Part of Us

by Ray Neapolitan

​In the music community I was involved in, there was no discrimination, there were no barriers. I don’t remember playing an event or with a band where there were a lot of social comments.

​We looked up to the black musicians; they were always a part of us. Especially growing up in Chicago—those guys were my idols. We never held fear or prejudice in our neighborhoods, or our families or our schools. Obviously there was a lot going on, but not in my Italian/Black/Jewish neigh-borhood. They were just part of us.

​For a small period of time, Bill Goodwin and I worked with The Treniers, a totally black Chitlin’ Circuit band. They were twin brothers: Cliff and Claude. It had that Louis Prima kind of vibe.

​We traveled a lot with one of the family members named Milt through the South. We’d stay in people’s homes. In 1958 there were separate bathrooms. Bill and I did have to go into certain places to get sandwiches for everybody.

​When we played in front of an all-black audience, they accepted Bill and me. Sometimes Danny Long was with us, so it would be a white trio behind this black band. We never felt any discrimination. It was wonderful.