Helen Humes discusses starting in the music business at a very young age.

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Helen Humes discusses touring with experienced musicians.

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Helen Humes offers advice for aspiring singers.

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Q: “What was it like traveling with musicians like Lester Young and Buck Clayton and Basie and Joe Jones? You were just still a very young girl at that time, a young, young woman – were you treated as sort of a little princess and they were big brothers to you?”

A: “Yes, they certainly were. They were just as sweet as they could be. And well, you know, they would ... when we would do the one-nighters and when we'd all get on the bus and they'd be getting ready to talk and they'd look over at my seat and say, "Is Humes asleep?" And I'd just sit there with my eyes closed, you know, with my light off and I'd play like I was asleep. And oh the things they would talk about and I had a fellow saying, "Helen, you know, you ought to write a book about the Bassey Band. You, I know you've got a lot of things you could tell." And I'd say, "Well, but I'm not going to tell them because I don't want them to get killed." But it was just so much fun. “