Charles Margerison - Amazing Musicians

What a Wonderful World That became a major hit song for me Reflective of my life in many ways However, it did not start out that way My early life was not all that wonderful As the grandson of slaves, there was no golden spoon Although baptized in the Catholic Church, there were few blessings Maybe my parents did not tell the priest that I was born illegitimate The same for my sister, born three years later Then, my father left us and times got tougher Mother found it hard to cope and looked for other boyfriends She left me and my sister with our grandparents Grandma Josephine stood by us, until I was five Mother then returned and we went to live with her The only time I saw Father was in marching parades By that time, he was living with another woman Money was short in our house so I took on odd jobs One of them was delivering papers and another was doing errands New Orleans, my home town, was a hard place The law of the street gangs prevailed Joining a gang was necessary for personal protection We guarded our territory and those who paid us Particularly, in and around the bars and music clubs As a young member, running errands, I learnt what was required While visiting the clubs, it gave me the chance to listen to the music Especially ragtime music, that was very popular Joining a quartet of young boys helped me gain an income We sang on street corners Our popular music attracted attention Some people said that I had a good voice With an ear for music, I wanted to play an instrument The sound made by a cornet was one that I liked Players in the clubs showed me the basics Soon, I was able to play basic tunes But, I continued with my temporary jobs One was for the Karnofskys, a Jewish family from Russia They had a junk hauling business One day, Mr Karnofsky asked where I was living On hearing that I had no proper home, he invited me to stay It was an act of generosity that I never forgot Mr K., as I called him, was very kind to me in many ways I never forgot that Throughout my life, I wore a Star of David pendant It was a mark of respect Mr K. also gave me a loan to buy a cornet