The Kay Carlson Interview
Kay Carlson - Veteran Drummer and Percussion Instructor 1931 - 2010
Kay
Carlson was an award-winning drummer who taught thousands of students
in the Los Angeles area to play percussion and drum set for more than 50
years. She was a percussion instructor at Loyola Marymount University
and had a private studio at Amendola Music for many years. She toured
around the world in various bands and orchestras in the 1940s and 1950s.
She won the EPPI Award from the REMO Drum Company for Excellence in the
Profession of Percussion Instruction in 1989. She received a
Certificate of Recognition from Pro Mark for Exceptional Dedication to
Percussive Music Education. She’s featured as a musical pioneer in the
2007 documentary “Lady Be Good - Instrumental Women In Jazz.” Kay
participated in many Noisy Toys drum circles and events in the past 14
years. She was still teaching a select group of students within days of
her death April 5, 2010. We conducted this interview at Kay’s home in
February 2010.
Kay leading her kindergarten class band in Cleveland, Ohio
Sharon
- How old were you when you started taking drum lessons?
Kay
- My parents were very poor and my grandparents lived with us, all in
one apartment. There was a piano in the apartment and my sister decided
that she wanted to take piano lessons because the girl up the street was
taking piano lessons. So, as soon as I heard that I went to my parents
and said if she’s going to take piano lessons, I want to take piano
lessons. I was about 10 years old.
My mother and father said,
“No way. We can’t afford lessons for the two of you. Only one of
you. Your sister gets the lessons and you’ll have to bide your time.”
After a short time passed and I was crying all the time, my mother told
me she had a friend who used to be the percussionist for the theater in
downtown Cleveland, Ohio. She was going to ask him if he could help. He
offered to give me drum lessons for free. So, I tried out the drums and I
loved it!
About two weeks after I started drumming my sister quit piano and never touched it again. So it was fate. I stayed with my first teacher and he gave me an old drum set that he used in the theater. You wouldn’t believe how old it was, but it was my pride and joy. I worked diligently on the drums.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010 (updated)
Sharon - How unusual was it in the 1940s for a
girl to be studying drums?
Kay
- Very unusual. In high school I became a member of the high school
band. Because I was taking lessons and learning how to read music I was
able to play better than most of the boys, so I became head of the drum
section. The only girl. I was known as “The Girl Drummer.”
The boys played the drum
set for the dances and I was very jealous because I didn’t learn the
drum set right away. They were playing without any idea what they were
playing. However, I was still satisfied with the marching band.
I continued with my drum
lessons and started playing jobs around town as soon as I had a drum
teacher who had some knowledge and would work with me on the drum set . I
picked it up quickly. Then I started playing around town, getting jobs,
while I was still in high school. I graduated from high school in 1949.
I joined a group that had a
girl on trumpet and needed a drummer. By that time I was teaching drums
to some of the boys in the high school band because they needed to
catch up. I made them pay me 50 cents a lesson!
Sharon
- What did your friends think of your drumming at the time?
Kay -
It seemed to be quite normal at the high school until I started playing
drums around the town. Then a lot of people noticed the woman in the
band playing trumpet. That was unusual. But it was REALLY unusual
to see a girl on the drum set. I got a lot of jobs, not because I was a
girl, but because they needed a drummer and I was schooled.
Sharon
- After about 10 years of studying drums in Cleveland, Ohio you joined
the Cleveland Women’s Symphony. Was it common to have a separate
women’s symphony?
Kay -
In Cleveland it was the norm. I learned through talking with some
of the other musicians that the male symphony was strictly men, and the
only woman was the harpist. So someone formed the Women’s
Symphony and we played concerts. I joined the musicians union,
which you had to join to be part of the symphony and be paid for it.
In 1949 I was supposed to
go to college to study music. That was my plan. And I was debating
between Ohio State and Michigan State. And then along came a surprise.
My mother had a son, my brother, late in life. The family decided,
because they still weren’t very wealthy, that he would be the one that
they would send through college. My music was important, but his future
was more important. I was disappointed, but my music turned into a lot
of jobs and I met a lot of musicians. I played a lot of styles of music
and traveled a lot locally.
Sharon
- Starting in 1951 and all thru the 50’s you performed with touring
orchestras, big bands and other groups. What did you wear to
perform?
Kay
- I had 3 or 4 gowns that I wore. Unfortunately they had long skirts
and I chose incorrectly to wear dresses because that’s what the men
expected. Until one day when I was sitting at the drum set and I was
straddling the snare drum a woman came up during intermission and she
said, “That is terrible! Do they have to make you wear a dress?” She was
very upset and said, “We can see all the way up to your undies.”
(Laughter) I just hadn’t paid attention. So I immediately bought an
evening-type pair of slacks and wore slacks or pants from then on. It
was so embarrassing!
Sharon
- Was it typically expected that you were required to wear a dress or a
gown?
Kay
- Yes. The women in the symphony all wore a dress or long skirts. They
wore black skirts with a white blouse to look like the men.
(Laughing) Now that I think about it, it was pretty funny. On the
road we had gowns and dresses.
Sharon
- Wasn’t it hard to move and play drums dressed that way?
Kay
- Yes, it’s very difficult. The most difficult part is wearing high
heels on the foot pedal. I had to wear high heels for a while, until I
figured out that I could secretly change to flat, evening type
shoes, during the intermission. Then after a while I graduated to
wearing flats all the time, but it was a gradual process. When I played
in the western band on TV (the Spade Cooley Show) I had to wear western
boots. They had a heel which was very uncomfortable, but I got
accustomed to working the pedals. You do what you have to do.
Kay describes touring with
the Joy Cayler Orchestra in Part Two of her interview with Sharon Dale.
