[Dixielandjazz] Fwd: An Incident from the Simpler Times of the '50s

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Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 13:44:25 EDT
Subject: An Incident from the Simpler Times of the '50s
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An Incident from the Simpler Times of the '50s

By Sam McKay

In the spring of 1952, the Korean War was still going strong, but we college 
students at the University of Wisconsin didn't worry about it as long as we 
didn't flunk out.  I was in ROTC as well as having had a student deferment.  
I had just been initiated into Beta Theta Pi fraternity and was looking 
forward to our spring formal in May.  It was a bigger than usual dance 
because two other fraternities were involved.  They were Phi Delta Theta and 
Sigma Chi.  All three were founded at Miami of Ohio in the 19th Century, and 
the dance was called the Miami Triad.

Since the mid '40s, at the height of the New Orleans Jazz revival, I had been 
collecting reissues of vintage classic recordings of the '20s and early '30s. 
 One of my favorite artists was Louis Armstrong.  His trumpet and singing 
improvisations were to me the absolute epitome of the art form.  You can 
imagine the euphoria that overcame me when I found out that he and his band 
had been engaged for the dance.  Our president, who had bummed around a bit 
after high school before going to college, knew the way of show biz and had 
lucked into the booking.  The other two fraternities were delighted with the 
choice as Louis was very popular at the time, and that form of Jazz was being 
played by the students on campus.  We got him for $1,200.

None of the three fraternity houses were capable of handling such a big 
event.  Actually we could have had it at the Wisconsin Union, which had a 
beautiful ballroom in it, but that was in the domain of GDIs, as the 
independents were known.  An independent was one who did not belong to a 
Fraternity, Sorority or live in a dorm.  Also the Union just had the 
Rathskellar, serving only 3.2 beer, which was a hangout for bohemians, as the 
forerunners of the hippies were called, and pseudo-intellectuals. This was 
certainly not a suitable place for our formal.  The unanimous decision was to 
have it at the Hotel Lorraine which had their Crystal Ballroom and a complete 
bar with restaurant facilities downstairs.  

At the time, I had no special girlfriend and needed a date.  At a recent beer 
supper with the Chi Omega Sorority, I had met a girl named Mary Ann McKinley. 
 A beer supper was when the fraternity invited a sorority over for dinner and 
the sharing of a few beers.  At this time we had a full time cook and a house 
mother, and so the happening was well chaperoned making it perfectly legal.  
I called Mary Ann, who was a senior, and she was happy to accept my 
invitation with only one catch; I had to come to the Chi Omega formal, which 
she would be in charge of, as her date.  Well, I kind of suspected that would 
be dullsville but I agreed to do it anyway.  As it turned out, I was right.  
At her dance she was gone half the time checking on this or that, whatever.  
I felt like a wallflower.  I was polite and didn't complain because Miami 
Triad was just two weeks away.  I didn't want to look for another date.

 Finally, the big day arrived.  I hadn't had much sleep the night before just 
thinking about seeing Louis.  I had gathered together a big stack of stuff I 
was hoping to get autographed.  I had several albums of 45s, a couple of LPs 
and several magazines that had record reviews by me of his reissues in them, 
just to name a few.  I picked up my date and we walked over to the Hotel 
which was in the first block off the Capital Square on West Washington 
Avenue.  There we joined several of my buddies and their dates to eat dinner 
before the dance.  When we finished our dinner, it was time to get up to the 
ballroom.  We entered it and I was really impressed.  I had never been there 
before.  It indeed was a crystal ballroom.  It had one large crystal 
chandelier in the center that revolved with different colored lights playing 
on it.  Surrounding it in the rest of the room were evenly spaced smaller 
chandeliers that did not revolve and had their own lights.  On the bandstand 
the band boy was setting up the drums, and the sound man was arranging the 
microphones.  The band boy went over to one of the mikes and on a chair next 
to it he placed a tall stack of fresh, clean white handkerchiefs.  The 
enlightened among us knew what they were for. 

In 1939 or 1940 Louis had given up his big band and returned to a small band 
format.  For a while he had Kid Ory on trombone and later Jack Teagarden 
replaced him when he left for the west coast during the war.  Jack needed the 
work as his big band had failed.  Originally he had Big Sid Catlett on drums 
but he died.  The band's personnel at this time was Louis on trumpet, Trummy 
Young on trombone, Barney Bigard on Clarinet, Billy Kyle on piano, Arvell 
Shaw on bass and Barrett Deems on drums.  The singer was Velma Middleton.

I left my stack of goodies on a chair against the wall and we strolled over 
in front of the bandstand.  Mary Ann had her program and didn't know anything 
about the band.  I was explaining things to her when Billy Kyle came out and 
sat down at the piano.  He played it for a while to see if it was tuned 
properly.  Barrett Deems came out and sat down behind the drums.  He was 
making adjustments when Arvell Shaw came out followed by Trummy Young and 
Barney Bigard.  I was getting more excited by the second.  Finally Louis came 
out carrying his gleaming brass trumpet.  By now everyone had gathered in 
front of the bandstand, and a big cheer went up.  The band warmed up for a 
minute and then launched into his theme song.  It was  the slow "Sleepy Time 
Down South", and we all started to dance.  After the theme song, Louis 
introduced himself saying, "Good evening, ladies and gentleman, I'm Louis 
Armstrong, here to play for your dancing pleasure."  My heart was racing at a 
thousand beats a second.

After the second number which had been an upbeat tune, he introduced the rest 
of the band one by one.  When he introduced Billy Kyle he referred to him as 
"Liberace in technicolor."  This,  drew a big laugh.  The band played a 
couple of more dance tunes, but Louis was playing and singing so well, we 
began to gather in front of the stand and listen instead of dancing.  He was 
at one of his heavy stages and had a little pot belly.  When he sang he 
simply exuded happiness, and I stood there enthralled with a big smile on my 
face.  I couldn't believe how well he sounded on trumpet.  He sounded just 
like he did in the 20s.  I had thought that an old man like him at 52 would 
have lost his lip.  Soon we were all standing around the bandstand.  He asked 
us if we wanted to dance or listen to music, and we all opted for music.  So 
he said, "Well, if you don't want to dance, we'll play some good ol' Jazz 
numbers, fer ya."  We all cheered, and everybody sat down on the dance floor 
in a large semicircle.  He then brought out Velma and they proceeded with 
some of their concert routines, which brought down the house.  For the rest 
of the evening we had our own private Louis Armstrong Concert.

After playing for over an hour the band took a break.  Louis and his manager 
stayed up on the stand and were talking to some of the people.  Mary Ann 
wanted me to take her down to the bar where most of the partygoers had gone.  
I said that I wanted to talk to Louis, and besides I wasn't twenty-one and 
they didn't know me.  She was a little upset but went down by herself.  I 
picked up my pile of items to be autographed and approached the bandstand.  I 
introduced myself to Louis and asked if I could have his autograph, and he  
said, "Sure."  One by one I handed the albums, the magazines and the program 
to him for signing.  After each one he looked a little bit disconcerted as I 
handed him another item.  He was sweating profusely at this time. With just 
one more item left, I looked at him and said, "I have waited a long time for 
this moment, Louis."

He paused, reached down, grabbed one of the handkerchiefs and wiped his brow. 
 When he removed the handkerchief, he had a big toothy smile on his face and 
said, in his gravely voice, "Ya have?" 

I took my stuff over to the chair again, and people began returning to the 
ballroom from the bar, including Mary Ann.  I told her that I had talked to 
Louis, and she did not seem impressed.  She began chiding me for neglecting 
her.  I put up my hands and said, "Whoa!"  I then informed her that after the 
way she had neglected me at her formal, she had no right to complain. 
Besides, Louis Armstrong was more important to me at this time than anything 
else.  She became quiet and we enjoyed the rest of the concert. 

After, the concert we joined several of my buddies and their dates.  We found 
out the band was staying at the hotel. Louis had been following a policy of 
not playing where he couldn't stay.  We were informed at the desk that Louis 
was not to be disturbed under any circumstances.  However, we did find out 
what floor he was on and that Barney Bigard had a room nearby.  We honored 
Louis' request but found Barney's room.  We pounded on the door and he said, 
"Come in."  He was already in bed, and we immediately apologized.  As we 
started to leave, he said, " No, no, please stay."  He was very pleasant with 
a warm smile which offset his receding hairline.  Some of the girls sat in 
the available chairs, but the rest of us stood around the foot of the bed.  
We were eager to hear about his days playing with Duke Ellington as he had 
been one of the original members of the band.  He was telling us a story when 
there was a pounding on a door down the hall.  Apparently two kids from 
Madison, not connected to the party, had found Louis' room and wanted his 
autograph.  We heard the familiar gravely voice explain that he was tired but 
obliged them and sent them on their way.

Our attention returned to Barney and somehow, I don't know why, the 
conversation got around to religion.  My date perked right up when he said 
that he had been an altar boy in New Orleans where he grew up, but had not 
been to church for years and had more or less rejected his religion.  Mary 
Ann, being a good Catholic, came to the defense of the Church.  The argument 
dominated the remainder of our time with Barney.  No more Duke Ellington 
stories; much to our chagrin.  We then left the hotel, and I walked Mary Ann 
back to the Chi Omega house.  The next day my friends asked me who the heck 
my date was, and I apologized profusely.  Needless to say, I never had 
another date with Mary Ann McKinley. 

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<HTML>An Incident from the Simpler Times of the '50s 
 
By Sam McKay 
 
In the spring of 1952, the Korean War was still going strong, but we college students at the University of Wisconsin didn't worry about it as long as we didn't flunk out.&nbsp; I was in ROTC as well as having had a student deferment.&nbsp; I had just been initiated into Beta Theta Pi fraternity and was looking forward to our spring formal in May.&nbsp; It was a bigger than usual dance because two other fraternities were involved.&nbsp; They were Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi.&nbsp; All three were founded at Miami of Ohio in the 19th Century, and the dance was called the Miami Triad. 
 
Since the mid '40s, at the height of the New Orleans Jazz revival, I had been collecting reissues of vintage classic recordings of the '20s and early '30s.&nbsp; One of my favorite artists was Louis Armstrong.&nbsp; His trumpet and singing improvisations were to me the absolute epitome of the art form.&nbsp; You can imagine the euphoria that overcame me when I found out that he and his band had been engaged for the dance.&nbsp; Our president, who had bummed around a bit after high school before going to college, knew the way of show biz and had lucked into the booking.&nbsp; The other two fraternities were delighted with the choice as Louis was very popular at the time, and that form of Jazz was being played by the students on campus.&nbsp; We got him for $1,200. 
 
None of the three fraternity houses were capable of handling such a big event.&nbsp; Actually we could have had it at the Wisconsin Union, which had a beautiful ballroom in it, but that was in the domain of GDIs, as the independents were known.&nbsp; An independent was one who did not belong to a Fraternity, Sorority or live in a dorm.&nbsp; Also the Union just had the Rathskellar, serving only 3.2 beer, which was a hangout for bohemians, as the forerunners of the hippies were called, and pseudo-intellectuals. This was certainly not a suitable place for our formal.&nbsp; The unanimous decision was to have it at the Hotel Lorraine which had their Crystal Ballroom and a complete bar with restaurant facilities downstairs.&nbsp; 
 
At the time, I had no special girlfriend and needed a date.&nbsp; At a recent beer supper with the Chi Omega Sorority, I had met a girl named Mary Ann McKinley.&nbsp; A beer supper was when the fraternity invited a sorority over for dinner and the sharing of a few beers.&nbsp; At this time we had a full time cook and a house mother, and so the happening was well chaperoned making it perfectly legal.&nbsp; I called Mary Ann, who was a senior, and she was happy to accept my invitation with only one catch; I had to come to the Chi Omega formal, which she would be in charge of, as her date.&nbsp; Well, I kind of suspected that would be dullsville but I agreed to do it anyway.&nbsp; As it turned out, I was right.&nbsp; At her dance she was gone half the time checking on this or that, whatever.&nbsp; I felt like a wallflower.&nbsp; I was polite and didn't complain because Miami Triad was just two weeks away.&nbsp; I didn't want to look for another date. 
 
 Finally, the big day arrived.&nbsp; I hadn't had much sleep the night before just thinking about seeing Louis.&nbsp; I had gathered together a big stack of stuff I was hoping to get autographed.&nbsp; I had several albums of 45s, a couple of LPs and several magazines that had record reviews by me of his reissues in them, just to name a few.&nbsp; I picked up my date and we walked over to the Hotel which was in the first block off the Capital Square on West Washington Avenue.&nbsp; There we joined several of my buddies and their dates to eat dinner before the dance.&nbsp; When we finished our dinner, it was time to get up to the ballroom.&nbsp; We entered it and I was really impressed.&nbsp; I had never been there before.&nbsp; It indeed was a crystal ballroom.&nbsp; It had one large crystal chandelier in the center that revolved with different colored lights playing on it.&nbsp; Surrounding it in the rest of the room were evenly spaced smaller chandeliers that did not revolve and had their own lights.&nbsp; On the bandstand the band boy was setting up the drums, and the sound man was arranging the microphones.&nbsp; The band boy went over to one of the mikes and on a chair next to it he placed a tall stack of fresh, clean white handkerchiefs.&nbsp; The enlightened among us knew what they were for. 
 
In 1939 or 1940 Louis had given up his big band and returned to a small band format.&nbsp; For a while he had Kid Ory on trombone and later Jack Teagarden replaced him when he left for the west coast during the war.&nbsp; Jack needed the work as his big band had failed.&nbsp; Originally he had Big Sid Catlett on drums but he died.&nbsp; The band's personnel at this time was Louis on trumpet, Trummy Young on trombone, Barney Bigard on Clarinet, Billy Kyle on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass and Barrett Deems on drums.&nbsp; The singer was Velma Middleton. 
 
I left my stack of goodies on a chair against the wall and we strolled over in front of the bandstand.&nbsp; Mary Ann had her program and didn't know anything about the band.&nbsp; I was explaining things to her when Billy Kyle came out and sat down at the piano.&nbsp; He played it for a while to see if it was tuned properly.&nbsp; Barrett Deems came out and sat down behind the drums.&nbsp; He was making adjustments when Arvell Shaw came out followed by Trummy Young and Barney Bigard.&nbsp; I was getting more excited by the second.&nbsp; Finally Louis came out carrying his gleaming brass trumpet.&nbsp; By now everyone had gathered in front of the bandstand, and a big cheer went up.&nbsp; The band warmed up for a minute and then launched into his theme song.&nbsp; It was&nbsp; the slow "Sleepy Time Down South", and we all started to dance.&nbsp; After the theme song, Louis introduced himself saying, "Good evening, ladies and gentleman, I'm Louis Armstrong, here to play for your dancing pleasure."&nbsp; My heart was racing at a thousand beats a second. 
 
After the second number which had been an upbeat tune, he introduced the rest of the band one by one.&nbsp; When he introduced Billy Kyle he referred to him as "Liberace in technicolor."&nbsp; This,&nbsp; drew a big laugh.&nbsp; The band played a couple of more dance tunes, but Louis was playing and singing so well, we began to gather in front of the stand and listen instead of dancing.&nbsp; He was at one of his heavy stages and had a little pot belly.&nbsp; When he sang he simply exuded happiness, and I stood there enthralled with a big smile on my face.&nbsp; I couldn't believe how well he sounded on trumpet.&nbsp; He sounded just like he did in the 20s.&nbsp; I had thought that an old man like him at 52 would have lost his lip.&nbsp; Soon we were all standing around the bandstand.&nbsp; He asked us if we wanted to dance or listen to music, and we all opted for music.&nbsp; So he said, "Well, if you don't want to dance, we'll play some good ol' Jazz numbers, fer ya."&nbsp; We all cheered, and everybody sat down on the dance floor in a large semicircle.&nbsp; He then brought out Velma and they proceeded with some of their concert routines, which brought down the house.&nbsp; For the rest of the evening we had our own private Louis Armstrong Concert. 
 
After playing for over an hour the band took a break.&nbsp; Louis and his manager stayed up on the stand and were talking to some of the people.&nbsp; Mary Ann wanted me to take her down to the bar where most of the partygoers had gone.&nbsp; I said that I wanted to talk to Louis, and besides I wasn't twenty-one and they didn't know me.&nbsp; She was a little upset but went down by herself.&nbsp; I picked up my pile of items to be autographed and approached the bandstand.&nbsp; I introduced myself to Louis and asked if I could have his autograph, and he&nbsp; said, "Sure."&nbsp; One by one I handed the albums, the magazines and the program to him for signing.&nbsp; After each one he looked a little bit disconcerted as I handed him another item.&nbsp; He was sweating profusely at this time. With just one more item left, I looked at him and said, "I have waited a long time for this moment, Louis." 
 
He paused, reached down, grabbed one of the handkerchiefs and wiped his brow.&nbsp; When he removed the handkerchief, he had a big toothy smile on his face and said, in his gravely voice, "Ya have?" 
 
I took my stuff over to the chair again, and people began returning to the ballroom from the bar, including Mary Ann.&nbsp; I told her that I had talked to Louis, and she did not seem impressed.&nbsp; She began chiding me for neglecting her.&nbsp; I put up my hands and said, "Whoa!"&nbsp; I then informed her that after the way she had neglected me at her formal, she had no right to complain. Besides, Louis Armstrong was more important to me at this time than anything else.&nbsp; She became quiet and we enjoyed the rest of the concert. 
 
After, the concert we joined several of my buddies and their dates.&nbsp; We found out the band was staying at the hotel. Louis had been following a policy of not playing where he couldn't stay.&nbsp; We were informed at the desk that Louis was not to be disturbed under any circumstances.&nbsp; However, we did find out what floor he was on and that Barney Bigard had a room nearby.&nbsp; We honored Louis' request but found Barney's room.&nbsp; We pounded on the door and he said, "Come in."&nbsp; He was already in bed, and we immediately apologized.&nbsp; As we started to leave, he said, " No, no, please stay."&nbsp; He was very pleasant with a warm smile which offset his receding hairline.&nbsp; Some of the girls sat in the available chairs, but the rest of us stood around the foot of the bed.&nbsp; We were eager to hear about his days playing with Duke Ellington as he had been one of the original members of the band.&nbsp; He was telling us a story when there was a pounding on a door down the hall.&nbsp; Apparently two kids from Madison, not connected to the party, had found Louis' room and wanted his autograph.&nbsp; We heard the familiar gravely voice explain that he was tired but obliged them and sent them on their way. 
 
Our attention returned to Barney and somehow, I don't know why, the conversation got around to religion.&nbsp; My date perked right up when he said that he had been an altar boy in New Orleans where he grew up, but had not been to church for years and had more or less rejected his religion.&nbsp; Mary Ann, being a good Catholic, came to the defense of the Church.&nbsp; The argument dominated the remainder of our time with Barney.&nbsp; No more Duke Ellington stories; much to our chagrin.&nbsp; We then left the hotel, and I walked Mary Ann back to the Chi Omega house.&nbsp; The next day my friends asked me who the heck my date was, and I apologized profusely.&nbsp; Needless to say, I never had another date with Mary Ann McKinley. </HTML>

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