Good Morning Blues: The Autobiography of Count Basie

“I don’t remember that there was ever any question of me doing anything but playing music. The only question for me was where I was going to play next.” - William “Count” Basie (1902-1984) Count Basie, whose autobiography Good Morning Blues (as told to Albert Murray) has just been reissued in a new edition by the University of Minnesota Press, knew early on he wanted to be in show business. “I don’t think I even came in contact with any rich entertainers,” he explains. “Money is not what it was all about. I liked the life and I liked music.” When the circus came through town, “I would have gone along just to be a water boy for the elephants.” The limelight calling, he found work while still a child in a silent movie house. He assisted with the projector, swept the place clean, and kept his eye on the piano. When his moment came, he was ready to hop on the keyboard and accompany the film. He kept at it his whole life; assisting his luck by making sure he was there to catch the big break. In his autobiography he accuses himself of “conniving,” but later softens the self-assessment, saying, “I was always game, I mean willing to take a big chance on yourself because you want to do what you want to do.” He followed those breaks out of Red Bank, New Jersey and up to the clubs of Harlem. From there he caught out on the Columbia Burlesque Wheel, wi