Strike Up the Band Page #8

- Isn't that wonderful?

- Well, that's very nice of you, Mr. Connors.

But, Barbara,

I wish I'd known about this before.

- Why, Dad?

- I'm afraid I've made other arrangements.

But, Dad, I promised James.

We play fine music, Mr. Morgan.

We do an awfully good job.

Well, I'm sure of that, son.

But I've already signed the contract.

- Oh, I see.

- But we want you to come to the party.

Especially if you're a musician,

then you can bring your whole orchestra.

That's kind of you. I don't know whether

we can make it or not, but we'll try.

- I hope so.

- How about a Coke, young man?

- Thanks.

- We'll get to your band. Market's going up.

- Going to have a lot of parties.

- Sure.

Now, don't you worry about it.

And we wanna have you try and be there.

It isn't every day you get a chance

to hear Paul Whiteman.

- Paul Whiteman?

- Yes.

- He'll be winding up his tour near here and...

- Paul Whiteman, here?

Yes. We had a hard job getting him

but I have a lot of good friends.

Paul Whiteman in Riverwood?

Oh, thanks. Thanks. We'll be there.

Just try and keep us away.

Paul Whiteman. Paul Whiteman.

Well, goodbye, every...

Pardon me.

Glad to have met you, Mrs. Morgan.

You too, Mr. Morgan. I mean, Mrs. Morgan.

You know what I mean anyway.

Sorry. Thank you. Thanks a lot.

Goodbye. And we'll be there too. Yes, sir.

In behalf of Mrs. Morgan and myself...

...I want to welcome all of Barbara Frances'

friends to her 18th birthday party.

We also want to welcome

Mr. Whiteman and his band.

And tell them

we are glad to have them with us.

Thank you, Mr. Morgan,

and we're mighty glad to be here too.

And now, I want you to have

the very best of good times.

Paul, it's all yours.

- Say, your old man's all right.

- What did you expect him to be?

- How about this dance, Mary?

- Thanks, but I'm wondering about Willie.

- You haven't seen him dancing, have you?

- I haven't.

Last time I saw him

he was hanging around on the porch.

Well, thanks. I think I'd better go find him.

He's kind of shy, you know.

We want him to have

a good time, don't we?

Oh, sure we do.

They certainly are swell.

But we've got just as good a brass section.

Just as loud anyhow.

Yeah, only they push the valves down

at the same time.

Hello, Willie. What are you doing

out here?

- Nothing.

- Well, come on inside and let's dance.

No, thanks.

You've acted awfully funny

ever since the night of the show.

Is there anything wrong?

I got things on my mind.

Well, I won't bother you then.

Willie, you're not mad at anything,

are you?

- No, I'm not mad.

- That's swell.

- Willie, what's wrong?

- Just my arm. It hurts something awful.

- Your arm?

- Don't, please. Don't touch it.

Willie, maybe you should go home.

I don't wanna miss all the fun.

Have you seen a doctor?

- They don't know nothing.

- Willie, that's very foolish.

If there's something wrong,

you should have it looked at.

Promise me you'll go see a doctor

tomorrow morning.

Okay, I'll go, but it won't do any good.

But nevertheless, you promised.

Yeah.

Well, let's go on inside and watch, huh?

Come on.

Hey, kids. I just met Paul Whiteman.

- You did?

- Swell, Phil.

Hey, Jimmy, take a load of that tenor sax.

No wonder he can make it moan.

He didn't win that clarinet

at a raffle either.

Gosh, I'd sure like to take a feel

of those sticks.

- It wouldn't hurt anybody, would it?

- No, go ahead, Jimmy.

Go ahead. Sure. Go on.

- Oh, gee, do you think he should?

- Sure, why not? It can't do any harm.

Oh, I don't know.

- Hey, Leonard, what a set of skins.

- Yeah.

Gosh, with a set of drums like these,

a guy could get in the White House.

Boy, if I owned this,

I'd just sit around all day and look at it.

Beauty.

Just as easy.

- Look, Jimmy. Isn't this a honey?

- Gosh, it sure is.

- Gee, I never felt more in the mood.

- Me neither.

Say, it wouldn't do any harm

to knock out a couple, would it?

- No.

- No, it wouldn't.

- What are we waiting for?

- Just a downbeat.

Well, all right then, let's get ready.

Sid, get over at the piano.

One, two.

There's a boy down on our street

Plays the drums with such a beat

You cannot control your feet

When you hear the drummer boy

In the morning when you wake

You can hear him take a break

Soon the whole street starts to shake

When they hear the drummer boy

Bing bang, ding dang

He's so nimble on the cymbal

Bing bong, ding dong

When he plays 'em he just slays 'em

All your troubles fly away

Every day's a happy day

Everything will be okay

When you hear the drummer boy play

Say, it looks like somebody's

kind of taken over here.

- Yeah, and not bad either, Pop.

- You're telling me.

Gather 'round, all you chums

Watch this cat spin those drums

Swing it, brother, beat that hide

Take us on a jivin' ride

This is what the doc prescribes

For a case of jibs and jibes

Drummer boy please give out

On those vibes

Hear that drummer boy play

Goldie, you boys go on ahead.

- I'll meet you at the hotel.

- Right, Pop.

Come in.

You wanted to see me?

Sure. Come on in.

My name's Connors.

- I know. Mine's Whiteman.

- Yeah.

- Won't you sit down?

- Thank you.

I guess I ought to apologize for barging

up there and taking over like I did...

...but we wanted to give you

an audition for your contest.

It was a good audition.

How long you been playing the drums?

Ever since I was a kid.

- You're through school?

- Yes, sir. I've just graduated.

- Well, I bet you're mighty happy about that.

- Well, I made it, but I had to slide.

What are you going to do next?

Keep on pounding the drums

as long as anybody will listen to me.

Jimmy,

you're a mighty talented young fellow.

And I think I ought

to do something about it.

One of my boys, a swell saxophone player

and a mighty fine fellow...

...is starting his own band in New York.

They open Thursday.

The drum spot's open.

How'd you like to have that job?

Oh, you're kidding me.

They open Thursday.

You'll have to be there if you want the job.

I want the...

New York.

Yeah.

Yeah, why, I could go home

and pack right now.

Wait a minute, Jimmy. Don't get excited.

I'm not excited.

Who's excited, Mr. Whiteman?

Think it over and let me know

in the morning. I'm at the Wentworth.

The Wentworth?

Well, I don't have to think it over.

I could just have to tell my mom.

Well, I could phone you the first thing

in the morning. Say, about 7:30?

That's okay but I think

10 would be a little better.

Ten o'clock. Oh, gosh.

Thanks a lot, Mr. Whiteman. Gee.

- You're on the level?

- Sure I'm on the level, Jimmy.

Oh, gosh. Well, thanks.

I'll phone you the first thing in the morning.

Good night.

Hey, Mom. Mom!

Mom. Mom, you awake?

- Jimmy, what on earth...?

- It's happened. I told you it would.

We're on our way. I've got a job.

- Job? What do you mean?

- Mr. Whiteman heard our band tonight.

Paul Whiteman. He's offered me

a job with an orchestra in New York.

All of our troubles are over.

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