I Called Him Morgan Page #5

a picture of her.

So I said something slick.

I don't remember exactly

what I said to her.

But when I said it,

she turned around.

And when she turned

around, I said "Pop!"

And I caught it.

As advertised, we're

going to be introducing,

in just a moment,

one of the top jazz groups

in the world,

on the Blue Note label.

These fellows have been

playing together since 1955.

And now, as I say,

one of the top jazz groups

in the whole world--

they play all around

the world too.

Here we go.

[applause]

[jazz music playing]

[Larry Ridley]

Oh, he's buggin' here.

Stickin' his tongue out.

"Yes!" [laughs]

Oh, yeah, he's really muggin'

there with the young lady.

Oh, yeah, they doin' their

little Philly two-step.

That's what it was all about,

stayin' neat, get a haircut,

show up on the scene.

That was the whole thing.

We want to impress

a young lady, you know.

Come in like, "What it is?"

I think of the good times

that we had back then.

You know, there was

a lot of good times.

[jazz music playing]

[Wayne] In between,

we have a break, we play

and we have a break,

and I'd go right to the bar and

get a cognac, a double cognac,

sometimes a triple.

And then we would eat.

We all had a plan.

We eat so we could

stay sober enough.

You know, but I was--

I thought I was

out of the Army, I'm still

26 years old, 27.

And alcohol, you sweat it out.

And you're never going to

be staggering or swaying

on the bandstand.

You don't stagger.

It's not cool to stagger.

You're supposed to be strong.

I would drink and have

like a thin veil around me,

that's my space.

My little dream space

and everything.

And we would play.

[jazz music playing]

I'm looking at

the back of his head.

There's a bandage.

It's almost like in my face,

"What's gonna happen to him?"

It's like,

"What you doin', man?

Lee, hey, Lee,

what you doin'?"

[jazz music playing]

I was with him in Chicago.

I was with Donnie Washington

and he was with Art Blakey.

And that's when

I first realized

that he had succumbed

to the drug culture.

And it was most unfortunate

because he was

such a rare talent.

And I was very disappointed,

but then I'd ask him

if there's anything

I could do to help him.

And there was nothing

I could do at that time.

And so next thing I know,

I had been talked

about firing him.

And so next time I know, he and

Bobby Timmons were both--

had left the group.

[Wayne] There was

some concern...

what was coming

next in his life

that we had no control over.

"Lee, why don't you do this,

Lee, why don't you do--"

you know.

We knew that, you know.

Because when he left, we

wasn't going to see him.

You know, like...

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