CAB CALLOWAY

My dad who was a five foot eight afraid of nothing, except maybe my mother, outdoors, athletic guy. He actually enjoyed brawling. I can recall as a wee lad watching my dad duking it out with my six foot two ince Uncle Dan, or some other contestant. They would carry on for about ten minutes and then laugh like hell and saunter down to the corner bar for a beer.

When we were in church, during the singing of the hymns, he was the most off key, tone deaf person I have ever met. He seemed to have no inclination, or interest, in music. He did, however have a soft spot for Cab Calloway.

If you don’t know who Cab Calloway is and you probably don’t, I’ll splain. Mr. Calloway was in the words of Wikipedia “Calloway was the first African-American musician to sell a million records from a single song and to have a nationally syndicated radio show. Calloway was a master of energetic scat singing and led one of the United States' most popular big bands from the early 1930s to the late 1940s.”

At the mere thought of Mr. Calloway, dad’s face would light up and he would tell of the antics of Cab. If Rock and Roll was the burr under my parent’s saddles Cab was the equal to my grand parents. There are many films, if you’re interested, on Youtube of Cab struttin’ and being as negro as can be. I say negro because back in that era, black was akin to the N word, a huge insult.

I’m sure that my dad is now ensconced in heaven and is watching Cab Calloway on his laptop or iPad and the Indians. His other loves were hunting, fishing, sports in general and baseball.