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touch solid ground until i was three or so proof that even then before you could walk the rhythm was already in your hands some families pass down land or money a name carved into a building cornerstone or a legacy that follows them through generations mine is passed down as a sound a long unbroken line of strings vibrating against fine old wood and so the question was never how i became a musician the real wonder is how i could not become anything else the great depression settled on the land especially the midwest from the dakotas to the bottom of texas misery was in every mouthful of whatever families could scrape together for a meal my grandparents loaded their dilapidated car with whatever scraps of a life they could carry tucking them into corners already crowded with worry they pulled away from fort worth in the hard years of the early 1930s when work had vanished like water in a dry creek bed and the dust from the panhandle settled over the city in a fine punishing veil folks walked with their shoulders bent not from age but from the heaviness of days that offered little and took much in those times every family felt the pinch of hunger and the quiet shame of wanting more than the land and the cities could give so they turned their eyes westward toward a place they d only heard about in stories a place where the air was said to be softer and smelled of blossoms the work steadier and opportunity flowed like milk and honey for anyone brave enough to chase it like the frivolous dancing girls in the unrealistic movies echoed we re in the money come to california and all will be healed my brother and happiness will be here again for many it was their salvation for even more it was their waterloo the journey was a gritty trial more than once my grandparents aspirations lay shattered within the confines of the bloated car harsh words blame and unforgiveness forced the old ford to veer back eastward yet practicality prevailed and the road west stretched ahead once more route 66 at times transformed into a mere gravel and dirt dog track its ruts so deep they could swallow a child never to be seen again just beyond the border patrol in needles california my grandfather clad now in the worn label of an okie picked up an elderly blind bluesman and his tiny chihuahua supposedly his seeing eye dog still the dog possessed one good eye so his loyalty only went so far they were fleeing from the shadows of deep ellum in dallas texas where the blind bluesman in a pay dispute had shot six folks in a bar at the aimining direction of the small dog all the patrons were wounded and the wrongdoer escaped unharmed that chance encounter would shape the souls of all within that car threading their lives together in an unbreakable bond forged by hardship and hope after depositing the old blues singer blind jelly roll jackson at sister amiee mcpherson s downtown los angeles mission church my grandfather encountered a couple who sensed his need and subtle transformation i have always believed that angels walk among us most days though they sometimes take a leave of absence for their own reasons in that moment of serendipity my grandfather s guardian angel appeared in the passenger seat beside him illuminating the path with a chance encounter that offered help and guidance from above he forged a friendship secured an unimaginable job found a modest home to rent and within weeks bestowed upon his family the very gifts of life he had only dared to dream of god is awesome but he sometimes requires his angels to carry that extra pat of butter in their rucksack for special times around the age of ten or eleven my father johnny expressed interest in learning the instrument my grandfather showed him the basics then handed him off to a retired high school music teacher on their block who gave him violin lessons in exchange for mowing weeding and odd jobs a 5 pawn shop violin was purchased and tutelage began within a few weeks he could read music had learned the notes on the fretboard and could play a few simple tunes most nights grandfather would sit on their front porch and play his father s old 1812 german made fiddle while spinning yarns to anyone who would listen he was a master of texas dichos and with each jig he played there would be a life s lesson or a tall tale to accompany the tune many nights would find a dozen folks sitting on the front lawn listening to his fiddle and his tall tales all of it seemed to fit in life s complex package every fiddle carried the tales of heartache and hope real or imagined around the age of thirteen my father found himself among a group of schoolboys who in their youthful exuberance formed a string band that echoed the sounds of their dreams they wanted to be country musicians like the ones they listened to on kuzz the famous country radio station out of bakersfield california my father wielded the fiddle the others accompanied with a stand up bass a tenor banjo and a guitar perpetually missing a string creating an element of embarrassment and laughter none of the young lads had the gift of a soothing voice to uplift their spirits so my grandfather with the wisdom of a man with a good musical ear recalled the old black blues man he had once deposited at sister aimee s mission in downtown l a a few calls were made a meeting set and the boys were graced by the presence of blind jelly roll jackson accompanied by his loyal chihuahua giblet whose single keen eye began to see beyond the darkness blind jelly with the patience and kindness of a seasoned mentor accepted their earnest offer to perform insisting that a young cajun girl from the church choir that he had grown fond of join them a girl whose voice could lift the very rafters off their hinges le petite fromage though barely five feet tall could sing with a strength that belied her tiny stature as they gathered on the strawn s front porch for their first rehearsal the band realized they needed a name le petite proposed blind faith inspired by blind jelly s newfound devotion to jesus and the church and his obvious disability sister aimee her spirit both stern and forgiving had an off kilter sense of humor and deemed the name tinged with a slight touch of blasphemy yet offered her blessing recognizing the earnestness in their hearts the band was born a new type of country texas style cajun infused jesus music had arrived without an organ or big hair an edgy choir and it hit los angeles like a super chief express train from fort worth word of their talent reached every corner of the church community a bustling hive of activity every weekend filled with the laughter of children at birthday parties the fierce spirit of chicken fights the tender moments of school dances and the somber gatherings of a few funerals on lazy sunday afternoons they would often spill out onto the sun warmed corner outside the church entertaining any who would stop for a listen le petite s father baby boy fromage a nickname given to him because of his stature brought his band the chigger bayou boys to los angeles driven by an urgent need to escape the depression drought of paying jobs in louisiana texas and oklahoma he hoped that the burgeoning migration to bakersfield might present a new opportunity his unique blend of cajun country alligator tunes skeeter swatting antics and the camaraderie of beer drinking seemed to resonate with the californian spirit and for a time it flourished meanwhile le petite found her own path joining sister aimee s church choir which divinely led to a deepening friendship with blind jelly roll this bond blossomed into the formation of their band blind faith as if fate itself had conspired to align their destinies just right bob wills a spirited and legendary member of the light crust doughboys from fort worth texas traversed the country in a bus on a well financed quest to promote the finest flour known to man light crust flour milled in fort worth texas it was baby boy fromage father of le petite who journeyed with his band from the marshy chigger bayou louisiana to bakersfield where the heart of california s country music pulsed with life he orchestrated a thirty minute live radio broadcast for this budding ensemble cleverly pocketing the majority of the earnings it was during this very broadcast that my young teenage father encountered the legendary bob wills whose band had just wrapped up their own live radio performance united by their texas roots they met and ignited a bond with bob assuring my father that upon his return to fort worth he could count on him to swing open the doors to the world of music johnny cherished that promise as did bob both forever marked by the fleeting good grace of opportunity a life long mentorship had been formed when the japs bombed pearl harbor every high school boy in the country wanted to enlist to fight them and hitler three of blind faith joined up then johnny with my grandfather s consent because he was seventeen enlisted in the navy that left blind jelly roll giblet and le peetite who was sweeter by the day on a sax player in the church orchestra in a hurried wedding performed by sister amiee the two returned to chigger bayou to start their family of ten children in 1954 my father in a sweating fit of entrepreneurship purchased a club on jacksboro highway the sunset ballroom between the fights the fort worth mob making it their newest hangout and the payoffs he soon sold it and went back to playing the circuit after serving in the navy in world war 2 and returning from hawaii to fort worth drawn by the unrelenting trysts of his alcoholic mother attempting and failing to be in the nightclub business johnny was desperate but hesitant to bother bob after marrying my mother he did contact him as good as his word bob put his size 12 cowboy boot in many doors that led to the beginning of my father s father s one of the best country fiddle players in the nation the fiddle he played was the very same his father had procured from a pawnbroker s in los angeles though it possessed a certain charm it lacked the warmth and volume of a fine made instrument in a generous gesture bob often invited johnny to perform with the playboys and in turn gifted him a fiddle crafted by an esteemed luthier from fort worth joseph h stamps in november of 1947 bob ever the pragmatist rarely ventured without two or three backups ever mindful of the fragility of strings his hands though skilled bore testament to a life of rough play leaving this instrument with its fair share of scars gouges and scrapes that contributed an unrefined but slightly brutal beauty to its sound one gouge near the bridge was never repaired because it may have affected the tone which to a fiddle is its purpose i have preserved a few sepia toned photographs of him and bob weaving harmonies on twin fiddles and that particular instrument worn yet noble and soaked in history remains in my care i am now even at the old age of seventy seven revisiting its strings having been sidetracked by the allure of guitar since i was twelve and discovered rock n roll music i was like most boys wanting to be elvis presley or carl perkins and neither of them played a fiddle young men make foolish decisions yet my father let my folly continue eventually bob approached my father inviting him to join the texas playboys as his second twin fiddle without a moment s hesitation he accepted this incredible offer much like a weary traveler might grasp at the hope of a warm meal or a sidewalk found wad of cash rolled in a rubber band my mother embodying the spirit of countless wives of musicians shared whispers with the other wives and the tales spun on the circuit painted bob and his crew as a band of unfettered ruffians and rapscallions ahead of their time yet reality was far from those fabrications bob set strict boundaries for his band allowing only a few swigs of hooch on the bus after a show to ease their restless hearts during long nights of travel it was mere gossip yet it fueled a storm within her she planted her feet firmly unleashing a tempest of emotion declaring that if he chose that path she and i would be far away when he returned my father grappling with the weight of his choice made his decision and there were tears in both men s eyes as he told him that he must prioritize family even though such a venture would have freed us from the clutches of borderline poverty by giving him fame and fortune bob chose another young fiddle player from tyler texas johnny gimble who was eventually inducted into the country music hall of fame posthumously in 2018 in later years as adults father and i would share a scotch while he told me stories from his life on the road as a musician i sensed that deep within him he never quite forgave my mother for forcing an imagined and selfish decision on him i believe that her having to deal with his addicted mother was the only reason for her reluctance through the late forties and fifties the old fiddle led the way weaving melodies through the life of a musician there were evenings filled with the long hours of playing for a thousand dancers with ted daffan s band at ted daffan s crystal springs ballroom on lake worth the beer joints on jacksboro and belknap highway and the big d jamboree in dallas where the laughter of dancing feet accompanied the day s tunes western swing was more popular than benny goodman the stork left me on the front porch in september of 1949 so time was of the essence for a young man of talent to mark his spot in life s grass then came a call from an old friend in nashville the renowned guitarist grady martin who rang in with an invitation to join red foley s national television show the ozark jubilee cast in the heart of springfield missouri on abc every saturday night those were the transformative years for country music in the mid 1950s we packed our lives into the car and found ourselves in springfield in less than twenty four hours eager and wide eyed ready to embrace the unknown that awaited us grady and my father became fast friends as did their wives on the days they didn t rehearse for the weekend show grady and he would drive to nashville and do studio work for the top recording stars of the day grady brought my father into the tight fold of the a team the country music version of the wrecking crew in l a he was not yet a full time member but since he and grady were close friends and his musicianship carried him he was accepted the old fiddle sensed the importance and as always pulled through grady worked on all of marty robbins records as well as patsy cline s loretta lynn s johnny cash s the browns hank snow eddy arnold s and almost every popular artist in nashville chet atkins ran the show like a drill sergeant with no tolerance for unprofessionalism i was a child and met most of these famous musicians and singers but my memory is worn out i can t recall who or when though i do recall the famous country singer wand...
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