Left to Right: Cliff Brewton, piano; Benny Valfre,banjo; Harvey Kindervater,drums; Willson Davis, sousaphone; Gene McKinney, trombone; Jim Cullum Jr.,cornet; Jim Cullum Sr., clarinet.

This was the original Happy Jazz Band that started at the Landing in 1963. None are among the living except for me, I was much younger than the other guys. This band was together more or less for about ten years, up until the time of my father's death in 1973. The style of the band was very much the same as the style is now, except for the tuba, which made it more of a two-beat feel. But the approach, philosophy, and overall style and type of material is the same as the present-day band.

The rhythm section had more of a relaxed feel. Willson Davis was a natural bass player with a very good sense of time, had a nice tone, and played very well in tune. He didn't play any wrong notes. In the early days, what written arrangement that did exist were written by Paul Crawford and some by my father.

The band worked on Friday and Saturday nights at the Landing and played for other functions around town on the average of about one night a week. This picture was taken right after we had just made our first record, The Happy Jazz Band, made in the fall of 1963. We were standing in front of Sile's Music Company, which was a record store. The record came out between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we sold slightly under 2,000 units, a truly amazing accomplishment! 45 records later, we're still at it.