draft: kay l. wicker reel i (only)-summary june 17,...

Kid Thomas Valentine Draft: Kay L. WickerReel I (only)-Summary Check: Richard B. AlienJune 17, 1969 Retype: Kay L. Wicker

Date Completed: August 2, 1980

Also present: Richard B. AlienLars EdegranBarry Martyn ,*

Kid Thomas started working with Eiaile Barnes around 1941.

KT had Steve Angrum when "we first had our band. " After SA left,

KT hired Barnes. See photo with "Tit" [pronounced as in "petite"]

Rouchon, KT, SA. This was before the depression [i.e., October/

1929]. They used to play on the lake "and everywhere." It was

KT's band. The oldest man in the band played the bass [therefore,

TR? RBA/ June 21, 1980] CTR?] asked members of the band for their.

names. He said "those names don't fit." KT, w"ho was young, said

his name was "Thomas," so TR named the band "Kid Thomas' band."

That's tnow KT got the name "Kid Few people know his name is11.

0104 Valentine. This band played "ragtime/" [i.e.], jazz. The band

with TR and SA used no music then.

Robert and Edmond Hall, KT and others [in Reserve, Louisiana]

taught themselves. LIE asks about the music stand in the photo-

graph. KT studied with Manuel Manetta. RBA says that Charlie

DeVore told him that KT has studied the Arban method [of trumpet

playing]. KT has a book at home "that thick." RBA says that CD

told him KT had been through the whole book "and that's about as

hard a trumpet method as you're going to find."

125 Emile Barnes was a nice/ kind fellow, but EB would not show

for jobs. He would be on his way to a job and he would meetup

someone who liked to drink. He'd go into a bar and forget about

Kid Thomas ValentineReel I (only)-SummaryJune 17, 1969

the job. "That was the onliest trouble" with EB. "He was a/

darn good clarinet player." He should have been the top clari-+

netist. EB played off and on with KT? he was not regular with

the band. KT used [John] Handy; Edmond Washington/ alto saxophone;

Henry Horton, tenor saxophone (along with the alto saxophonist).

They travelled all over then. [Steve Angrum?] was his last

clarinetist; after that, he used saxophone players. [Cf. KT f

file folder.] EW used to play clarinet; but then he took up

the saxoplione/ "but he had started back on the clarinet again."

Manuel [Paul] has been playing [tenor saxophone] with KT for a

long time.

0173 KT has had a band for fifty years. He never fires a man.

He feels that if you can hold a band together, you'll have a

better band. "Everybody know what they got to do when they get

on the job." People who come to Preservation Hall know when

the band members are not together. Manuel [Paul] and Sammy

[Penn] are the senior members of the band [other than KTV

himself].

0200 KT says he does not play any differently even if the band

behind him is not together. No matter how good a particular

musician is, when he is new in a band/ "he can't play nothin'.'

"He got to sit there and get the understanding,... the style you

play/ you know/ I mean everytining,...before he can get loose."

Cie [Frazier] is not used to playing with KT's band. He subs

for SP. The rhythm of the band is the same - it does not change

the way people dance .


0237 The Saturday before last, KT played at Dixieland Hall with

Eddie Summers, Placide [Adams] and otheEs. The band's time was

bad. The pianist got out of key? "he wanted to make too much on

the piano/ running all over that piano." The clarinetist/ Manuel

Crusto/ came by Preservation Hall one night and played with the

band. He played nice clarinet, but he just wasn't used to tlie

band. "Fat Man" [Dave Williams] plays piano at Dixieland Hall.

DW would like to play with KT. [DW?] says the fellows at Dixie-

land Hall "don't play no jazz KT doesn't like to play withII»

[other?] bands .

0270 KT likes to play for dancing rather than listening. KT

does not play a different tempi for dancing. He will play tunes

in a variety of tempi: a slow fox trot, a waltz, etc. You get

more of a kick out of playing for dancing because you can play

all types of music. KT doesn't like playing concerts because

one plays only one type of music. It refreshes his memory when

[different?] tunes are played. Waltz^ are the prettiest thing

in music. People would laugh at you if you played a waltz [at a

concert?]. WTnen KT was in California for three weeks, they played

for dancing. They had a nice dance floor. "Most of them boys"

play for dancing out there. KT really liked it out there. He

was there with Bill Bissonet [sp?] at Turk Murphy's club.

0312 Reuben Roddy, from Kansas City, played a different style

of saxophone. KT says RR did play a different style/ but with


the same beat. Everybody plays a different style, that's why

"you got to get acquainted" with each musician's style. KT

gets musicians through [his musicians] on the other side of

the river [from Algiers]. Sammy [Penn] got [Louis] Nelson for

him [RESTRICTION: when Nelson was drinking all that wine END.

OF RESTRICTION]. Burke [Stevenson] was playing bass with KT

then *

0345 Sam Charters and Dr. Pepper from France recorded KT's band.

KT describes [Speck's Moulin Rouge?] : The bandstand faced the

wall toward the river. There was a room in the back where they

used to put all the instruments. The room would be locked The

man from France [Dr. Pepper] couldn't speak a word of English,

but he was a nice fellow. Ralph Collins, a friend of Mr. Bill' s

[Bill Russell?] from Canada, told KT that the recording was

out. A threat[ening] letter was written and "a couple of

dollars" were sent by "the "boy RC told KT "that rascal/ man,II.

/

\/ done double-crossed you." There were many things in the book

[SC's book?] that weren't right. "I don't mind tryin' to do

things for people, but man, I'm gonna tell you the truth:

people do you some dirty tricks, man." Mr Bill said it wouldn't.

be worthwhile to sue him since he would cry he didn't have any

money.

0388 " [Grayson "Ken"] Mill[s] was a nice boy, but he did a lot

of smutty things." One night KT's band was playing "over there"

[at what is now Preservation Hall]. [Louis] Nelson or Punch

[Miller] had told KT that G"KI<M had been taping bands and the


bands didn't know he was taping them. The band was playing and KT

had to go back in a little room, and he recogni'zed the tape recorder.

KT could see the red light of the machine in the darlc room. RC

was running the tape machine; KT wondered why he was standing by

the door for so long, stooping down every now and then. KT wasn't

suspicious/ but when he went to the bathroom/ he happened to see

the maclnine. KT told Larry [Borenstein] about it and he raised

somehell. RC had taped up to number four [i.e./ had taped three

reels and was ready to tape the fourth?] . WT-ien the band had an

intermission, he cut the machine off* LB made [RC and G"K"M?]

give him the tapes. [According to George Guesnon/ G"K"M paid

off all his debts. RBA/ August 13, 1971.] KT sold some records.*

to a lady who ran a record shop on Bourbon Street "just -past the

corner" and he found out from her that G"K"M still had one tape

of KT's band. The lady offered to help KT.

3436 LB, who was living upstairs on Bourbon [Street]/ asked KT

to come to his house one evening, but he wouldn't tell him why.

He still wouldn't say after KT arrived- LB got out the tape

recorder and played a tape. [LB?] asked "Wliat band is that?"

0446 LB got this tape by accident from G"K"M. "It was comical I

man." A fellow had made a tape of Babe Stovall/ and LB offered

to pay him $100 for it. G"K"M wanted the tape to put it on themarket. LB gave him the tape, but G"K"M didn't do anything with


it so LB asked for the tape back. G"KMM mixed up the tapes,

putting KT's tape in fhe wrong box and gave it to LB. AfterJ

LB got it/ [he gave it to KT and put it in the union office?] .

GIIK"M taped a lot of bands.

0472 KT recorded with Emile Barnes "and them" [under KT's name]/

but not witb KT's [regular] band. [Issued on American Music.]

KT doesn't remember people recording in New Orleans "il^ them

days. "

0481 When KT first had his band, he listened to Louis Armstrong

records. When LA went to Chicago, people didn't have radios .

*

People went to neighbor's houses to hear special programs.

KT likes LA'S playing above all trumpet players, but he doesn't

play like LA. KT plays his own style. KT learned some songs

off of records/ but he learned "Confessin*" from Edmond Washing-

ton, who used to sing it.

0512 KT played various country towns like Raceland/ Lockport,

Golden Meadow, Grand Isle, TTnibodeaux, Houma and Baton Rouge.

[Specks Rodriguez] started running dances at the Moulin Rouge

during the war [World War II]. They played at Raceland on

Saturdays. Wilfred Bocage "and them" had a job at Napoleon and

Tc'houpitoulas. "This boy" had a bar room/ a nice place. KT

replaced WB's band there, playing Monday through Friday. Right

after that, the war broke out. They had played for SR before.


During the war time, it was hard to get lumber, and SR wanted^'

to build a dance hall. He went all over buying used lumber..*

Joe James [KT's piano player], who lived up there [near the

Moulin Rouge]/ got the job for KT at Speck's. He wanted a big

band. KT's band then included: KT/ trumpet? JJ\ piano; "Rodney"

[Reuben Roddy?], alto saxophone; Burke [Stevenson/ bass]; Albert

Jackson, trombone; Jimmy Davis, [plays bass with Fats Domino/

played guitar with KT]7 and Ernest Roubleau [electric guitar or

banjo?]. [Two guitar players?] KT tells people/ "I may look

dumb, but I'm not that dumb;" They were working at the Moulin

Rouge every night. The [musician's] union "was after" KT to

join/ but he didn't want to. KT had more work than he could

play; he had jobs to give them.'

)572 When songs were requested/ if KT's band didn't know them

at that time, they would learn them by the next Saturday. KT

bought [sheet music so they could learn new tunes?] People

expect bands to play new tunes; they don't want to hear the

same things all the time. KT used two saxophones.

0588 Andrew Morgan played with KT; Henry Russ, drums, and Elton

Theodore, banjo/ were in the band at that time also. The band

split up. KT left it. KT [found?] the band when he came here

and built the band up/ but he was double crossed. They used

to play "all down the bayou/" in Lockport. [Members of the band?]


started knocking KT/ but people told them they couldn't hurt

KT. That man [?] wouldn't hire [KT's former?] band any more.

Henry Russ switched to trumpet. HR played trumpet, drums and

bass. The newly formed band didn't last long.

0615 Specks first had a dance hall called the Rose Room on

[Silver Lily Lane?] where RBA [saw] cows "second line." [Charlie

DeVore has a film of Uiis.'.* RBA] The first time they played

there it was a house [and?] a grocery. There was bootleg liquor

in tliose days. KT, W^ilfred [Bocage?] and Joe James played

there. SR gave parties for "colored" for a month and then for

0634 white. He settled on white as the best business. Business

picked up. The fellow who owned the place was Italian SR.

got money to build the Rose Room. The owner of the place [on

Silver Lily Lane?] double crossed SR. He sold the Rose Room

to another white fellow. That's why SR had to build the Moulin

Rouge "What-cha-call-it" played at the Cocoanut Grove. [Note.

0660 on tape box: Unknown...was a drummer.]

END OF INTERVIEW

draft: kay l. wicker reel i (only)-summary june 17,...

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