they would insert Roy Perkins on piano, and he would sing and play the Rock n' Roll, or Rhythm n' Blues, which were one and the same at that particular time. I was so fascinated by this band that I formed a group and tried desperately to copy Phil Comeaux's band, which was called "The Modernaires". Phil was gracious enough to let me sit in with his band and learn the ropes. He even let me copy his rock ‘n roll charts. My band was called "The Melody Men,", and it reflected the influence of the Phil Comeaux band. Phil and Roy Perkins never did receive credit for becoming the pioneers of what eventually became "Louisiana Swamp Pop." Some of my early players were Bobby Meaux on trombone, Ron Mayard on sax, Paul Landry on tenor sax, Kenneth "My Love" Harrington on drums and a kooky piano man named Edwin LeBlanc, "Bugs Frederick" eventually replaced "My Love" on the drums. It was at this time that I was contacted by Larry Guidry about putting together a group that would specialize in black music. Larry didn't exactly know what we were going to do, but we jammed together a couple of times trying to emulate "Guitar Slim" and Earl King. I couldn't see going too far with it because my head was really into Dixieland Jazz at that time. Anyway, I went off to college, but Larry kept on experimenting with what was called "race music." Larry hired a black vocalist and harmonica player named "Raphael" and his friend Kenneth Theriot on drums and they were able to book some jobs. Raphael was accepted graciously in all of the white clubs, but problems cropped up with restaurants and motels. They didn't accept blacks way back then. Larry came to the conclusion that a white vocalist would be easier to work with. Enter the great Bobby Charles.
      When Larry hired Bobby Charles, things started to click. Within a few weeks, the band had three saxophones and a full rhythm section. This group was called "Bobby Charles and the Clippers." What a band! The sax players were a marvelous trio of college players that included Harry Simoneaux, the late Carlo Marino and Raoul Prado. The Clippers were a huge influence on local music for many years to follow.
      I graduated from high school at the young age of sixteen. I was feeling very confident about my playing. I was very fortunate to beat all the other trumpet players in the college tryouts and soon I had my own group again. We named the band "The Dukes of Rhythm," a name borrowed from Joe Carl. Joe Carl was a pioneer in his own right The "Dukes" had a short, but very good run for a couple of years.
      I dropped out of college and joined the Air Force in 1956. I made a deal before I went in, to audition for the band. I lucked my way through basic training by joining the Drum & Bugle Corps at Lackland Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas. My position in the Drum and Bugle Corps excused me from KP and other details, much to my delight. After Basic training in Texas, to my surprise, I was assigned to the 579th Air Force Band in Newburgh, New York. I had never traveled farther than New Orleans to Houston. I was thrilled to be going to New York. The band that I was assigned to was an eighteen piece dance band. My head was really into big band jazz like Woody Herman, Glenn Miller, Les Brown and big bands of the 30's and 40's. I was so happy that I was put in a dance band instead of a marching band.
      I took great advantage of my time in two different ways. First, I went to New York City as often as I could,. My favorite spot was Birdland, and my favorite group was Count Basie and his Big Band. My first son, Thad, was named after Thad Jones, a trumpet player in the Basie Band. At that time, it was my personal ambition to become a great jazz player. I had no idea that I would soon be the leader of a great big band. I practiced my horn very much in those days.
Second, I spent my weeks copying every big band chart that I could put my hands on. At the same time I was writing a book of charts for a Dixieland band that I hoped to form after I got out of the Air Force. Before I left the Air Force, both of these handwritten books that took me four years to write, were stolen from me. All that work was lost, what a drag.
      My biggest influence and best buddy was a black trumpet player named Sergeant Ralph Divers, better known as "Prez." Prez gave me private lessons that were a turning point in my life. Thank you, Prez. I love you, my brother. My other buddy, Airman Orville Fred Lewis, a gifted keyboard player, was my partying friend. One day out of a clear blue sky, Fred asked me if I wanted to go to a "tea" party. I was very naive at this time, so I asked, "What's a tea party?" Fred explained to me that a tea party was a party where everyone sat around and smoked marijuana. When Fred told me this, it blew me away. I had never been around any dope, and I was totally against it. I replied to Fred, I can't believe that you guys are dope addicts." I didn't go to the tea party. I knew so little about pot that I expected everyone who was at the party to have severe withdrawals like I had seen in the movies. Days passed and no one had withdrawals. Finally, I asked Fred why no one got sick. He laughed and told me that pot was not addictive and there were no withdrawals. He told me of another party and invited me to try it. I told him that he was nuts, I was no dope addict and he could take his pot and shove it up his ass. But, as time passed, I noticed that no one ever got sick or hung over. So, out of curiosity, I went to a party, smoked some shit, and except for the giggles, I felt nothing. A few days after that I was transferred to Alaska. Right before I departed for Alaska, I married my first wife, Eleanor, a wonderful woman that I did not appreciate enough. We had three great kids, Thad, Martin and Bobbi Kaye.
      Alaska was a wonderful experience for me. Besides the wonder and vastness of God's untouched geography, I was lucky enough to be there when Alaska attained statehood. I'll never forget that day. I was on my way to the cafeteria with my friends Ed SnelI and Sandy Savino when all of a sudden sirens started going off everywhere! We panicked as Ed shouted, "Oh no, they've dropped the bomb!" Then church bells started ringing as we ran back to the barracks, scared to death, thinking that World War Three had begun. When we got back to the barracks, everyone was crowded around the TV set. It was then that we realized that Alaska had just been made the forty-ninth state. I made some great friends there, but I especially remember a great saxophone player named Jules Broussard. I think he was from Alexandria. I knew he would go on to do great things. Awesome horn man!
      We headed towards downtown Anchorage where a massive celebration, the likes of which I have never seen, was taking place. Everyone was blowing their car horns while bells were ringing and sirens were blasting. Fireworks were going off everywhere. TV cameras were there from every major network, and booze abounded. Thousands of people were in the street and Miss Alaska was perched high above the crowd on a ladder of a fire truck. The celebration lasted through the night. Wow, what a party! I really enjoyed my tour in Alaska.
      After Alaska, I was assigned to Mitchell Field in Hempstead, New York. My friend from Alaska, Ed Snell, was there also. This was a marching band, but there were two dance bands there. I never was able to get in either band because of a conflict with the warrant officer that was leading the marching band. He didn't like the way I played, or maybe my attitude. Anyway, something prevented me from getting in a dance band. Most of our time was spent in the recording studio, recording marches for Public Radio. I would play wrong notes on purpose because I was so pissed at the warrant officer. The only good thing that happened to me while I was there was the birth of my first son, Thad. Thad was a testy baby, who didn't believe in sleeping much, and it really tested my patience as to whether I was really ready to be a father. Eleanor and I had a rough time. We were living in this apartment run by this crazy landlord that controlled the heat. We almost froze our bones, and we really wanted to get back down south where it was warmer.   My father in- law, who was a senator at that time, pulled some strings and got me re-assigned to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. We drove from New York to Mississippi in a 1950 Ford that I had purchased for a hundred bucks. We broke down once on the way, and spent too much of our cash getting that old Ford fixed. We had four flat tires on the way, two of them at one time. If it wouldn't have been for a good natured old timer from Greenville, Mississippi, we never would have made it all the way.
      I really enjoyed the Biloxi assignment. Biloxi's proximity to New Orleans made it an ideal place for good musicians to work. There were several really good jazz bands working, so I really got my ears full. There was no marijuana around, but I was introduced to my first hit of speed. A friend of mine gave Eleanor and I each a pill one night, right before we went out on the town. I vaguely remember having an energetic good time and partying for two days. My marriage to Eleanor was beginning to fall apart at this time.   We drank a lot of beer in Biloxi. Too much.
I got a job in a dance band by pretending to play the bass fiddle. I looked like I knew what I was doing, but it was nothing but a snow job. I made some good friends there like Chuck Lisman and Ed Lieb.
      I screwed up one day by missing the bugle assignment at five o'clock to take the flag down at headquarters. They were not supposed to take the flag down until the bugle played. I came running up to the flagpole, ten minutes late, on the run, buttoning my coat, and playing the bugle call at the same time. The commander didn't appreciate that very much and I ended up with an Article 14 on my ass. I had to rake leaves for the next thirty days.
      Finally after what seemed like an eternity, I was honorably discharged from the Air Force; so here I was, twenty-two years old married with one child, one on the way, with college and military service behind me. When they let me go, I tied my duffle bag to the back of my car and dragged it till it shredded to pieces. It is not that I am unpatriotic, but four years of that kind of discipline was definitely not my bag.
      When I got home, the only income I had at that time was an unemployment check for thirty-five bucks a week. Then my second son, Marty, was born. The year was 1960. 1 found a house to rent for thirty-five bucks a month, so we had a nice place to live.
      I contacted an old college friend, Buddy Cutrera from Opelousas. Buddy was playing with Rod Bernard, a local recording artist, who had just had a million seller entitled, "This Should Go On Forever." Rod Bernard was the first Cajun artist to top the Billboard charts. I talked Buddy into bringing me to a gig with him so I could sit in. Rod's band, the "Twisters" was a well rehearsed razor sharp group. I was very impressed with this band. It was well managed by Rod Bernard, and the music was very nicely arranged. Rod's unique vocal style, and this great band, were the most popular group around. I learned a lot by sitting in with them that night. It was then that I realized that South Louisiana musicians had the talent and skill needed to compete on a national level. I never did get to work with Rod Bernard in those days, but his influence still helps me in my own quest for fame and fortune. Rod Bernard is a great role model. His recordings are still selling today on a world wide basis. I knew I needed extra income, so I contacted my brother, "Kit", who was playing with a band called The Echoes. Kit told me that they needed a sax player, so I went out and bought a sax for five dollars down and I got the job. Wow! An extra ten bucks twice a week. Now, I was rich. I was Living Like a King! One day in the fall of 1963, I was with Jerome Verret, the leader of our band, and we stopped in at the Oriental Club in New Iberia to hear a band called "The Boogie Kings". We had heard some scuttlebutt that they were the hot group in the area. When we walked in, Eloi Dore, the club owner, remarked to us, "You won't believe this band, fellas!". The band came out, started playing, and for three hours, they played the most energetic, precision, well arranged music that I had ever heard. They played their tunes back to back, with no dead space In between each selection. When I left the club that night. I had a whole new outlook on music. I had just heard the greatest band in the world and guess what?, they had no trumpet player. I knew that spot was made for me. All I had to do was to figure out how to worm my way in. It was about this time that one of my beautiful daughters, Bobbi Kaye was born.
      Well, I guess fate plays a part in everything. I met and became good friends with Dan Silas. Dan was the sax player with a very popular band called "Randy and The Rockets." I played with Randy on occasion as a substitute and got to know Dan quite well. We are still close friends today.   Dan stopped by my office at the loan company where I was working for seventy-five bucks a week. He told me that the Boogie Kings were re-organizing, and were hiring horn players. Explosions began going off in my head!   This was all that I needed to hear. I knew that they were playing every Thursday and Saturday at a place called the Bamboo Club In Lake Charles.
      After work that day, I went home and told my wife that I was going to Lake Charles to get job playing music. Of course, this was the last thing that a mother of three wanted to hear, but she reluctantly gave me a green light. I was very confident about getting hired. I located the club after asking a few people for directions. I finally found it and went in and listened to a couple of tunes, and checked out the band to see if I knew anybody. Well, as luck would have it, one of my good friends that I had worked with in the past, Murphy Buford, was playing sax that night. I was quite nervous as I walked up to the stage and shook Murphy's hand and remarked how great they sounded. Murphy looked at me and said the magic words, "Hey man, go get your horn!". I said, "Sure, man", and "Thank You Jesus" at the same time. It could not have gone any better if I had written the script. After verifying with the leader that it was OK, I got up on stage with The Fabulous Boogie Kings. Needless to say, I played my ass off that night. I wanted that job so bad, I could taste it. The job ended and after the leader, Harris Miller, paid everyone, he walked over to me and put some money In my hand. It was four twenties. I said, "Harris, I think you made a mistake, there are four twenties here." He said, "Don't worry, we're making a hundred and eighty each!"   I almost passed out. That was more than I was making in two weeks. I couldn't believe a band could make that much money on a Thursday night. Then Harris, the leader, said the magic words, "Hey man, are you looking for a gig?"   Without hesitation, I answered, "Hell Yes!" I agreed to start with the band on New Years Eve 1963.
Now it was official, I was the lead trumpet player with the greatest band I had ever heard. I was a happy camper as I drove home that night. What a wonderful world!
From this point on I was on top of the world. Just to be hired to play with the band was the biggest break I ever had. The band had a few problems, mostly it was booze, pills and sex and rock ‘n roll. I knew deep down inside that I would be the leader of this band someday.

1965
Murphy Buford, Norris Badeaux, Mike Pollard
Ned Theall
Bubba Marks Bryan Leger, Dan Silas Jack Hall
Gary Walker, GG Shinn, Johnny Giordana