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APPENDIX I: Autobiography
- University Press of Mississippi
- Chapter
- Additional Information
[ 189 ] appendix i AUTOBIOGRAPHY This is an excerpt from Kid Ory’s “autobiography,” most of which is loose pages recalling a story or event. The presence of Mutt Carey and Emile Bigard suggests this story happened around 1914–15. a pit-a-pat tale 9 august 1951 While my band and I were still living and working in New Orleans , I signed up for a little tour we were going to make between the Crescent City and Baton Rouge, and received deposits from the various spots we would hit. This money came to about 35 or 40. For the first time in my life, I did something I had never attempted or thought of before . . . I fooled around and spent the deposit money. This wasn’t mine to spend . . . it was the band’s money. I was really in a fix. The first stop on the tour was in St. James Parish at the Beehive Hall. The dance was a great success, but when we got though playing , I still didn’t have the money to pay the boys off. I didn’t say anything, just got on the train with them. The boys, using what money that had had with them, started a pit-a-pat game, but I didn’t get into it. When they got to the hall after the dance, they started another game. I had about a buck or so, and I decided to invest that in the game, thinking maybe I’ll be lucky. I lost that money and told them, “Boys, I’m broke.” I kept wondering where I was going to get the money to pay the boys for their night’s work. Papa Mutt Carey spoke up. He said, “I’ll put you in the game.” And gave one dime and I started to pay. I won all the money that I had spent so foolishly and wrongly, too, and still had about 15 left for myself. Barney Bigard’s uncle, Emile, said to Papa Mutt, “Anyone who would give that lucky guy a dime to get in the game is crazy. He was out of the game, why didn’t you keep him out?” Papa Mutt told him, “He would give me a dime or a dollar to put me in a game and I would have given him more than a dime, but we were betting a dime to start with, so I gave him a dime. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Emile Bigard said, “Now I haven’t got any money.” I came in at that point and the discussion and said, “Here, Emile, I’ll pay you for your night’s work.” And I did, partly with his own money, though, because he had been one of the biggest losers in the game. [ 190 ] appendix i ...