In 1960, I was stationed in Fort Benning, GA. Albert had mailed me a fiddle to play, and I would jam in the barracks with other musicians. A master sergeant had done U.S.O tours and was trying to organize a new group, he had part of his old band, and was trying to get some new members. He hit me up about playing the fiddle with the new group. There were a couple guitar players, a steel player and a doghouse bass in the band. The steel player was quite good and had performed on the Louisiana Hayride.
We went to Columbus, GA to play for a dance. It was a big place and it had a bar, and people were getting about loaded. The master sergeant came in with two new members, a drummer and girl singer. I didn't know them, but one of the guitarists in the band said, "Oh no, here he comes with that drummer again, he can't keep time. And that girl singer, in place of going higher in pitch, she just gets louder!"
So, we got set up to play. They had a small stage with steps on it; the front line was right level with the dance floor. They set the drummer up higher on the back of the stage. We started playing for a square dance, we were playing "Ragtime Annie". The guitar player kept saying the drummer is getting out of whack, we need to do something different. I noticed he quit playing, and went in the back, and saw him talking to the drummer. I just kept playing, but I heard the drummer holler, "If you don't like it that way, then you do it!" Directly, the guitarist and drummer rolled off the stage steps a-fighting. The rest of the band kept playing, and first thing we knew, the crowd had started throwing bottles and fighting, too. One of the dancers passed by where I was fiddling, and grabbed the microphone that I was playing with. It had a long chord, and he started swinging it around and around over his head. One of the guitar players that I rode there with came up to me with his guitar case all latched up and told me, "Get your fiddle case now, let's get out of here. The law will be in here soon."
Well, we got out of there and went back to the base. The master sergeant didn't show up for a day or two because he had landed in jail, and that put an end to the army band.
We went to Columbus, GA to play for a dance. It was a big place and it had a bar, and people were getting about loaded. The master sergeant came in with two new members, a drummer and girl singer. I didn't know them, but one of the guitarists in the band said, "Oh no, here he comes with that drummer again, he can't keep time. And that girl singer, in place of going higher in pitch, she just gets louder!"
So, we got set up to play. They had a small stage with steps on it; the front line was right level with the dance floor. They set the drummer up higher on the back of the stage. We started playing for a square dance, we were playing "Ragtime Annie". The guitar player kept saying the drummer is getting out of whack, we need to do something different. I noticed he quit playing, and went in the back, and saw him talking to the drummer. I just kept playing, but I heard the drummer holler, "If you don't like it that way, then you do it!" Directly, the guitarist and drummer rolled off the stage steps a-fighting. The rest of the band kept playing, and first thing we knew, the crowd had started throwing bottles and fighting, too. One of the dancers passed by where I was fiddling, and grabbed the microphone that I was playing with. It had a long chord, and he started swinging it around and around over his head. One of the guitar players that I rode there with came up to me with his guitar case all latched up and told me, "Get your fiddle case now, let's get out of here. The law will be in here soon."
Well, we got out of there and went back to the base. The master sergeant didn't show up for a day or two because he had landed in jail, and that put an end to the army band.