My cousin Sammy lived next door to us. Sammy has an outstanding voice. I mentioned in an earlier post that Sammy and I sang together around the house and occasionally at church. Sammy was several years older than me. When we first started singing together, my mom played piano for us. In a few years, Sammy started playing for us to sing. Sammy attended a Baptist church, and I went to a Methodist church. People contacted Sammy to sing at church services and revivals and I started out more as a tag along.
Early on, I remember Sammy taking me to the Baptist church. The only microphone they had was in the pulpit and I had to stand on a chair to get to it. I remember singing a solo during that visit, but I don’t remember what I sang. I do remember the pastor sharing with the congregation a conversation we had before the service started where he was asking me about how I learned to sing. I told him that if I could read the words, I could sing the song. This was well before I could read music. I was still singing melodies from memory.
One day when Sammy and I were singing, I started singing a harmony part. I had no idea what I was doing, I just sang notes that sounded good with whatever Sammy was singing. Sammy started selecting songs that were good for our voices. We started singing together more and more. The main things I learned while singing with Sammy were more confidence in front of an audience and how to sing harmony.
It was also during this time that I picked up my first harmonicas that weren’t just toys. I would occasionally play harmonica while Sammy accompanied me on piano. It would be years before I learned anything other than the simplest techniques on a harmonica. Even today, I don’t play anything that difficult, but I have learned how to play more of a blues style. But my first real experience with a harmonica was while I was singing with Sammy.
