Harmony | Page 4

sir. Nobody tipped him off, neither. He went to Jackson and spent
the ev'nin' at his uncle's house, and Waldron was there. Him and Art
was together the whole ev'nin'. But Art didn't even ask him if he could
slide feet first. And then he come back to Detroit and got Ryan to draft
him. But to give you the whole story, I'll have to go back a ways. We
ain't nowheres near Worcester yet, so they's no hurry, except that Art'll
prob'ly be sendin' for me pretty quick to come in and learn Waldron's
lost chord.
"You wasn't with this club when we had Mike McCann. But you must
of heard of him; outside his pitchin', I mean. He was on the stage a
couple o' winters, and he had the swellest tenor voice I ever heard. I

never seen no grand opera, but I'll bet this here C'ruso or McCormack
or Gadski or none o' them had nothin' on him for a pure tenor. Every
note as clear as a bell. You couldn't hardly keep your eyes dry when
he'd tear off 'Silver Threads' or 'The River Shannon.'
"Well, when Art was still with the Washin'ton club yet, I and Lefty and
Mike used to pal round together and onct or twict we'd hit up some
harmony. I couldn't support a fam'ly o' Mormons with my voice, but it
was better in them days than it is now. I used to carry the lead, and
Lefty'd hit the baritone and Mike the tenor. We didn't have no bass. But
most o' the time we let Mike do the singin' alone, 'cause he had us
outclassed, and the other boys kept tellin' us to shut up and give 'em a
treat. First it'd be ' Silver Threads' and then 'Jerusalem' and then 'My
Wild Irish Rose' and this and that, whatever the boys ast him for. Jake
Martin used to say he couldn't help a short pair if Mike wasn't singin'.
"Finally Ryan pulled off the trade with Griffith, and Graham come on
our club. Then they wasn't no more solo work. They made a bass out o'
me, and Art sung the lead, and Mike and Lefty took care o' the tenor
and baritone. Art didn't care what the other boys wanted to hear. They
could holler their heads off for Mike to sing a solo, but no sooner'd
Mike start singin' than Art'd chime in with him and pretty soon we'd all
four be goin' it. Art's a nut on singin', but he don't care nothin' about
list'nin', not even to a canary. He'd rather harmonize than hit one past
the outfielders with two on.
"At first we done all our serenadin' on the train. Art'd get us out o' bed
early so's we could be through breakfast and back in the ear in time to
tear off a few before we got to wherever we was goin'.

"It got so's Art wouldn't leave us alone in the different towns 'we
played at. We couldn't go to no show or nothin'. We had to stick in the
hotel and sing, up in our room or Mike's. And then he went so nuts over
it that he got Mike to come and room in the same house with him at
home, and I and Lefty was supposed to help keep the neighbors awake
every night. O' course we had mornin' practice w'ile we was home, and

Art used to have us come to the park early and get in a little harmony
before we went on the field. But Ryan finally nailed that. He says that
when he ordered mornin' practice he meant baseball and not no
minstrel show.
"Then Lefty, who wasn't married, goes and gets himself a girl. I met
her a couple o' times, and she looked all right. Lefty might of married
her if Art'd of left him alone. But nothin' doin'. We was home all
through June onct, and instead o' comin' round nights to sing with us,
Lefty'd take this here doll to one o' the parks or somewheres. Well, sir,
Art was pretty near wild. He scouted round till he'd found out why
Lefty'd quit us and then he tried pretty near everybody else on the club
to see if they wasn't some one who could hit the baritone. They wasn't
nobody. So the next time we went on the road, Art give Lefty a earful
about what a sucker a man was to get married, and looks wasn't
everything and the girl was prob'ly after Lefty's money and he wasn't
hem' a good fella to break up the quartette and spoil our good times,
and so on, and kept pesterin' and teasin' Lefty till he give the girl up. I'd
of