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 By Kristy Schiller Apr. 25, 2006 Founded in 1926, McKinney’s Cotton Pickers consisted mostly of black musicians who began playing at the Greystone Ballroom in Detroit. At that time the only way to get into a night club was to be in the band, work in the restaurant or have it be the special night where blacks were allowed, in Detroit that was Mondays. By 1929 the group became so widely known and very popular that they toured to various nightspots playing mostly original songs written by those in the band. Due to the Depression, in 1934 the band disbanded much to the sadness of their fans, but once again started up in the late 1960s/early 70s with brand new band mates, but still the great old sound. The Cotton Picker’s made up of a large brass section, a string bass, a banjo, crisp drumming and a jazz piano played everything from jazz tunes, to Dixie to swing. Although controversial, at times, they stuck to what they loved to play. This Sunday was the reunion of the McKinney’s Cotton Pickers where they played their greats for three hours. I am dating the past music director/piano player’s son, his own name sake, Chuck (Charley) Robinette. Although the original hoo ha was way before my time, the paths of my significant other’s father, along with his uncle who plays the banjo in the band, and my own family more than likely crossed several times over as my own uncle was a trumpet player with Duke Ellington. We took our children back in time to watch the reunion take place. Old friends hugged, tears exchanged and happy faces smiled as the band mates went back up on stage to a sold out crowd and played the tunes that made them famous years back. Even my 9 year old was caught stomping his foot to the music and clapping to such songs as “I Want A Little Girl”, “Old Man River” and “Stampede”. It was wonderful to see John Trudell play a solo that took everyone’s breathe away and to see Uncle Orrin pound on the banjo and sing, giving off a nostalgic feeling like we were listening to old time radio. My boyfriend gave me a kiss afterwards and thanked me for going through the anguish with him. I smiled, kissed him back and told him that he was welcome, making him believe that it was indeed torturous. The reality was, I enjoyed myself. ------------ About the author: Kristy Schiller works as a spiritual intuitive, psychic detective and a paranormal investigator along with her ‘real’ job in HR. Visit her at www.tangledwishes.com or www.mystiques-west.com. Email: Kristy@tangledwishes.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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