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Topic: How people used to get good. |
Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 8 Jan 2011 8:24 am |
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From Count Basie's autobiography:
"A piano player named Johnny Montague came down to Asbury Park from New York. He was around town for a while, and I heard him and I knew how good he was. He could play some piano. He could play a whole lot of piano and the word got around, and then when I got to work one night, he was already there at the piano, and I knew exactly what that meant. Nobody had to tell me a thing.
I don't think I even I missed a beat. I just turned and went on into the office and told Mr. Ah Kee that I wanted to work outside parking cars. That was the first time somebody just came in and took a piano gig away from me. And it wasn't the last time. It wasn't even the last time that summer. There were no hard feelings, because that was not considered dirty or underhanded back in those days. That is the way things were, and everybody knew it. If you were playing somewhere and another cat came in there and blew you out, he could take your gig.
Sometimes a guy would come in and you might let him sit in for a couple of numbers, and then he would cut on out and you would forget all about it. But when you came to work the next night, you 'd find that everybody else was already there and the new cat is sitting in your chair. Everybody except you had been notified to get there an hour earlier. There were no unions and contracts back in those days. You were on your own and if some cat cut you, what you had to do was go somewhere you could cut." |
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Paul Sutherland
From:
Placerville, California
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Posted 8 Jan 2011 12:22 pm
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| So much for "the good old days." |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 9 Jan 2011 8:32 am
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| Thanks, Bill. Great story. Kinda keeps things in perspective, IMHO. |
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James Cann
From:
Phoenix, AZ
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Posted 19 Jan 2011 6:17 pm
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Like this one, perhaps?
Anyone who treats another this way deserves no further opportunity or association. |
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Bill McCloskey
From:
Nanuet, NY
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Posted 20 Jan 2011 9:52 am
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James,
I'm not sure I understand your post. |
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Barry Blackwood
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Posted 20 Jan 2011 11:06 am
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| James, did you forget to include the link? |
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James Cann
From:
Phoenix, AZ
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Posted 21 Jan 2011 2:40 pm
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Bill, I was sharing my perspective on this:
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| . . . when you came to work the next night, you 'd find that everybody else was already there and the new cat was sitting in your chair. Everybody except you had been notified to get there an hour earlier. |
I was fired once, by the guy who originally hired me. It hurt then, because I had had a high opinion of the group and enjoyed being part of it; however, his personal phone call 'asking me to step down,' apology, and good wish were decent and considerate.
What happened to Basie was nothing but a cold-blooded, ad hominem setup of an individual, and I don't believe that he wouldn't have felt it. |
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Ellis Miller
From:
Cortez, Colorado, USA
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Posted 23 Jan 2011 8:07 am
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I have never felt that anyone owed me a job. I will go so far as to say they might owe me a phone call.
_________________
Ellis Miller
Don't believe everything you think.
http://www.ellismillermusic.com |
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James Cann
From:
Phoenix, AZ
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Posted 25 Jan 2011 7:51 pm
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| I agree with your first part, Ellis, but for the second, if they are going to fire you, they damn well do owe you a phone call. |
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