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Transcripts from
Harlem Speaks (excerpt)

Grady Tate • March 24, 2005

TATE:  I was born in Durham, North Carolina. (inaudible voices) Yeah. Alright. And I didn’t know anything but Durham. And at that time, I didn’t think I needed to know anything else but Durham, because this was a very unique community. We had our own banks, we had our own department stores, huge drug stores, huge food markets, we had people who owned coal yards. So we were serviced by black people who owned their own companies. And I came from a rather meek background, but my mother and father had their own home. I’ve always had a home. And I’ve always had two people who loved me dearly, and whatever I wanted. You know, I couldn’t think of something that I wanted that they didn’t get for me. I came from one of the most incredibly privileged areas that I can imagine. I don’t know that there’s a better place for me to have grown up than in Durham, North Carolina. I learned to speak, I learned to think. I learned to listen. And I learned to do. Because these are things that I had seen at home. My father was a brick mason and stone mason. He and his father were the first two black stone masons on the great Duke University campus. As a result, they were paid well, much better than most people in the area. So we had, you know, the things that make you comfortable. So we had food and clothing and shelter, and a occasional bit of a party-like atmosphere. I was five years old. And my home is on the back of the campus of North Carolina College. At that time, it was called North Carolina College for Negroes. And there was a talent show that was being put on this particular afternoon. And my mother and father said, “Bernard,” I said, “Yes, Dad.” “You should go on over, go to the talent show.” I said, “Yes, sir, I guess.” So I went to this talent show. And for the first time, I saw a rhythm section—piano, bass and drums; and I heard people sing; I saw people dance.  And I heard people applaud. And I listened to that band. The drummer’s name was Cy

TATE (Cont):  Wahl(sp?). And he was doing things that I had heard over this little music system that we had. And I just couldn’t believe what was going on. It was the most incredibly beautiful thing I’d ever heard, and seen. And toward the end, the emcee said, “Well, we’ve had our contestants. If there’s no one else who would like to, you know, perform, we’ll call it an afternoon.” This was sponsored by RC Cola. And (laughs) my mother and father, you know, they were on the end(?), so they stepped away and started up. Being Duke auditorium’s steps, a little (inaudible) walkway up to the exit.  And they looked around, and they said, “What are you doing up there, boy?” (laughter) I had gone the other way. And I went up on stage, and this man, he said, “What do you want little boy?” I said, “I wanna sing, that’s what I want to do.” And he said, “Well, wait fellas, don’t break down yet.” He said, “Well, what do you wanna sing?” I said, “I wanna sing a song called One Rose. And he asked the pianist, whose name was Lanky Cole(sp?), “You know it?” And Lanky said, “I know all the songs, (inaudible).” And Lanky found a key for me, and I sang a tune called One Rose. (Sings): You’re as sweet as a red rose in June, dear; I love you, I adore you, I do; Each night through love land, we’ll wander, sweetheart; telling love stories anew; out of the dark— out of the blue clouds, a dark sky came rolling; breaking my heart in two; but don’t leave me alone, ’cause I love only (DVD skips; applause) That was sixty-eight years ago. (DVD skips) And I was then, as I am now, one who never sleeps. I’ll not. But I guess that’s... Maybe that’s why they call me Bernard. (laughter) But I was quite comfortable getting up when my parents had fallen asleep, and slipping in and turning on the Victrola very quietly, just loudly enough for me to hear. And I listened to all these records. And I just— I knew something was happening. And it’s been that way since I was able to understand or remember or think about anything; it’s always been about music, or something that is concerned with music. I just never wanted to do anything else. And I’ve never done anything else but music. And I have enjoyed this life as much, I think, as is humanly possible. I am extremely happy. (laughter)

SCHOENBERG:  Grady, how did it happen that the drums came into your life? And how did it happen that it became clear to you that music was going to be your profession? And were there other musicians in your family?

TATE:  Well, I had an uncle who had a quartet. And I listened to them all the time. Listened to them rehearsing. But I had never seen a drum set until that particular evening that I went to the talent show. And I knew at that moment that’s what I wanted to do. And, well, shortly after that, my dad said, “Hey, boy.” Said, “Yeah, Dad?” He said, “What do you want for Christmas?” I said, “I want a set of drums.” He said, “Ok,” and just went on about his business. I went on about mine. And comes Christmas morning, I wake up, and I walk down the stairs, and there was a set of drums. He had ordered them from New York City. A set of white Pearls. And I went to that group of things there, and I looked them, and I set ’em up, and I set ’em up correctly. And I picked up the sticks and I started playing from hand to hand. Most people, if they pick up drumsticks or something, they’ll play with the hand that they favor. They’ll play— they have to play: da-da-da-da, duke-a duke-a, da-da-da-da. They’ll play poot-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, poot-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, with that right hand. But I played from hand to hand. And that should’ve given somebody a clue. (laughter) “This boy’s got some drum in his system.” But that’s how I first became familiar with an instrument. And I believe for a good year... And then this same drummer, Cy Wahl, asked me if I’d like to study with him, and I said, “Yes. God, yes.” And he taught me the rudiments. And by the time I was in third grade, I knew all the drum rudiments. I was beginning to read music. When I arrived in the high school band, I was already a reader; I could read almost everything that was put in front of me. And it was just natural for me. You know, I didn’t have to put forth that great amount of effort that many people use in order to do something new. It was not new to me, it was something old. You know. So I’ve just been doing it all my life.

SCHOENBERG:  Durham being a big city, I assume that there were some major theaters there, and was it a main stop for the great bands of the day to come by and play? Who were some of the first great bands you heard, and some of the musicians that you encountered?

TATE:  Durham was a small town. I thought it was the biggest town in the world. But it was a very small town. But as I said earlier, we had so many of the things that many of the larger cities didn’t have, you know. And there were black people there that I saw with huge, beautiful homes and cars, you know. The North Carolina Mutual... I knew these people. These were my neighbors. And it was just a natural thing to want to dress in a certain way, and to speak in a certain way. I grew up speaking the language rather clearly. I grew up with very little accent of any kind. My accent was determined by the language that I spoke, and that was English. And I TATE (Cont.):  always spoke the language. I was very interested in the language, and I learned a great deal about the language. I have a degree in theater. I thought for a while I wanted to be an actor, so I had to go that route. I love things that deal with the language, you know, the music, the art, the dance. That’s just— my whole life, my whole life is built around something that brings a great amount of joy to a huge number of people.

The bands that came through helped, because we had a place called the Durham Armory. And I wasn’t allowed to go there until I was thirteen years old, and then I had to stay upstairs with my mother and father. But I just had to wait(?). And Jo Jones came through. And I propped both of my elbows on the bandstand. I stood there and propped these little arms up there and just looked at Jo Jones playing the drums. And you’re talking about pictures. Pictures. When he played, there was so much joy in his face and in his body, and so much joy was received from what he was producing with this incredible being, his self. And during the break, when they broke for a cup of ginger ale, (laughter) I stayed parked right there at the bandstand. And the came back and did their last set. And I looked up at my dad and mom, and they were looking at the music, they weren’t even concerned about me. Because, I mean, I was comfortable and I was safe. At the end of it, I still watched Jo Jones. And he began to break down the drums and he said, “Hey, Boy.” (laughter) “Me?” He said, “Yeah.” He said, “You a drummer?” I said, “Yes, sir.” He says, “Come up here.” And I was walking around on the stage, and he said, “Did you bring any drumsticks with you?” I said, “No, sir.” He said, “Well, you want a pair of mine?” I said, “Yes, sir!” (laughter) He said, “Hold out your hand.” So I held out my hand, and he took a pair of

TATE (Cont.):  drumsticks and—Wham!—hit my hand with those drums(?), and tears the size of that boy’s head there, (laughter; inaudible) Ladies and gentlemen, that’s my manager, Ron (inaudible; applause; inaudible voice) Jo Jones says, “That’s just a small, just a tiny bit of the pain that you’re going to receive if you’re gonna pick these damn things up and use ’em.” And he told the truth, he told the truth, ’cause we’ve had good times, we’ve had hard times. I mean, we’ve had to fight people to get out of town. You know, people didn’t wanna pay us money half the time. But we made it through. And we made it through because we were doing what we wanted to do, what we had to do, as a matter of fact. It wasn’t what I wanted to do, I had to do it. But all the big bands, all the big bands came to the Durham Armory. And I listened to all of ’em, and with each one of them I learned more and more.

So as a result of that, after I finished high school, I got a scholarship to go to Morgan. And I went there, and… The band leader’s name was R. Hayes Strider(?). I thought that was interesting. R. Hayes Strider. What a beautiful name. And He taught me a lot, and you know, he taught me a lot of the classical literature. And he started me to playing vibes and the malleted instruments. And that, too, was interesting. And I don’t know, I was just— I don’t know, I’ve always been kinda crazy. We were doing this opera— not opera, this classical thing, the William Tell overture. And I just decided to go down and pick up some ducks that had been packed, and we hung ’em up above the stage. And for the finale, when the drum section is just wailing away, I pulled the chord and all these ducks fell down on the stage. (laughter) It was big fun, big fun. (laughter) ’Cause I’m crazy, that’s why I did it. I’ve always been nuts.

TATE (Cont.):  But the guys who graduated in January—I went there in September—the guys who graduated in January, they were all in the ROTC, and this was the beginning of the Korean War. They were sent immediately to Korea. And out of a number of 375 young men, three of them came back. And my buddy and I said, “Now, we gotta do something about this.” So when we came out of school that spring, I immediately went down to the different branches of service; they all had booths there. And I checked each one of ’em out. And got to the Air Force, and they said— they asked me what I wanted to do, and I said, “Well, I’m a musician. I’m a drummer.” And they said, “Well, take this test.” So I took the test, and they said, “You qualify.” So I volunteered for the Air Force. They sent me to San Antonio, where I did my basic training. And after that, I went to band school. And I graduated from band school, and they sent me to my permanent base, which was Waco, Texas. James Connelly Air Force Base in Waco, Texas. And as I tell my wife, I spent four years crawling in the mud on my belling—but that was in Waco, Texas, so it was ok. I didn’t go to Korea. I didn’t wanna die. I didn’t wanna fight anybody. All I wanted to do was play my drums, and that’s what I did. So that’s how I contribute to the war effort. (laughter) I ain’t the guy... No, no. I don’t wanna kill anybody. But, you know, things have just worked for me.