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The Cadillac in Bloom |
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Woodward, the trombone player and we opened up the Wayside Park at Leek's Lake * out in Watts County. There we could stay open all night. Wayside Park is the place King Oliver made much fame in later when I introduced him there in April, 1922.
A very, very funny incident occurred at this time. Bill Johnson and I decided to bring a real New Orleans band to the coast in order to build Leek's Lake up. We sent home for Buddy Petit, Frankie Dusen, and Wade Waley. We knew they would arrive in the antiquated dress habitual to New Orleans musicians, their instruments all taped up to keep them airtight and Waley's clarinet in his back pocket. So we decided to bring them in town secretiv.
Bill and I met them at the station in his long MacFarland and, sure enough, they were wearing those boxback coats and those trousers, so tight you couldn't button the top button. We asked them where were their instruments? Buddy's comet was in his suitcase. Part of Dusen's trombone was wrapped in newspaper and Waley's clarinet was in his pocket. We were afraid somebody would see them and think they were clowns, so we rushed them to the tailors and put them in some decent-looking clothes. Man, they wanted to kill us for making them change their suits, which they thought was very, very much in the mode.
But, man, those guys could really play. Petit was second only to Keppard on the comet, had tremendous power in all registers and great ideas. He was a slow reader, but if the tune was played off first, he would pick up his part so fast no one knew he couldn't read. And, as for Dusen, he was the best there was at that time on trombone. So we had a very hot five-piece band and made plenty money—$75 a night and the tips doubled the salaries.
But those guys couldn't get used to all that money. They
* Reb Spikes says . . .
"I built up Leek's Lake out in Watts. Made a pile of money, too. They call It Wayside Park today, but it's still Leek's Lake to me" |
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