Topic starter
11/08/2008 1:24 pm
On Sunday, August 11, 1968, I was permitted, by Mrs. Shirley Burwinkle, calliopist on the Str. BELLE OF LOUISVILLE, to play the calliope for the first time. For many months I had practiced appropriate tunes on the piano, with the 32 note compass taped off on the keyboard! My first song was "In the Good Old Summertime". Many family members were "on the levee" to applaud my first efforts at the steam pianna. I still remember the spine tingling thrill of playing those first chords on the brass keys, as clouds of steam rose before me and the music echoed 'round the riverfront!
Photos herewith: (1) Mrs. Shirley Burwinkle playing with yours truly standing by. (2 & 3) Keith serenading the waterfront at age 14.
11/08/2008 1:49 pm
How wonderful, Keith! Thanks for sharing those memories and pictures with us - it's very heart warming.
Pat
11/08/2008 8:26 pm
Happy 40th anniversary of tooting calliopes, Keith! Great photos, thanks! You had a very auspicious beginning and it sounds as though you were well prepared. Not me. You remind me that my 30th anniversary of my "first toot" was last April 1, and it was on the Mississippi Queen, 4/1/1978, departing New Orleans. Then Cruise Director Catfish Mallory neglected to brief me on anything, just gave me the key to the keyboard at the last minute and said "play a few tunes after the boat pulls away from the dock." Imagine how awful it sounded when I just started playing without clearing out the pipes.....I had no idea what I was doing, was unfamiliar with the touch, but just kept on doing it, enjoying it more and more as I went on, much like it is with any fun thing you do for the first time in your life.
May the next 40 years be even more rewarding for you!
Jazzou
Topic starter
12/08/2008 1:56 pm
Thanks Jazzou! We both share the unique distinction of playing both vintage steam calliopes and historic pipe organs, instruments which are very similar to people -- they each have their own "personalities" and can often be cantankerous!
Many years ago, Capt. C.W. Stoll brought the conductor of The Louisville Orchestra to the roof of the BELLE one hot summer afternoon to see the calliope. I was blazing away and when the steam cleared, the maestro exclaimed, "Oh my, it has a KEYBOARD!" C.W. asked how he thought it was played and his response was, "I thought you cranked it!"
Here are a few more dusty photos from the archives. The one aboard the DQ was taken in 1975 when I was a passenger on a Labor Day weekend cruise.
12/08/2008 6:25 pm
Great calliope tale, Keith. Also, more nice pictures of you in your glory. How right you are about individual instruments having their own personalities and quirks!
In the election year, 1996, the Delta Queen did a couple of themed cruises featuring various politicians on board along with pianist and political satirist Mark Russell, whose up-to-the-minute satires are hilarious. I finally convinced Mr. Russell to give the calliope a try so that he could be awarded his Vox Calliopus certificate.
Naturally, his calliope caper turned into an event, and we got a large assemblage of passengers up to the Sun Deck for his performance. Mr. Russell approached the keyboard rather timidly, played a few bars, and then turning to his audience and addressing them in his droll style stated, "My reaction to this experience is much like that of the high diver when he dove into a bucket of water 200 feet below for the first time, and that is: it was okay the first time, but I am not likely to try it again."
About a year later, Mark Russell performed his show at the Maine Center for the Arts, and Diane, John and I attended the performance and were invited backstage afterward. Mr. Russell regarded me coolly, and with a sly smile stated he was still very proud to have his Vox Calliopus certificate, but emphasized he hadn't been near a calliope again since that first performance.
A man true to his word.