AN INTERVIEW WITH LARRY MAXEY - The University of Kansas

to do, and ended up in the post band at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Then when things were
really going nicely at Fort Sill—I was going to play in the orchestra, I was in a dance
band, the duty was good—all of a sudden my orders came through for the Seventh Army
Symphony. So off I went to Stuttgart. And right after I got there, they folded the
symphony and assigned me to the Seventh Army Band. All this happened within two
years time. I don’t know what started this question.
Q: I asked you if you were in the band in the Army.
A: Yes, eventually. I was a clerk typist in the first job, then a bandsman in the second job,
and an orchestra player in the third job and a bandsman in the fourth job, all in the space
of two years.
Q: Did you have a chance to see some of Europe while you were there?
A: Yes, I was selected to play in a band that was in Mons, Belgium. It was some kind of
competition, and I was imported as a ringer. I played in the band because they brought in
some players to make it better. Another time the 7 th Army Band spent a week on duty in
Heidelberg. I also got to Paris on leave. I was only there nine months but I got to see a
little of Europe.
Q: You weren’t married at this time were you?
A: No, I was not.
Q: So when you came back, is that when you went back to Eastman?
A: No. I was lucky. I was in Germany applying for jobs in the United States, unavailable
for interviews and unavailable for auditions. But I was hired by reason of my resume and
a tape recording that I sent of my playing. I was hired by East Texas College in
Commerce, Texas, which is now Texas A & M at Commerce, a school of 5,000 in a town
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