Instead of writing about my exploits, I thought that, for posterity, I would mention some of the musicians that I worked with, or knew, around the Birmingham area in the late 1940's & early 50's.
Bill Bullock Band was at the Mermaid Hotel, in Sparkbrook, with the wonderful Alex Jewson on tenor sax & clarinet. Alex would also, on occasions, play piano, and when I played at the Mermaid, with the band, Alex would turn to me, with a mischievous look in his eye, and say "Lets jazz it up a bit".
Basil Stuteley, alto sax, was at the Springfield Ball in Sparkhill, and also worked in Yardley's Music Shop, with Trevor Emeny (tenor sax) and Cecil Viles, (trumpet).
Jackie Nunn, the excellent lead trumpet with the Sonny Rose Band, at the West End Ballroom, was, before that, lead trumpet with the Ronnie Hancox Band, who had Susan Maugham (Bobby's Girl), as featured singer. Jackie was fired for telling Ronnie that he did not know how to run a band. Ronnie has his very own band coach, which, like everything else associated with the band, was painted cream & blue, and Ronnie was very well organized.
One night we were returning from a gig, somewhere in the Wolverhampton area, raining 'cats & dogs' and on the Hagley Road, at the traffic lights, there was Jackie, on his bicycle returning from a gig. We pulled him on board, with bike. he looked like a drowned rat, and spent the rest of the journey telling us all that Ronnie had no idea of how to run a band!!! That was Jackie.
In the 1940's Leslie Douglas was at the Tower Ballroom, and like Eric Hill, at the Masque Ballroom on Walford Road, Sparkbrook, they would visit Kay Westworths sheet music department, to buy band orchestrations.
Another big name of the day was the Hedley Ward Band, who had Stan Poole on tenor, with whom I later worked with.
There was also the offshoot of the band, the Hedley Ward Trio (Derek Franklyn (bass), I think he later married Beryl Reid, Bob Carter (piano) & Jack McKechnie (guitar). Jack and I became great friends, and he would tell many funny stories of 'life on the road'. Later in his life, Jack opened a music shop in Dudley, almost opposite the zoo.
Enough for now.
Eddie