My brother Charles had a school friend in Lohn, Texas, named Kent Finlay. Kent taught him to play the guitar and sold him an old, unbranded instrument with a neck so warped the guitar had to be retuned to play any chord up the fretboard. The two of them played together often and entered talent contests in the surrounding area, becoming very good. After Kent graduated, Charles formed his own band, which he called Charles Marshall and the Charlie‑Horses. The members of the band were my brother Charles, rhythm and vocals, Jerry Tedder, upright bass, Curtis Wright, drums, and Jerry Dunn, lead guitar.
CHARLES MARSHALL & THE CHARLIE_HORSES
From time to time, Charles traveled to Detroit, Michigan, to pick up vehicles for my uncle, who owned the Ford dealership in Freeport, Texas. On one of those trips, while passing through Nashville, he spotted a Gibson guitar in a pawn shop and bought it for $50. When he brought that guitar home, I thought it was the most beautiful instrument I had ever seen. I was not allowed to touch it, as he was afraid, I might scratch it. I was 8 years old at the time, the year would have been 1954.
I watched him play and studied every movement, memorizing the way his fingers traveled across the fretboard. When he was not home, I slid the guitar out of the case he kept under his bed and practiced the finger patterns I had memorized, repeating them until they matched what I had seen him do. That is how I learned to play the guitar.
Sometime later, two friends, Fin and Mackey Watkins—found out I could play. Their father asked if I would teach his sons, and I did. My cousin, Jim Ferguson had given me a Stella guitar. The three of us formed a band called The Rockin’ Three. Their parents became like a second family to me, taking us all over Central Texas to play at different events. They even furnished my clothes, including the ones shown in the picture below. Picture manipulation by Larry Lopez.
THE ROCKIN’ THREE / PERFORMING AT THE FIREMEN’S BALL IN EDEN, TEXAS IN 1956
We performed on the same talent shows my brother had played on and eventually on a large talent show in San Angelo, Texas. At the time of the Eden performance, I would have been ten years old. Fin, who played lead and stood to my left, was twelve. Mackey, who played rhythm, was nine.
We later performed live on Channel 9 in Abilene, Texas, on Saturday night. For boys our age, it felt like we had reached the big time. Not long afterward, the Watkins family moved to Big Spring, Texas, for a teaching job. Around that same time, I entered puberty, and my voice changed so much that I could no longer sing. I lost interest in playing the guitar for a while.
I didn’t pick it up again until the ninth grade in Brady High School, in the 1960-1961 school year, when I joined another band. That group included my cousin Tommy Marsden on rhythm guitar, Hal Chase on drums, Frank Torres as lead singer, Lester Jennings on tom‑tom drums, *.* on upright bass, and me on lead guitar.