Bill Palmer -- Music changes, and so do we!!!! In the Fall of 1952, Dad decided to move from the house on Prospect and do his teaching in a private studio. Having a studio in your home is very difficult. The inconvenience of having your kids in the studio, as well as the problems of having no place to call your own really puts stress on a family relationship. So Mom and Dad bought a small house on the outskirts of Houston and moved the accordion studio to Bellaire Music Studio, which was owned by Paul Smith. He and Bill Hughes taught accordion there, and Bill Hughes mother, Wanda, taught organ at the same location. Better than that, I finally had my OWN ROOM!!!!! I started taking regular lessons from Eric Eberhardt, who was also a member of the Houston Accordion Symphony. I progressed reasonably well, and soon became the proud owner of a Titano Ideal. This accordion had 120 basses, a 41 note keyboard, three shifts in the right hand and two in the left hand. I played that accordion for several years. By this time, Dad and Bill Hughes had left Excelsior and become Titano artists. They were working with Dorothy and Edward Traficante on the impementation of the Converter system, which allowed all the chords in the Stradella system to be changed into single notes. It was a remarkable advance in the accordion. The system, itself, had been invented by Alberto Picchietti, who transferred the rights to the Traficantes in 1952, the year prior to Dad and Bill leaving Excelsior. While they were learning how to use their new converter accordions, Dad and Bill played 160 bass Titanos in their concerts. After a few months, they had the hang of the converter instruments, and those became all they played for the rest of their careers. But in the 1950s, popular music was going through some amazing changes. Rock and Roll was coming in, and the accordion was not the choice of rock keyboardists for the most part. Some players could handle the change. Others couldnt. Some gave up. Dad and Bill Hughes refused to be among those who gave up. Some attempted to use electronic accordions, such as the Accorgan and the Cordovox to take them through the transition. On the other hand, I wanted to be part of the marching band and the stage band when I was in Junior High School, but there was no accordion music in the band folios. The band teacher suggested that I learn saxophone. So the school lent me a C melody sax, which had been made during the 1920s, and I played oboe parts. After a few months, Dad saw that I was serious about the sax, so he got me a nice Eb Alto. I played alto sax through the rest of Jr. High and into High School. During my junior year, I changed over to Baritone Sax and managed to actually win a scholarship to play sax at Centenary College in Louisiana. The scholarship was for $200.00. I chose a different path. Dad wanted me to go to Rice University. It was a tough, prestigious school. I didnt want to go, but Dad insisted. One reason was that the tuition was nil. It was an endowment school. My grades werent great (a requirement), but I had good SAT scores, and somehow, I made it. I had always been interested in electronics, so my major was to be Electrical Engineering. My best friend, Henry Slaughter, said: So, youre going to be an Engineer! I told him that was the plan. He said, Wave at me when your train goes by!
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 01:07:57 +0000
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