[Dixielandjazz] Blind efficiency

[Charlie Hooks]

on 11/2/02 1:09 PM, Nancy Giffin at nancyink@ulink.net wrote:

> George Buck is blind. He
> said that one time, he went to see George in New Orleans, and no matter what
> he asked for, George was able to walk straight to it in that huge warehouse
> of Jazzology Records. They went upstairs to find something, and my friend
> had to say, "George, for Chr_st's sake! Turn on some f_cking lights!!!"


    John Teachout, the fine banjo/guitarist/trombonist from Ann Arbor,
Michigan, was blinded during WWII but had so overcome his affliction that it
was often difficult to remember he was blind, and you'd find yourself in a
cloak room asking John to "Hey, man, hand me my coat."

    One night 5 of us are travelling to a gig up really out in the
boondocks, a rural road through a forest with absolutely no light at all,
and sure enough we get a flat.  No flashlight.  Matches soon depleted.  The
guys are rumbling around in the trunk, trying to find the jack, stepping all
over each other in the dark, when we hear this laugh start up.  John is
cackling. 

    "No lights?  Aw, you poor poor guys!  What a buncha helpless...OK, move
out of my way..."  And within 15 minutes John had the car jacked up, the
wheel off and the spare on, car back down--and we still haven't seen him do
it.  We all pile back into the car and John keeps muttering, "What would you
guys do without me?"

    One of my favorite memories.

Charlie