NEVER TOO YOUNG TO BOP


10 year old Erin Nicole Horn is currently a fourth grade student at Valley Park Elementary School in Overland Park. As a third grader last year, Erin was asked to choose a project for her music class; she elected to research, write and even illustrate the following piece about Charlie Parker. It is now a part of the Valley Park school library.

Charlie Parker
1920-1955

by Erin Nicole Horn

(Dedicated to Ms. Moreland, my music teacher, who inspired me to write this book.)

Charlie Parker lived a life from 1920-1955. It all started on August 29, 1920 when Charles Parker, Jr. was born. He had a father, Charles Parker, Sr. who sang and danced for a living, and a mother, Addie Parker.

He also had a half brother, John Parker, who did not live with them, so that made Charlie an only child at home.

On rare occasions when Charlie's father was home, he liked to play the piano and sing. These performances served as Charlie's earliest influences to music.

Charlie also grew up listening to his father's phonograph.

Drawing of Bird by Erin Nicole Horn

In 1928, when Charlie was about eight, the Parker family moved across the river from Kansas City, Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri. There they rented a house at 1516 Olive Street. The house stood within walking distance from most of the nightclubs.

In 1932, Charlie registered at Lincoln High School, and in 1933 he enrolled in a music course. At the time he was 13 years old. He learned to play his first instrument, the baritone horn. He found the instrument easy to play, although he much preferred the saxophone. Charlie thought the alto saxophone to be the most glamorous of all.

He begged his mother to buy him one, but she could not afford a new saxophone, so she bought him an old one. He made playing the saxophone one of the most important activities in his life.

In 1934, Charlie joined a band of kids from Lincoln High School called the Deans of Swing. Charlie was the youngest one in the band. Their band played mostly dances and parties. He was also the least skilled musician in the band.

In his sophomore year he was told he was going to be held back. He decided to skip school and work on his music skills.

Sometimes Charlie would spend the night at nightclubs nearby. He loved to listen to Lester Young, one of the men who played at the nightclubs. At some of the nightclubs he went to they would allow whites and blacks, but they had to sit in separate areas.

Soon Charlie began dating Rebecca Ruffin. Both Rebecca's family and Charlie's family lived in the same house. Rebecca's mother did not approve of Charlie and Rebecca dating each other so Rebecca's mother moved her family.

Charlie and Rebecca still met, but secretly. One night when Charlie and Rebecca met, Charlie proposed to Rebecca and she said, "yes." They were married in 1936.

When they got married, Charlie was only 15 and Rebecca was only 16. They had nowhere to live, so they moved in with Charlie's mother. Two years after they were married they had a son. His name was Francis Leon and he was born in January, 1938.

One time when Charlie was in a contest against other musicians he completely humiliated himself. The people teased him and made fun of him. This humiliation made him more determined to get better. He practiced and practiced until he got the sound he wanted. While he was trying to get the sound he wanted he put a lot of pressure on himself to get it just right. Although he got the sound he wanted, he still had a wife and family to support.

His life started closing in on him. This caused him to make a bad choice. He became addicted to marijuana, heroin and alcohol. He began stealing money from the house to pay for drugs. Soon he began treating his wife, mother and child badly. Soon he and Rebecca divorced.

In 1939, he joined the Jay McShann orchestra. People who listened to Charlie's music thought it sounded like a smooth swing.

There are many different stories about how Charlie got the nickname "Yardbird," but this is one of them. One day when he was driving to a performance, the car hit a chicken. Rather than leave the bird to waste he told the driver to stop. He got out of the car, picked it up and brought the bird to the performance for the kitchen staff to cook and serve.

In 1940, Charlie made his first recording. It was with the Jay McShann Orchestra. In 1944 he made his own record, but it wasn't available to the public for many years.

In the early 1940s when Charlie was with Dizzy Gillespie, he invented a style of music called bebop. Everybody loved this new sound.

In 1942, the year after he moved to New York, he joined the Earl Hines Orchestra. In 1943 he married a lovely woman, Geraldine Scott, but the marriage didn't last long and soon they were divorced.

It didn't take long for Charlie to find a new woman. Her name was Doris Sydnor. They were married in 1948. He later left Doris to live with another woman, Chan Richardson. In 1952, he and Chan had a baby girl and her name was Pree. The following year, his second son, Baird, was born.

In 1954, his daughter Pree died from a heart condition. Charlie blamed himself for letting Pree die because he could not afford to take her to a regular hospital. One time he was so depressed over this that he tried to kill himself by drinking iodine. Luckily, Chan took him to the hospital were he got his stomach pumped.

One day he was watching TV and started to laugh at a juggling act. He choked and died from a heart attack, pneumonia and liver problems. You can probably say that Charlie Parker didn't have a great life, but he was a great musician who created a wonderful new kind of music -- BEBOP!


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