Author: elvisgumby

My mom developed a close relationship with the owners of the music store where she bought sheet music and lesson books for her piano students.  At one point, she worked out a deal with them where they placed an electric organ in our house for demonstration purposes.  If someone came to our house and ended… Continue reading Playing Organ Music at the Mall

As I was growing up, I continued to pick around on the piano. Occasionally, my mom would start giving me lessons, but I never stuck with them for very long. I wasn’t disciplined enough to stick with practicing the easy songs that were necessary to develop skills needed to play more complicated music.  When I… Continue reading Bass and Chords

I don’t know where my first guitar came from.  I suspect that my mom got it from the music store where she bought sheet music when she gave piano lessons. I remember getting a Mel Bay guitar instruction book that showed some simple instructions and chords.  As with most other instruments, I would teach myself… Continue reading My First Guitars

I had my first experience in band in the 5th grade.  I played trombone.  I don’t remember why I played trombone.  It wasn’t like I wanted to play the trombone. I remember that the trombone that I played was provided by the school. I don’t think I was never excited about the trombone, but I… Continue reading Trombone

My mom had a ukulele that sat in a shelf the headboard of my parent’s bed.  The headboard had the shelf and two sliding doors on either side of this shelf for storage.  I thought of it as a little guitar decoration for their bedroom and not a legitimate musical instrument.  At some point when… Continue reading Mom’s Ukulele

In my previous posts, I talked about singing with my cousin Sammy and that he was an outstanding singer.  He won the youth talent contest at the Mid-South Fair in Memphis one year singing How Great Thou Art.  Because he won this contest, he got to travel to New York City and perform on a… Continue reading Seeing Sammy on TV

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,… Continue reading Singing with Sammy

I was 6 years old when Johnny Cash’s live album At Folsom Prison was released. While it was my parents’ album, I listened to it almost all the time.  Folsom Prison Blues isn’t a kid’s song, but it became one of my favorites. At the time, I wasn’t playing the piano.  Mom might have started… Continue reading Playing Folsom Prison Blues