“We’re putting the band back together!”
In my younger days I played in a couple of bands doing R&B and Rock n Roll. From childhood,my parents instilled a love of music in me; so when I was invited at age 12 to sing and play the trumpet in a band, I jumped at the opportunity. Playing in that band became the primary source of my identity. I became “Curt Bradford, the guy in the Villagers” During my tour in the Army I was in the US Army Band, but my identity was "Curt Bradford, the trumpet player in the Army band", or “Curt Bradford, the guy in the Columbians”. When I completed my tour of duty, I returned to Union, went into the business world, and re-joined The VIllagers. Most people in Union knew me as the guy in the Villagers who worked at Parker’s.
A lot of the friends I have today became friends while part of those bands. When my cell buzzed the other day, I answered and a familiar voice asked “Is this Paul McCartney?” I knew automatically that it was Tommy Henderson because we used to call each other by John (Lennon) or Paul (McCartney) back in the sixties. (One of my ambitions in the mid sixties was to replace Paul McCartney, however I would have been the first Bald Beatle!) It had been years since Tommy and I had talked yet we picked up as if we had played a gig the night before. After several decades, I still have deep and wonderful relationships with the guys in those bands.
So when GeeGee, The Villagers drummer, called to say we had a “gig” playing for a class reunion, I was somewhat surprised! A gig? After forty years? It was many years ago that I abandoned my trumpet and my futile efforts to sound anything like Otis Redding. After becoming a Christian in the late seventies, I sang Gaither songs and became a Music Minister leading a choir. Then I went to seminary and now I've been a pastor for decades. The Villagers were a sweet memory of a former life.
However… it did excite me just a bit to think of getting the band back together. I still remember the words to most of the old songs and I still move my fingers to the trumpet parts when I'm listening to the oldies station. (Of course when I hear the trumpet parts in songs by Chicago, my fingers lay still because I never got those!)
When we had our first rehearsal, it was a bit “rusty”. Jerry Henderson, who had sung on our famous recording of “Tossin’ and Turnin”, still sang his heart out. (By the way, there are many boxes of that record in someone’s attic gathering dust, because the national masses didn’t listen to WBCU in Union! Who knew?)
I borrowed a trumpet for this gig but it didn’t come with a lip so I’m practicing quite a bit. When I get home in the evenings I pull out the borrowed horn, play a scale and listen to the CD’s Larry Williams made for us of the original recordings. The neighbors have been kind because we’re crazy seniors now!
When I got GeeGee’s call, I thought it might be a sign from the Lord since I am retiring next month from the Lead Pastor role at the church where I’ve been pastor for the last 26 years. Could this be the new career direction for my late sixties? Putting the band back together, people in their sixties playing songs from the sixties, buying a bus, getting matching blazers and going on the road playing at senior citizen dances?
No.
It was fun and it will be fun to play for this reunion. We still have a few months and if we practice three or four times a day every day we will be OK.
But it’s just not who I am any more. I transitioned some years ago from “Curt Bradford, the guy in the Villagers or The Columbians”, to “Curt Bradford, the pastor of Riverbluff Church.”
I thank God for the music, the friends, and the experiences of playing in two bands "back in the day". But I think the only band in my future is the heavenly band where one day I will play and sing again. Hey, maybe even Otis himself will sing “Dock of the Bay”.
Just thinking about…
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