Interview with Johnny St. Cyr about his first music job and early days in the District

Audio file

Date recorded: April 2, 1949
Contributor(s): Performer: St. Cyr, John A. (Johnny); Performer: Lomax, Alan; Recordist: Lomax, Alan
Subject(s):
Genre: interview/commentary
Culture: African American, Southern U.S.
Instruments: voice
Setting: At the home of Johnny St. Cyr
Location: New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States
Physical form: Reel to Reel
Tape number: T996
Track Number: 6
Archive ID: T996R06
Note: Johnny St. Cyr recalls his first music job -- playing with a neighbor named Manny Gabriel, then how he began to pick up "spots jobs" and shows in the District. Discussion of the great men in the scene at the time – Bunk Johnson, Freddie Keppard, Manuel Perez, and reminiscences of the Golden Rule Band, who were "so hot" they were banned from certain clubs.
Transcript:
Belongs to: Johnny St. Cyr 4/49
About the session: Interviews with guitarist and banjo player Johnny St. Cyr (1889–1966). St. Cyr was best known for his work on Louis Armstrong’s Hot Seven and Hot Five sessions. He played in the National, Tuxedo, and Magnolia orchestras, accompanied Fate Marable on the S.S. Capitol riverboat and Armand John (A.J.) Piron, and, in Chicago, was a member of King Oliver’s band and Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers. The last five years of his life he spent as bandleader of the Young Men From New Orleans at Disneyland in Los Angeles.
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