Oral History Program Earl Erickson Adam Rosenberg 25 October 2008 i Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Earl Erickson Interviewed by Adam Rosenberg 25 October 2008 Copyright © 2012 by Weber State University, Stewart Library ii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. 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It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Erickson, Earl, an oral history by Adam Rosenberg, 25 October 2008, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Earl Erickson. The interview was conducted on October 25, 2008, by Adam Rosenberg. Erickson discusses his involvement in Junction City Big Band and his experience with music. AR: You're the leader of the Junction City Big Band right? EE: Yes AR: Was it just you that started it? EE: I started it when I was the Chairman of the Department of Fine Arts at Weber State, specifically in the music department as chair. AR: So I guess you started playing music quite a bit earlier than that, when did you start playing? EE: I started playing for dances in the seventh grade. AR: I was reading your biography and you said you had played in military bands? EE: I organized what they used to call a USO show band to entertain the troops in World War II. AR: With that band, did you travel in Europe? EE: No, we were stationed in the United States and went to various camps and hospitals to entertain the troops there. AR: That's neat, so when you started the Junction City Big Band, did you play primarily with musicians from Weber State? 1 EE: About a one-third of the band consists of past students from Weber State. We ranged in style of swing and jazz in general, because of the jazz band that I was directing at that time down at Weber. AR: So the band kind of has rotating members then? EE: It's been pretty steady with the people that I've had. Once in awhile, we have a person move out of the state or something of that nature and we have to replace them, generally it's pretty solid. AR: How many members total are in the band? EE: Right now there are 17, plus vocalists that we tie in with a group from Davis High School called the Moonlight Singers. There are about 10 of them in that group and they sing with the band accompaniment for the dances. It's all related to World War II type of music. AR: Do you play a lot of like Glenn Miller? EE: I have arrangements that all the big bands use: Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and many of the others. During my service experience in World War II, I had the opportunity in picking up members who had played with the Big Bands of the early ‘40s, and maybe even back in ‘39. I started the band and there wasn't a band on the camp that I was in. So I went to personnel, and went through all the records of the people in the camp and picked out some great musicians and arrangers and was able to throw the band together then. But, of course they were preparing to go overseas for combat and they were mighty happy to have a chance to play music. So that evolved 2 into a regular group and one of our shows that we put together was called "Take a Break" and we were based in Atlanta, Georgia. We would make up a show for traveling and we would take a 3- or 4-week tour around various camps and hospitals and play for soldiers and the sick and fellows who had had operations due to the war. That was quite fun to do that. We had an opportunity to have the band backed by probably one of the few millionaires at the time to go with the band after we were out of the service to tour the country. We had so much traveling during that experience with the band that people were tired of traveling and wanted to get home. So we disbanded and we all went our separate ways after World War II was over. AR: So you guys played during World War II and a little bit after? EE: When I got home, I joined up with a band later called Stewart Grove and had one of the best bands in Salt Lake City. I played with them and played the Ice Follies and different shows that came through town. When I came to Weber, the students hadn't had much experience in that area, so I started the band. I was able to pick up some really good musicians. They wanted to stay with it and so we decided to have a rehearsal once a month just for fun. After three or four months, band members decided they would like to play for some dances and so we played for quite a few of the school dances at Weber State. I had, I guess it was about, a 15-piece band at that time made up of students. We had contests with the University of Utah, BYU, and Utah State, but they wouldn't really contest, it was a night to hear jazz. All the bands played a separate set at different times, and I think we did fairly well in the competition with them. AR: That is neat, at that time, did you guys have vocalists, or was it just band? 3 EE: Once in a while we would call in a girl singer or a student singer to sing with the band, but primarily it was just for dancing. But of course during that time the main activity of people was two things: to go to shows and to dance. Before I came to Weber State, I played in a band down in Sanpete County. In that area, generally speaking, covering two or three of the counties, there was an open-air dance hall and a closed-in dance hall every 10 to 20 miles. So I got a lot of my experience before I went into the service during that with local bands. That's where I got my start on it. AR: And you play saxophone? EE: Saxophone and clarinet, and some flute. Since I'm woodwind player, I had to teach all the woodwind instruments for prospective music teachers. AR: So when you guys play now, the age ranges, are there a lot of young kids that are into it? EE: Well, right now I am using my granddaughter for one. One of my saxophonists had to have a hip replacement and then he broke his other hip and so he's been out, so I pulled her in and she got her experience under Dr. Kite at the college. My son plays Bari sax in the sax section. We got two lawyers in the band and several businessmen that have kept up with it and have become professional musicians as well as their workplaces. AR: Wow, that's quite the eclectic group. EE: It is. AR: People that come to your shows, is it all different age ranges? 4 EE: At first, we attracted mainly older set, because that was their music, but now they've developed hip problems and heart problems. Of course, that tells you a little bit about my age and having gone through World War II. Of course I didn't have to shoot anybody. About a third of them are past students of mine. Others had had experience playing in the service and the age ranges from 25 to 84. AR: That's a good range. EE: It is. AR: So do you guys have any recordings? EE: We haven't had the opportunity to get into any place where we could get a good recording. And we never practice. If I get a hold of some new music, I just put it on the stands and we sight-read it. That's how good of musicians they are. In fact, last night we sight-read "7 Numbers" and I was very happy with the way they came out. AR: Wow, that's probably a great advantage then right? EE: I'll say. AR: So when you guys play a show, do you guys just all kind of get there or do you guys practice before at all? EE: No, nothing. AR: How many times do you guys play usually? EE: Well with conventions, wedding receptions, and church balls, and all different kinds, we'll maybe average 20 to 25 times a year. 5 AR: Wow that is very cool. Did you guys used to play there at the Union Building at Weber State? EE: We played there before the west side of the building was ever destructed. We used the cafeteria to have the school dances and we played then. I came to Weber State in 1961 and there wasn't even a Union Building. One of the old barracks-type buildings was the thing, where they went to a get a hamburger or something. The second year I was at Weber State, they started on the Union Building. It was called the Fine Arts building because they've encased both the music and the arts, acting, and so forth. AR: You started the Junction City Big Band in ‘87? EE: Yeah it was ‘87. AR: You guys have been playing steady ever since. That's pretty neat. Do you guys play a lot or do you play just Christmas Parties? EE: Oh yeah, not just Christmas. But we interject some of the Christmas songs and so forth, so we try to stay with Easter and with the various celebrations that we have in our community. We have music to fit it all. AR: Do you play or write any originals? EE: No it was all objective, we do have an arranger in our band that takes the melody that people know probably and he makes an arrangement to fit the band. His name is Russell Germer. AR: What are some of your influences as far as big band or jazz? 6 EE: My biggest influence has been all the students that have gone through at Weber State. I figured not too long ago that I have taught while I was at Weber 24,000 students, all the music classes and so forth. I taught theory, no composition, but theory and music, and music history. Then I was over, for a time, all of the prospective teachers, where I supervised them during their student teacher exercises and so forth. I've been a big influence on a lot of that. Then I developed an elementary music methods class for elementary teachers. AR: Do you ever get nervous before you play? EE: Not anymore. AR: What are your favorite memories from playing anytime in music? EE: I had a chance to play in a band during the service. We backed up Judy Garland on one of her trips at one of the camps we were at and I'm trying to think back to that time. Most of the things I remember are going into general hospitals for soldiers that returned home that had to have replacement parts on their body. A lot of them in such bad shape and we were able to cheer them up a little bit. Of course that was the main focus of the touring was to give the soldiers a chance to kind of relax a little bit. AR: Was there a book that came out about the Junction City Big Band? EE: No, we haven't had anything written about us. AR: Do you have any upcoming shows besides last night? 7 EE: I have a schedule of all of the dances at Weber State this year. Last night was the first one, then November 14, and December 6. Then we go into February. But in the mean time, we are scheduled to play a few conventions and so forth. AR: Do you travel around a lot? EE: I try not to travel too far. I still have travelitis. AR: Any good memories that you wanted to share about the Junction City Big Band specifically? EE: We had an opportunity to play for somebody that hired us to play for a person who was supposed to be imitating Frank Sinatra, which is one of the biggest names in Jazz, down at the Grand America Hotel. That was quite fun to do that. We've played a lot of open-air concerts. We'll be playing in Ogden this next summer. All of those are quite special memories that the guys enjoy playing. They are keeping up with their instruments. When you leave college, there is not an opportunity to play. They like this music so well they want to keep it alive. AR: That's really neat; obviously you've passed it down with your children. You have kids and grandkids that play in your band also? EE: Just the one granddaughter and my son. Of course all of them have been in the music department at Morgan. I've given all my children private lessons on their instruments. They have gone ahead and played in the college bands too. That is one thing that I can do adequately. 8 AR: I'm sure there's a lot more, wow that's neat. So when you guys play, how many people usually come to your shows? EE: You know they closed the Union Building Ballroom area down, the west side of the Union building, for a year and a half. Before that time, we were having very good crowds, but we've had a hard time getting them back. So we are trying to build back clientele. We now have a mixed group that comes of young and older people. There is ballroom dancing going on all over the United States, maybe not using exactly the kind of music that I'm playing, but that's danceable music, sing-able, and playable. We don't use any guitars in it, so it's back to what it was during the 1940's and most of the arrangements are from that era. AR: Do you have a stand up bass then? EE: They are called acoustic basses, and also regular pianos are called an acoustic piano instead of an electric piano, which is so popular now. We don't have to have a guitar built up to 120 decibels. With 16 players, we can get as much volume as we need. AR: That's neat, is there a difference, while you're playing, between being the leader and just playing? EE: For a long time I was both the leader and a player. I had to have the respect of the other people to keep them wanting to come back and playing. Just recently, I backed up from playing very much and leaving it to some of the others. I'm just directing it, setting tempos, and making arrangements that we need to have people perform. We always try to have an intermission show made up of the college choral and high school groups that 9 perform well. Then they come on for about 20 minutes while dancing ceases and we can get a break as a band. AR: Well, is there anything else that you would like to add? EE: No, I've just been at it all my life. AR: The music keeps you young, right? EE: Well I've had so much experience in it; it's hard to give it up. It's like a vice I guess. AR: It's a good one though. EE: I've played in nightclubs down in Salt Lake. Coconut Grove: you could put a lot of the dance halls now and lose them in the dance hall they had down in Coconut Grove at that time. I played the Ice Follies a lot with the band that I was in, Stewart Grove's band, down in Salt Lake. We had a two-hour rehearsal for a three-hour show. So we had to pick up good sight-readers and of course, know the style and everything. I've had a good experience and I didn't have to shoot at anybody. AR: That's great. EE: So I think I've covered everything. AR: I appreciate it. 10