Bobby Hackett discusses his natural love of music.

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Bobby Hackett discusses musical style.

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Bobby Hackett discusses Louis Armstrong.

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Q: “It was often said of some people that, you know, they played the same solo all the time and the same tune…”

A: “Well, there are exceptions. I remember Glenn Miller, for example. Jerry Gray brought an arrangement in called The String of Pearls, an original that he wrote. And I was scuffling with it. I played the guitar at that time and I had to switch to the cornet and jump up and come up with a solo and I read it from the guitar pod. And when we got finished with it, Glenn said to me, "Do you remember what you played on that?" I said, "Well, if I had to, you know?" He said, "You should play the same thing all the time on that one," which I did and it became quite popular. They printed it and all the arrangements and all the bands picked up on it and Jerry Gray kept all the money. But if you come up with an exceptionally lucky one, you should stick with it. For example, our own, the people, they want to hear ‘Singin’ the Blues’. Well, if they don't hear Bix Beiderbecke’s solo, they don't want to hear it, so I play it. It's painful to play it, but it is a classic of solo and worthwhile, and if you would have played one of your own, there is no way in the world that you can improve on it because Bix was of course a genius and so you let it go at that and try to make up for it on the next number.”