My Earliest Contact With Music Growing Up

MY EARLIEST CONTACT WITH MUSIC GROWING UP
Walter L. Elden, P.E. (Ret)

Music Environment in the Elden Family in Miami

When I was growing up, there was always music in the home, and a piano, but very little money or extras. My father and mother both never completed past the 8th grades in their formal education. He emigrated from the Bahamas, she moved to Miami from Louisiana. He was a hard working blue collar worker (fence builder at first, then electrician for the power company, then he trained and became a specialist maintaining deisel engines on ocean going ships during and after World War II). However, my father played many stringed instruments, like the banjo, mandolin, ukalelee, etc and later the string bass. My father and mother sang in church and other choirs and took vocal music lessons.

My Father's Collection of Stringed Instruments
Which He Played

My Father Played the String Bass, 1930's-40's Dad and Mother Sang in Church Choirs, 1950's - 1970's

My father organized his own orchestra, called the "Elden's Musical Men", and played for a variety of events, getting jobs from newspaper advertisements and handing out business cards.

An Ad Seeking a Musical Engagement

There was little money available in our family growing up, but three things my parents gave to each of of the four of us; 1. a strong foundation in the Roman Catholic religon (Pre-Vatican II style), 2. an appreciation of the importance of an education, and 3. training in music. I believe having grown up during the later years of the Depression and World War II, these traits instilled in me that I did not want to be unemployed or go without the necessary things in life later on, so I worked that much harder to achieve success in the things I did.

Listening to Music Playing 78 RPM Records

Around the age of 5or 6, I remember our family growing up in Miami, having one of those hand cranked RCA Victrola Phonographs, which only played the old 78 rpm records. Each record would only play a few minutes of music and you would first crank the phonograph to tighten the spring mechanism inside, which would cause the turntable to rotate. We would listen to records of band and orhcestral ncert music. I do not know how or whee my parents acquired this, but it was at that time what TV is to a family this day; great entertainment. Some of the music was recordings of John Philip Sousa and I remember one particular stirring march, the Stars and Stripes Forever. I was very attracted to classical and band music at that early age as a result of this experience. The photo shows an example of an early RCA Victrola Phonograph.

RCA Vitrola Phonograph

The Eldens Desperadoes

I have to digress a little from my main story to share with you one event in the growing up of myself and my 2 brothers and one sister. On one occasion, in our neighborhood of Pinewood, Fl, there occured one day a travelling photographer who stopped at our home and invited the taking of pictures, on his pony, with cowboy outfits provided. Well, fortunatly, my parents said yes and a photograph was staged and taken of the four of us. The resulting photograph is below, but there is more to the story.

The Eldens Desperadoes aka The Over The Hill Gang - era 1937-1938
(Jeanette, Walter, Guy and Harry, Jr.)

Now on with the story. Today, Jeanette's daughter, Loretta Ora, works for the US Federal Marshalls service in charge of budgeting the training of US Marshalls. In her office, she has on the wall a collection of all of the US Marshalls badges which she was able to assemble, and with them, the above Eldens Desperadoes photo. Whenever a new Marshall, including the top Administrator from Washington, DC, see the badges collection, they are impressed, but then they always ask "What About Them in the Photo, Who Are They Anyway?" Well, then Loretta laughs and gets to explain that they are her mother and uncles, The Eldens Desperadoes, aka The Over The Hill Gang. We love that story, and I had to share it. We each have a copy of the above photo. In the next section, what they each are doing in music today is told.

Involvement of Elden Sibilings and Next Generations in Music Today

From this past musical environment growing up, my older brother Harry Elden, Jr. today directs a handbell choir at Our Lady of the Lakes Catholic Church in Miami, has a daughter-in-law, whose Susana Prieto Elden's Ballet Etudes production of Nutcracker each year is the premier production of that classic, performed at the Jackie Gleason Theatre on Miami Beach, my sister Jeanette Elden Ora performs in her church music group, His House Band, in Brunswick, GA, while my younger brother, Guy, continues to sing the University of Georgia Bulldogs fight song, hoping for a victory over my Florida GATORS, but has a son, David Elden, who plays in a rock band and has a daughter-in-law, Debbie Hartman Elden, who sings in a choral groupin New Jersey and has solo'd at Carnegie Hall. So music continues to be practiced today in my family and the next generations.

Elden Family Members Involved in Music Today

Walter Elden Guy Elden Harry Elden, Jr.
Viera East Community Concerts Sings U of Georgia Fight Songs Directors Church Hand Bell Choir

Jeanette Elden Ora Susana Prieto Elden Debbie Hartman Elden
Performs in His House Band Produces Nutcracker Each Year Vocalist in Choir and at Carnegie Hall

David Elden
Performs in Rock Band

My First Beginnings with Music, the Xylophone

I didn't really begin music lessons on any instrument until I was about 11 years old, before starting the 6th grade, when I began study of the violin.Up til then I remember having an Xylophone, on which I would hit the keys with small mallets, playing it in private in a shed we had. It could play about one octave of music. I tried to compose music on it at the time, I remember, but that did not amount to anything. An example of a more modern day Xylolphone is shown in the photo.

An Example of an Xylophone

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