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My husband was in the service for 20 years and since he traveled quite a bit of the time, he would always bring home a different musical instrument from each foreign country he would visit. Even though neither of us could play, we always loved listening to music. I can even remember when the children were very young they were always singing.
When Bill was around eight, my husband brought him a guitar from Spain and he taught him all he knew. This was very limited but he knew a little and Bill picked it up right away. Then Bill taught Bob. All the time Bill and Bob enjoyed singing with their natural harmony.
BARRY AND JOHN
This went on for a couple of years and it was all good fun. Then Barry started playing with some bongo drums (I can't even remember where they came from) and he'd play them with stainless steel kitchen knives and he'd keep quite a beat.
So when Barry was eight he decided he wanted to play drums. None of the boys had any formal training, but I can remember Barry and John singing natural harmony when they were seven or eight years old.
WORKING PROFESSIONALLY
About this time John, not wanting to be left out, insisted he could play the drums. They boys teased him a lot and told him he was too young, but they let him try and within three days he was playing the drums very well. It took Barry about an hour to pick up the bass and they began planning a group and splitting the harmony into four parts.
The boys began to work professionally and they would play colleges in the area on Friday and Saturday nights. Then Susan decided she wanted to join the group. We were getting ready to leave on a short tour and Bill told her if she learned a song she could come too. Now Susan is young and doesn't have the best voice in the world, but she fits in beautifully because she's a part of the family and she thoroughly enjoys what she's doing. I think that's far more important than having a great voice.
MOM JOINS, TOO
How about my joining the group? Well, the boys had been doing this for about three years. The boys asked me for quite a while to sing with them, but I didn't think I could do it. You know ... I'm great in the kitchen, but in front of all those people is another story!
So they asked me if I would do a vocal part on the first album they recorded for MGM and I haven't seen the kitchen since! But it's really been wonderful. People have been so grand to us, they really have and we're having a ball!
DIFFERENT PERSONALITIES
One thing we always keep in mind is that we're a group, but we're also each a different personality. My husband and I give each one of our children their special needs. Like Bill. Bill is very friendly. Bill loves people and children and he has a great zest for living. He's a good student and he aspires to do big things.
Now Bob is very quiet. He's studious, very happy all the time and he loves the family. He's always with the family. He also loves to read, he keeps a journal of our travels, and he enjoys writing poetry. Barry is also quiet. He's also very realistic for his age and very observant. He wants to be a surgeon. I remember last year he wanted to be a scientist.
HAPPY FAMILY LIFE
John is really a dear. Last year he wanted to be a garbage man. I told him if that's what he wanted to be, it was fine, but just be the best garbage man there was. I think he was serious because he loves taking out the garbage for me.
All the kids are very extroverted. They all like people, excitement and traveling. We've had one vacation as a family and it was called life. We always enjoy what we're doing and this keeps us very close.
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