It was 1950 when I moved to L.A. [California]. As I told you, I had been there once before--to record for Jack Lauderdale without my [McSon] trio. And it was that first L.A. session--sometime in '49--that produced "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand." Now that was a strange tune. I sang it in my most authentic Charles Brown voice, but I added something of my own. At the beginning of the song, I played celeste instead of piano. I got the idea from one of the most popular tunes of the day, "Dream," which also had a celeste part. "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" was more or less a blues, though, so the celeste sounded weird in there. Anyway, it seemed to work; the record sold and became my first little success. There was so much different music around this time-- up in Seattle and down in L.A. Everyone was listening to Bird and Diz--that was Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. They were the two main men among the younger musicians like me. We also followed cats like Howard McGhee and Max Roach--all the guys inventing the jazz which sounded new and modern. Naturally a great deal of other music was floating round. There was a mighty strong blues wind blowing up and down the West Coast. T-Bone Walker could be felt everywhere, and so could Big Joe Turner. Don't forget Louis Jordan either; he remained a popular figure with everyone --musicians and the public. My musical influences were still mixed. I loved much of what I heard and I tried to absorb it all. << less