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The day of the famous march over the Pettus Bridge saw me on the flight-line at 05h00 being told that if any of "us" were ever caught supporting these "Radicals", that we would have a lot to deal with. I was then transferred to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi to now become a Medical Material Specialist (AFC 1683). I now had a room which I shared with another person.. I was able to get a Thorens turn table and a Bogen Tube amplifier with great speakers and finally be able to hear some music. My room was called "Alhambra" and one could always hear the sounds of Miles, Monk, Dizzy, Coltrane, The Messengers, Sarah, Dinah, Ella and a host of others. Then the day came when the bass-bug came and bit me. I was walking back to the base from Biloxi when I passed a shop that had this big dark brown colored bass in the window. I asked the man how much was the instrument and he told me that |
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was 150 dollars. I then asked if I could pay on time and if one could take lessons in the shop. He said yes and that he would arrange for me to take lessons. Unfortunately in Mississippi at that time, there were not many "whites" who wanted to teach "blacks" about music even though I bought an instrument, once it was paid for, I was history and they didn't want to see me anymore. So I practiced everyday, at first a minimum of three hours per day, everyday at the same time. |
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