Strange days… so I was contacted by a gentleman recently by the name of Steve Carlton. Apparently he was a friend of my father, James Terence O’Brien, and they go way back to the 1950’s when they met in high school. Steve reached out to me because he had an old scrapbook that he wanted to give me that had some photos and articles about my late father. He told me that my dad used to stay with his grandparents in Minneapolis, MN when he was performing at the Gay 90’s (a strip bar/night club). Terry talked about this period of his life in his book ‘Close but no cigar - A street urchins tale’
In the scrapbook there was an article about my grandfather that I had never seen before. My grandfather, James F. O’Brien, was a musician and composer. I didn’t really know him… he died when I was young. But I was told that he played with a lot of hot musicians back in the day. This article gave me a peek as to who he was. It might have been written in the late 50’s.
“Music and the man who makes it
There’s more to music than playing an instrument. When you have that extra talent for arranging you’re a key man in any orchestra. Maybe that’s why James F. O’Brien has been “the man behind the man” for some of the very best. Jim started out with the Durfee High School band as a trumpeter but soon found a steady job (once a week) playing piano at the Grace Hathaway Lewis dance studio. With his indoctrination O’Brien went on to play with Larry Gadsby on New England tours. Gadsby in those days had a show band and played theaters as well. Before long O’Brien was writing musical arrangements for various vaudeville acts. Working out of Boston he played for leaders Tony Bruno, Phil Saltman, and several others. Few people do what they like… to work at in military service but the Navy used Jim O’Brien’s talent to the fullest, making him the bandleader at Pier 92, …. a busy spot in ‘44 and ‘45.
Discharged in 1946, he spent a year in Gotham and arranged for Count Basie and other name bands. In recent years he had…..”
I can’t really read the right side but hopefully I can remove the tape when it is given to me and see the rest of the story! I’ll update this blog post when I do!
