There were some sour notes
My only brother is almost six years my junior so I thought of him as my living baby doll while growing up. By the time I left home we had not formed a grown up relationship. This was to come later. Whenever we have time to talk I love to hear about his years on the road as a musician playing the college circuit as the leader of the Mighty Majors. A band made up of music majors from North Carolina A&T college. Like most people my idea of the music business was one of a fun life style. Little did I know of the hard times my brother went through in the late sixties and seventies traveling the southern roads to go from gig to gig.
I never knew that my brother put his life on the line to pursue his love for music. You have to remember that this was the time when a group of young Black well dressed men in nice cars were a magnet from people who thought they had the right to abuse people of a different color.
Finding a place to eat was always a problem in small towns. My brother told me of a time when his band stopped to get food and whiled the others waited to be served he observed the cook spit in the food. George did not say anything until the food was bagged and brought up to the counter. He told the owner he was not taking the order. She became upset until she was told the reason why. She fired the cook on the spot. “Mister” she said “the only color I worry about is the green of your money!” Getting in their cars they were followed down the road by the cook and his redneck friends. The band brought out some 38 caliber protection to safely finish their trip. This was the sign of the time.
Young artists of today know nothing of what has got them to the place where they, with the right amount of money, can walk into the biggest and swankiest hotels and eateries. Dues was paid. Enjoy what you have but give thanks to those before you who paved the way.