a musical memoir

About
Ted Knight

My name is Ted Knight. I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1951 to a father who was a trumpet player and professional band leader. He made sure I got piano lessons so that he would never again have to struggle to find a piano player for a Saturday night gig The joke was on him because after I grew up, I led my own bands. However, I spent a lot of time working under him and learning, so I’m forever grateful for his mentorship. He not only taught me musical things, but also the music business. Dad was a booking agent in addition to his actual band leading. Getting back to my own story. I think my earliest experience of finding joy in music would’ve been when my elementary school gave us a musical aptitude test and no surprise, I tested out high. As a result, they gave me a student clarinet and some instruction. It was a rotten clarinet. It was made out of steel, but still, I did experience happiness for making music. In addition to listening now at home, all dad would tolerate was his favorite big bands, such as Glenn Miller and Harry James. However, even in the 1950's, I was already well on into rebellion and counter-culture attitudes, determined could be non-conformist in my musical taste just like everything else. I listened to pop radio, despite the fact that his own radio career was with a so-called "good music station". He and his fellow announcers referred to the DJ's on pop stations as garbage collectors. I represented that and sided with my friends in favor of The Beach Boys and the Beatles. Of course, that was a little later in the early 1960's.