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Top Ten Little Known Facts About Charlie Parker


JSngry

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10 - Held over 10,000 shares of Studebaker stock!

9 - 1953 Greenwich Villiage Little League Coach of the Year!

8 - Allergic to potatoes!

7 - Wrote left-handed, ate right-handed!

6 - Passionate about preference for 5-string banjo over 4!

5 - Frustrated pastry chef!

4 - Original staff writer for Your Show Of Shows!

3 - Weekly poker games with Robert Oppenheimer & Harry Truman a legend; used winnings to co-finance JATP tours!

2 - Violently opposed the formation of the NBA!

And the Number One Little Known Fact About Charlie Parker.....

1 - Assassinated by Russian spies!

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Re: #6 - What is paradoxical is that he was equally passionate about his preference for 4-string bass over 5-. Bird forced Eddie Safranski to abandon his 5-string and borrow a 4-string bass for that date (there's that famous photo of Bird, Tristano, Safranski, and Billy Bauer).

Originally Parker's view on guitar was that 4-string was better (the recordings with Tiny Grimes) but then he switched over to 6-string (probably influenced by his old friend Biddy Fleet who coaxed and cajoled him during their sessions at the chili house. It's reported that Bird wasn't happy about Fleet's 6-string then, but he seems to have mellowed on the subject and by the time of the Tristano photo, he was all for the more-is-more concept. It was rumored that he was considering recording with 12-string guitar, but that was in Ross Russell's book, so I'm not sure how much credence to give it.)

Mike

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It was rumored that he was considering recording with 12-string guitar, but that was in Ross Russell's book, so I'm not sure how much credence to give it.)

Mike

Pity. Had he lived, he coulda been the sixth Byrd (can you imagine him playing on "Eight Miles High?")

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Originally Parker's view on guitar was that 4-string was better (the recordings with Tiny Grimes) but then he switched over to 6-string (probably influenced by his old friend Biddy Fleet who coaxed and cajoled him during their sessions at the chili house.

So, is the chili house the source of Biddy's SECRET FORMULA ?

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Speaking of Massey Hall, not only was Bird's saxophone plastic, it was manufactured by Fisher-Price as part of their "My First Gobble-Pipe" line. It was such a hit that the "My 'Lil Pawnshop Playset" soon followed...so that toddlers would have a convenient place to put it in hock.

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