I thought they were ancient, but the bass player and drummer were GI's in their early 20's. I played a 1952 ES 295..an archtop electric which is now called a 175...smaller than an L-5, with P 90 pickups.

It was a low-key coctail hour job that I sometimes did by myself. Was I good? Not very, but I knew changes and instrumentals of the day, and the drummer sang well. Got paid $10.00 in silver dollars. The military paid in silver dollars occasionally to show the community the effect of the military on the local economy.

This was on Ladd AFB and there were very few musicians in Fairbanks. The fact that I was a little kid was part of the draw. We're talking a two hour job for 50 officers getting a drink on the way home. Good training, though.


russ