THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF KEITH MALCOLM HUNT
Part Three
I’m going back over my childhood to my upper teens in my music life.
My Dad had records, the old carbon type, so I was born into parents who loved music. Both my Dad and Mom were good singers. My Dad had super rhythm— he could play the spoons [yes those you have in the kitchen with knives and forks] like terrific. So not really surprising I found at age 8, 9, 10, I had a good singing voice, and loved to sing songs from movie musicals I saw at the movie house. There was this British guy called George Formby, a comic guy. He made lots of movies and would sing these nice silly songs and strum on his uke-banjo. It was like a regular banjo but had a much shorter neck.
I turned 9 in September and requested for Christmas a uke-banjo.
I was not disappointed, my parents did buy we one. It was one of the very best Christmas gifts I was ever given. It came with a nice case and a music book with George Formby songs; the chords above the words. I set about learning all the basic chords.
I payed on that instrument till I was 11 years old.
Then came this man on TV who played the guitar, lead guitar as it is know called. His name was Bert Weedon. He played guitar in this popular Dance Band, and now and again because he was so talented at picking the guitar, they would feature him playing a song now and again. He was
masterful. Then he would show up on the radio backing up singers. Then the early days of Rock’ n Roll came into being. Bert left the Dance Band and formed his own quartet. They played all over the place—— TV, radio, night clubs around England and Wales. He loved playing jazz. So Rock’ n Roll gave him his outlet to just rip-it-up on the guitar. The electric guitar had come into being. Bert was a hit everywhere.
I wanted to learn the guitar Bert Weedon style. He also had a masterful unique sound playing love songs. So I was even more impressed.
I told my Dad I wanted a guitar. He said, “Okay we give you pocket money, save up for one.”
My parents did not spoil me as an only child.
I had seen a guitar in the music store down town. I walked in and asked the guy if he would keep it for me, as it would take about 4 or 5 weeks for me to save up the money, he said, “Sure thing I can do that for you.” And he did. About 5 weeks later the guitar was mine. I got a Bert Weedon guitar instruction book and set about learning. I was also taking music in school, which helped a great deal.
I was about 13 when my “voice broke” as we would say. I could no longer sing, and knew it would be a few years or so before my voice would come back to me as an adult voice.
At the same time in Britain there was this man yodeling cowboy sings, and love songs with a falsetto like from another world as some music critic would say. His name was Slim Whitman from the USA. My Mom brought home some of his big hits, the old carbon 78 records. Well I thought he was the greatest, and immediately became a loyal fan, as I am to this very day. Back then he had this guy in his band playing the Steel Guitar [you play it with a steal bar on the strings like they do for Hawaiian music]. This guy had a sound on the Steel guitar that was unique. Now I wanted to learn to play the Steel Guitar.
There was an ad in the paper from a Music School in London that would teach you to play just about any musical instrument, and yes, they had a course for me on the Steel Guitar. Wow…. That course was fantastic. It taught me how to play from regular piano music, and a whole lot more.
So for my middle teenage years I was busy learning to play both the regular guitar like Bert Weedon, and the Steel guitar, and music to boot.
Those music years were just super, and not knowing then, but they would come handy in my future young adult life.
There was one more great experience for me in my teen years.
I was doing a little song in front of my “church” audience for a fun night—— The Little Lady who swallowed a Fly—- a comic song. I was about 12 or 13 at the time. Unknown to me there was a lady in the audience who was looking to replace her son in her charity “concert party”—— many young ones doing funny skits, singing songs, reading nice poems, and some dancing girls. A few days later she asked me to come and see her. She explained about her concert party, and how they went by coach to different churches around the area, some close by and others further way, to give them entertainment. Mrs Storey was her name. She asked me if I would be interested in joining her group. I said yes I would.
The concert party acting was great, and I loved doing the skits.
Then some months later she told me she was an “Elocution” teacher. That is the skill of pronouncing words correctly, it was the “Queen’s English” as Queen Elizabeth took elocution lessons to speak the way she does; the Queen was not born speaking like that. So when you hear her speak, that is from having elocution lessons.
Mrs. Storey wanted me to take elocution lessons from her. I said okay. It was quite the experience for the next number of years, I think till I was about 16. She taught me to recite long and short poems, and just general acting abilities. I went in for elocution exams and was always in the top 90s. I won some competitions along the way. And still have my diplomas, through the various grades.
My teenage years with sports, athletics, learning music, learning the guitar, and steel guitar, lessons in speech, and acting, was far from boring, far indeed. My teen years were a huge learning curve. And I enjoyed every minute of it.
And remember through all of this I was a dedicated Church and Sunday school attender. I loved the word of God, and the teachings of Jesus in the four Gospels.
More to say on all of that and another large regular part of my teenage life, next time.
………………..
No comments:
Post a Comment