Oliver Jones. Marthe Sansregret
my mind, I would say ‘never again!’ But the next day, I would return.”
When it concerned sports, Oliver may not have listened when his parents told him enough was enough, but he did respect their warnings about crossing the railroad tracks, especially near Windsor Street. He had witnessed several tragic accidents. When the train cars were being shunted, children, some of whom he knew, refused to wait and tried to pass between the cars; if they were unlucky, they got caught when the cars banged together and ended up losing a leg, or even both legs.
***
Oliver lived within walking distance of the Montreal Forum on the corner of Sainte-Catherine and Atwater Streets. The Forum, where he had seen the Barnum & Bailey Circus, was the hockey mecca of North America at that time. The home rink of the Montreal Canadians, it hosted games with the five other clubs of the National Hockey League: the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Chicago Black Hawks, the Detroit Red Wings, the New York Rangers, and the Boston Bruins, whose rivalry with the Habs was friendly but very real.
To Oliver, hockey night meant running up Atwater Street and mixing with the crowd milling about in front of the Forum, hoping someone would give him a ticket to the game. He would give up after a while, and race back home to listen to the game on the radio. Between periods, Oliver heard Ken Griffin playing standards on the organ that he himself played on the piano, including “Skater’s Waltz.” When he learned a fan had been taken to the hospital during the game because a stray puck had broken his nose or flattened his cheekbone, he was glad that he was listening in the comfort and security of his home.
Still, Oliver imagined that watching a game and listening to the organ on the spot would have been out of this world. When he finally did get a free ticket one day, he ran into the Forum, his heart beating in double time. On the edge of his seat, he cheered the Canadians and booed their adversaries. However, his enthusiasm was dampened at half time when he recognized the men’s room attendant as the father of one of his friends. Although this Black man seemed to have kept his dignity in spite of his low-status job, the image was irrevocably imprinted in Oliver’s mind.
Oliver only got one more free pass to a hockey game at the Forum. After that he had to wait until he grew up and could afford to buy a ticket.
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Mr. Jones began to worry about his son’s craze for sports, especially ice hockey. Oliver wanted to become the next Maurice Richard, or at least the next Elmer Lach or Toe Blake – Richard’s partners in the “Punch Line.” Or Butch Bouchard. But to Oliver’s father, it would have been a shame to let this God-given musical talent come second to anything. Oliver himself was conscious that sports distracted him from his piano practices – and from his homework.
Nevertheless, he felt that participating in sports was a wonderful part of growing up. He also had the example of two young people living downstairs from him. Brother and sister Mervin and Rosella Thorne both belonged to the Joey Richardson Track and Field Club that Oliver wanted to join. Rosella had been Canadian champion in hurdles and the long jump and competed for Canada in track and field at the Olympic Games, a rare achievement for a woman. Mervin and Rosella became role models for Oliver, in the same way that Oscar Peterson and Jackie Robinson had. Oliver could hardly imagine what would have happened to him without the positive influence of these achievers in different fields who provided a kind of outlet for him.
In spite of his lack of fervour during his practices, Oliver enjoyed playing the piano in front of audiences more and more. Yet, he still didn’t imagine himself earning his living from music. “The only thing I wanted to do, although it may look strange for a youngster growing up, it was funny, I would have liked to join the army. And the other thing I would have loved to be was a detective. I thought about that for a long time. Of course, I did not have the stature and there were not a lot of opportunities for young Blacks to join.”
Oliver was discouraged in his dream of a sports career when Mervin Thorne, after graduating from an American university with a sports scholarship, took a job as a civil servant. Oliver wondered if he could handle even that kind of job, since he couldn’t imagine working nine-to-five.
He kept playing sports and training at the Iverley Community Centre, a minute away from where he lived, and where Daisy Peterson gave music lessons. The Centre became an important part of his life and kept him busy. “It kept me from getting into trouble.”
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Oliver was surprised and happy when he heard that Marguerite Pyle, his Cape Breton cousin, was coming to Montreal to live with the Joneses. Right from the beginning, Marguerite was fond of Mrs. Jones, viewing her as “a very outgoing, very beautiful personality, happy, good sense of humour, and a good cook!” She also appreciated her cousins Lillian, Violet, and Shirley. Helping Mrs. Jones in the house during the day, she was impatient for the evenings, when she would attend Oliver’s shows. Since the summer of 1942 when she first heard him play, she had been convinced he would become a star.
Soon after, Marguerite’s brother Joe, who had taken care of the family after his father’s death, moved to Montreal with Aunt Elisa. Joe, already a boxing champion in Nova Scotia, continued his career in Montreal and became Canadian middleweight champion. The media gave him the nickname of “KO” Joe Pyle. Oliver, who felt the pain every time his cousin was hit, rationalized: “I’m lucky because my cousin knocks people out so fast that he doesn’t get hurt much.”
Oliver attended his first boxing matches and enjoyed this manly sport. “We had a good following in Montreal. There was also wrestling, especially Gorgeous George, but we knew that wrestling was phony.” Joe’s brother Charlie also continued his boxing career and would eventually be decorated by Queen Juliana of The Netherlands.
Despite the fact that Oliver still spent a lot of his time watching and playing sports, it seemed that everyone around him had decided on another future for him. Instead of becoming a Pullman porter or an athlete, they easily envisioned him as a full-time professional musician. But Oliver didn’t see it that way, and still hated the hours of practice.
When Richard Parris heard Oliver complaining about his practices, he would argue with him. “Because Oliver played like fire, fire! He would burn everybody. He was just one piece with the piano!”
CHAPTER IV Life as a Working Musician 1946–1964
Oliver may have played as if he were on fire, but his parents remained down to earth. They worried about his progress at school, especially when they compared him to Shirley, whose marks were in the 90s, making Oliver envious yet proud of his little sister. Nevertheless, Mr. and Mrs. Jones had to admit that their son got up very early every morning, always willingly. After breakfast, he practised piano, then ran to school. Rigorously punctual, Oliver never missed a single day unless he had the flu or one of the common childhood maladies.
He hated mathematics, in spite of the fact that numbers were important in music. In class, when Oliver felt pressured, for instance when he was unexpectedly called on to answer the teacher, a slight lisp would interfere with his speech. On the other hand, he succeeded very well in every area where his manual dexterity could be put to use. He loved drawing in general and mechanical drawing in particular, as well as painting in watercolours. As for the handwriting that teachers used to fuss about so much, Oliver’s was beautiful.
After school, he carried out his other daily duty, to the amazement of Bruce Parent. “Oliver was terrific! His father pushed him to practise every day. I would ask him to come and play ball and he would answer 'No, I have to practise.’” Bruce would sit on the doorstep until his friend was finished.
As Oliver grew older, Mr. and Mrs. Jones allowed him to fulfil an increasing number of musical engagements – under certain conditions. One day, he had failed to meet one of the conditions that concerned his homework or one of his household chores. His father was inflexible: “No, no, you are not playing in this concert tonight!” Oliver was justifiably distressed. He was scheduled to accompany the dancers and singers in a show put on by Charles Griffith, the well-known tap dance teacher, at Union United Church. “We’d been rehearsing for weeks, probably for months. I