November 3, 2022 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, one of our listeners, George Gozzard, shares the story of his big band trumpeter father, Harry Gozzard.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we returned to our American stories. Harry Gozzard was
an American jazz trumpeter who played from the nineteen thirties
all the way to nineteen eighty. Today, we're going to
hear from his son, George, sharing some memories he holds
about his father's time in the big band lifestyle. I
grew up in Warren, Michigan, a blue collar city just
(00:32):
north of Detroit. It's the automobile capital of the world.
At one time, Warren had more factories than any other
city in the entire country. Except for my dad. It
seemed as if every kid that I knew when I
was growing up had a dad who worked on the
assembly line for one of the big three car companies.
Even though my dad didn't directly work for gm Ford Chrysler,
(00:55):
he did help its workers relax during their time off
with his usual and playful profession that he sometimes referred
to as work. Harry Gozzard was a big band musician,
and a very good one at that. My dad truly
(01:17):
enjoyed soothing the ears off of the residence of Metro
Detroit with his hot lips and cool trumpet. From what
I understand, he was one of the best trumpet players
in the country. Harry Gozzard was born on a farm
in Shelburne, Ontario, Canada. In nineteen twenty four, at eight
(01:38):
years of age, he his parents and three siblings migrated
to Detroit. He dropped out of high school when he
was just a teenager and began traveling around the country
tuting his trumpet. I'm not certain, but I think it
was the Sam Donaghue Orchestra who asked my dad to
drop out of school enjoy their band. For all I know,
(01:59):
my grand parents were diametrically opposed to him doing so. Nevertheless,
he did it anyway. He was one of the fortunate
few musicians who was able to record a few record
albums during his musical career. My dad's fame, if you will,
was even noticed by some people who I never thought
(02:20):
of as being a fan of his. I still remember
when my kindergarten teacher, missus Mitchell, came up to me
during class one day and told me how much she
enjoyed watching and listening to my dad perform at the
Elmwood Casino the previous night. The Elmwood was a premier
nightclub for the residence of Metro Detroit and southern Ontario.
(02:43):
It was located just across the Detroit River in the
beautiful city of Windsor. Many well known entertainers performed there.
Sammy Davis Junior and Margaret Tony Bennett, Bob Newhart, Patty Page,
and Tom Jones were some of the celebs that my
dad worked with. Although my dad retired from the big
(03:07):
band way of life when I was very young, there
were a few times that I had the opportunity to
watch him perform live on stage. During the nineteen sixties,
he played on the Saint Clair and the Columbia river boats.
The Saint Clair and the Columbia transported excited passengers down
(03:27):
the Detroit River to the locally famous Bablo Island Amusement Park.
The cruise was about a two hour long voyage that
originated from Detroit. Cruising down the Detroit River while watching
my dad play his trumpet before a live audience of
hundreds of people and getting to play all day at
Bablow was probably one of the coolest things that I
(03:48):
ever did when I was a kid. Another cool memory
that I have of my dad performing was the time
when he played in the band for the Alkaline Day
celebration at Tiger Stage. It was on August second, nineteen seventy.
The legendary singer songwriter Mel Tormay nicknamed the Velvet Fog,
(04:09):
saying thanks for the memory due to the fact that
my dad brought my mom and all of us kids
to that memorable baseball game. He was late getting to
the stadium. I have seven siblings, as you can imagine,
getting a large family the size of ours ready for
a notable event like that was a monumental task. I
(04:30):
vividly remember the commotion going on that particular day. It
was reminiscent of the scene in the first Home Alone
movie where they were all rushing around to get ready
for their big flight to Paris. Long story short. In
order to kick off the festivities for Al Kaylin's big day,
the band and a sold out crowd of fifty thousand
(04:51):
anxious fans had to wait a few moments for their
tardy trumpeter to arrive. The absolute coolest memory that I
have of my dad performing was the time when he
played at the Grand Hotel. It's a ritzy hotel that
is situated on picturesque Mackinaw Island. Even to this day,
(05:12):
it still happens to be a great place to visit.
When I was about ten years old, my dad played
two back to back stints there in the summertime. Since
Mackinaw Island was located roughly three hundred miles away from
where we lived, he unfortunately had to leave my mom
and all of his children at home for the summer.
(05:34):
To commute back and forth every weekend was simply out
of the question. Greatly missing him. During the second summer,
my brother Greg and I drove all the way up
there to visit him for a few days. Actually, we
first drove to Mackinaw City. From there we hopped on
a high speed ferry and cruised to the island. The
eight mile journey across beautiful Lake Huron took only about
(05:55):
twenty to thirty minutes. However, it was not without incident.
At about eight o'clock in the morning, my brother and
I arrived at the boat docked parking lot. As soon
as we got out of his cool Caprice Classic, we
both unconcernedly noticed that it was very foggy out on
the lake. Since my brother and I were nautical novices
(06:17):
at the time, we had no idea that cruising on
a large body of water and a heavy dense fog
was considered to be a maritime hazard. To my brother
and me, though, that fog was no big deal, so
we just went up to the ticket counter and bought
our ferry fair to the island. About ten minutes after
the ferry left the dock, we heard several really loud
(06:38):
hornblasts coming from our vessel and several other loud blasts
that were coming from another vessel which seemed to be
too close for comfort. All of a sudden, the captain
of the ferry turned the wheel very hard to port
or to the left, seemingly trying to avoid a collision
with another boat. The captain turned the ship's wheel so
(06:59):
hard that the window that my brother and I were
sitting next to was completely submerged. Right about then, our
own common sense began to let us know that something
was dreadfully wrong with this picture. Fortunately, though a few
minutes later, the Fairies seemed to level out and return
to its normal operating procedure. I immediately began to turn
(07:22):
my head from side to side, much to my surprise,
While looking out the starboard side window, I noticed the
stern of a massive freighter that was only about one
hundred yards away from us. Apparently, the captain of our
vessel almost broadsided a very large freighter. Who knows. Perhaps
the freighter we nearly collided with was the legendary ss
(07:44):
and mid Fitzgerald. Hey, it could have been or than likely,
though it probably wasn't. Nevertheless, this legend of mine will
not only live on from the Chippewa on down, but
with every other individual who loves a seaworthy story. As
soon as we safely arrived on mack An Island, our
(08:06):
dad happily greeted us at the boat dock. He then
took us for a stroll down main street. We immediately
began to experience what it was like to live in
an earlier age of long ago. No cars were permitted
on that island at the time. At first, it was
very strange not being able to hear the sound of
one single motor. However, I did get used to it
(08:27):
real quick. Actually, it was rather nice not hearing the
sounds of motors, horns and squealing tires For a few days.
Since there wasn't any motor vehicles to travel around, and
we either had to walk, ride a bike or ride
in a horse drawn carriage in order to get around
the island. The night that I saw my dad play
(08:49):
in the majestic Grand Hotel ballroom was really special. I
felt like I was in an old nineteen forties movie.
There were people all over that ballroom who were dressed
up in form all attire as they danced to the
swinging beat of the big band song. All in all,
that pleasant memory of my dad, as well as every
other pleasant one, is something that I'll cherish forever. And
(09:15):
great job on the production by Madison Derricott and his
special thanks to George Gozzard for sharing the story of
his musician father, Harry sharing with us most importantly the gigs,
because that's what you remember if you have a musician parent.
The gigs and the gigs were my goodness of every
variety and kind, from steamboats to casinos to the Grand
(09:37):
Hotel at Macinaw Island. And if you have never been
to Macinaw Island in Michigan, take a family trip there
over the summer. It may be one of the most
beautiful places in America. The story of Harry Gozzard as
told by his son George here on our American Story
And we returned to our American stories. Harry Gozzard was
an American jazz trumpeter who played from the nineteen thirties
all the way to nineteen eighty. Today, we're going to
hear from his son, George, sharing some memories he holds
about his father's time in the big band lifestyle. I
grew up in Warren, Michigan, a blue collar city just
(00:32):
north of Detroit. It's the automobile capital of the world.
At one time, Warren had more factories than any other
city in the entire country. Except for my dad. It
seemed as if every kid that I knew when I
was growing up had a dad who worked on the
assembly line for one of the big three car companies.
Even though my dad didn't directly work for gm Ford Chrysler,
(00:55):
he did help its workers relax during their time off
with his usual and playful profession that he sometimes referred
to as work. Harry Gozzard was a big band musician,
and a very good one at that. My dad truly
(01:17):
enjoyed soothing the ears off of the residence of Metro
Detroit with his hot lips and cool trumpet. From what
I understand, he was one of the best trumpet players
in the country. Harry Gozzard was born on a farm
in Shelburne, Ontario, Canada. In nineteen twenty four, at eight
(01:38):
years of age, he his parents and three siblings migrated
to Detroit. He dropped out of high school when he
was just a teenager and began traveling around the country
tuting his trumpet. I'm not certain, but I think it
was the Sam Donaghue Orchestra who asked my dad to
drop out of school enjoy their band. For all I know,
(01:59):
my grand parents were diametrically opposed to him doing so. Nevertheless,
he did it anyway. He was one of the fortunate
few musicians who was able to record a few record
albums during his musical career. My dad's fame, if you will,
was even noticed by some people who I never thought
(02:20):
of as being a fan of his. I still remember
when my kindergarten teacher, missus Mitchell, came up to me
during class one day and told me how much she
enjoyed watching and listening to my dad perform at the
Elmwood Casino the previous night. The Elmwood was a premier
nightclub for the residence of Metro Detroit and southern Ontario.
(02:43):
It was located just across the Detroit River in the
beautiful city of Windsor. Many well known entertainers performed there.
Sammy Davis Junior and Margaret Tony Bennett, Bob Newhart, Patty Page,
and Tom Jones were some of the celebs that my
dad worked with. Although my dad retired from the big
(03:07):
band way of life when I was very young, there
were a few times that I had the opportunity to
watch him perform live on stage. During the nineteen sixties,
he played on the Saint Clair and the Columbia river boats.
The Saint Clair and the Columbia transported excited passengers down
(03:27):
the Detroit River to the locally famous Bablo Island Amusement Park.
The cruise was about a two hour long voyage that
originated from Detroit. Cruising down the Detroit River while watching
my dad play his trumpet before a live audience of
hundreds of people and getting to play all day at
Bablow was probably one of the coolest things that I
(03:48):
ever did when I was a kid. Another cool memory
that I have of my dad performing was the time
when he played in the band for the Alkaline Day
celebration at Tiger Stage. It was on August second, nineteen seventy.
The legendary singer songwriter Mel Tormay nicknamed the Velvet Fog,
(04:09):
saying thanks for the memory due to the fact that
my dad brought my mom and all of us kids
to that memorable baseball game. He was late getting to
the stadium. I have seven siblings, as you can imagine,
getting a large family the size of ours ready for
a notable event like that was a monumental task. I
(04:30):
vividly remember the commotion going on that particular day. It
was reminiscent of the scene in the first Home Alone
movie where they were all rushing around to get ready
for their big flight to Paris. Long story short. In
order to kick off the festivities for Al Kaylin's big day,
the band and a sold out crowd of fifty thousand
(04:51):
anxious fans had to wait a few moments for their
tardy trumpeter to arrive. The absolute coolest memory that I
have of my dad performing was the time when he
played at the Grand Hotel. It's a ritzy hotel that
is situated on picturesque Mackinaw Island. Even to this day,
(05:12):
it still happens to be a great place to visit.
When I was about ten years old, my dad played
two back to back stints there in the summertime. Since
Mackinaw Island was located roughly three hundred miles away from
where we lived, he unfortunately had to leave my mom
and all of his children at home for the summer.
(05:34):
To commute back and forth every weekend was simply out
of the question. Greatly missing him. During the second summer,
my brother Greg and I drove all the way up
there to visit him for a few days. Actually, we
first drove to Mackinaw City. From there we hopped on
a high speed ferry and cruised to the island. The
eight mile journey across beautiful Lake Huron took only about
(05:55):
twenty to thirty minutes. However, it was not without incident.
At about eight o'clock in the morning, my brother and
I arrived at the boat docked parking lot. As soon
as we got out of his cool Caprice Classic, we
both unconcernedly noticed that it was very foggy out on
the lake. Since my brother and I were nautical novices
(06:17):
at the time, we had no idea that cruising on
a large body of water and a heavy dense fog
was considered to be a maritime hazard. To my brother
and me, though, that fog was no big deal, so
we just went up to the ticket counter and bought
our ferry fair to the island. About ten minutes after
the ferry left the dock, we heard several really loud
(06:38):
hornblasts coming from our vessel and several other loud blasts
that were coming from another vessel which seemed to be
too close for comfort. All of a sudden, the captain
of the ferry turned the wheel very hard to port
or to the left, seemingly trying to avoid a collision
with another boat. The captain turned the ship's wheel so
(06:59):
hard that the window that my brother and I were
sitting next to was completely submerged. Right about then, our
own common sense began to let us know that something
was dreadfully wrong with this picture. Fortunately, though a few
minutes later, the Fairies seemed to level out and return
to its normal operating procedure. I immediately began to turn
(07:22):
my head from side to side, much to my surprise,
While looking out the starboard side window, I noticed the
stern of a massive freighter that was only about one
hundred yards away from us. Apparently, the captain of our
vessel almost broadsided a very large freighter. Who knows. Perhaps
the freighter we nearly collided with was the legendary ss
(07:44):
and mid Fitzgerald. Hey, it could have been or than likely,
though it probably wasn't. Nevertheless, this legend of mine will
not only live on from the Chippewa on down, but
with every other individual who loves a seaworthy story. As
soon as we safely arrived on mack An Island, our
(08:06):
dad happily greeted us at the boat dock. He then
took us for a stroll down main street. We immediately
began to experience what it was like to live in
an earlier age of long ago. No cars were permitted
on that island at the time. At first, it was
very strange not being able to hear the sound of
one single motor. However, I did get used to it
(08:27):
real quick. Actually, it was rather nice not hearing the
sounds of motors, horns and squealing tires For a few days.
Since there wasn't any motor vehicles to travel around, and
we either had to walk, ride a bike or ride
in a horse drawn carriage in order to get around
the island. The night that I saw my dad play
(08:49):
in the majestic Grand Hotel ballroom was really special. I
felt like I was in an old nineteen forties movie.
There were people all over that ballroom who were dressed
up in form all attire as they danced to the
swinging beat of the big band song. All in all,
that pleasant memory of my dad, as well as every
other pleasant one, is something that I'll cherish forever. And
(09:15):
great job on the production by Madison Derricott and his
special thanks to George Gozzard for sharing the story of
his musician father, Harry sharing with us most importantly the gigs,
because that's what you remember if you have a musician parent.
The gigs and the gigs were my goodness of every
variety and kind, from steamboats to casinos to the Grand
(09:37):
Hotel at Macinaw Island. And if you have never been
to Macinaw Island in Michigan, take a family trip there
over the summer. It may be one of the most
beautiful places in America. The story of Harry Gozzard as
told by his son George here on our American Story
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