Del Courtney 

Hey! The Band's Too Loud

AuthorHouse  (Published January 2005)

        It seems like Del Courtney has always been leading a band. The Oakland, CA native's musical odyssey started in high school, continued through college, and brought him one of the most rewarding careers that music has ever offered to anyone  -  as his musical life span has extended over the Big Band Era of the 1930s, '40s and '50s, through the rock craze, to the current nostalgic Big Band sounds.

Now at age 94, Del has recently self-published his life story through AuthorHouse Publishers called Hey! The Band's Too Loud. The tongue-in-cheek title comes from an expression Del used to hear from venue managers and the general public as to how his band sounded during the early days of his career. The 212-page book, written by me, takes the reader through Del's musical journey of seven decades. It is chalked full of photographs of the noted bandleader with numerous celebrities ranging from Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore to Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Ozzie Nelson to Raiders head coach John Madden. The book also contains forwards by Madden and jazz great Dave Brubeck (he credits Del with first inspiring him to play jazz) as well as a fairly extensive discography of Del's commercial recordings, transcription recordings and radio broadcasts. 

Although he never had a hit record, Del always managed to organize solid-sounding aggregations during his seven decades in the music business. Success grew as he became a favorite of the airwaves and dancing America wherever he appeared  -  night clubs, hotels, theatres and major ballrooms  -  such renown spots as the Mark Hopkins Hotel (San Francisco), the Coconut Grove Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles), the Palmer House, the Stevens Hotel, the Blackhawk Restaurant and the Aragon-Trianon ballrooms (Chicago), the Paramount Theatre (New York), the Peabody Hotel (Memphis), the Roosevelt Hotel (New Orleans), and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu. 

Del was one of the first to bring Big Band music to Hawaii in the early 1930s. He's played for U.S. Presidents and was a pioneer of early television, hosting his own television show in San Francisco in 1950. He also was a radio show host and even had a brief acting career in Hollywood. 

During the 1960s, Del produced and co-hosted The King Family TV Show on ABC while serving as Administration Director and Entertainment Director for the Oakland Raiders, producing all team's half-time shows. His Raider Band was acclaimed the best in the NFL.  

Del lives in Honolulu and now, and only leads a band for special occasions and only when his health permits him to do so.

In 2000, I wanted to interview Del for my monthly Internet publication, JAZZ CONNECTION. I wanted to interview as many Big Band era bandleaders who were still alive as I possibly could. I contacted Del, who just celebrated his 90th birthday. I did the telephone interview with him, wrote the article and he was pleased with the results.

Shortly after my telephone interview with Del, he e-mailed me asking if I knew of any writers who could help him write his autobiography. Seeing a window of opportunity opening my way, I crawled in. I suggested to Del that I would be happy to write his book, even though I have never before done a book project. I didn't think I had any chance of serious consideration, but I let my intentions be known anyway. 

A few weeks later, Del telephoned me saying that he thought I would be the right man for the job. We discussed the fees for my services and my all-expenses-paid four-day trip to visit him in Honolulu to hammer out the details of the book. I met with him in mid-January 2001. Del had jotted down highlights about his life, which made piecing together his life story much easier.

During my visit, Del and I had a verbal agreement in which he promised to pay me 80-percent of the agreed fee for writing the manuscript, which he did, while promising me the other 20-percent when the book got published. He also promised me that I would be named co-author of the book. He wanted the book to be published in time for his 91st birthday bash. I personally thought that was somewhat ambitious, but I told him that I would finish the first draft of the manuscript by early May, which I did. I e-mailed him copies of the chapters as I finished them, to make sure that they were to his liking. They were.

I even contacted Dave Brubeck and John Madden via telephone on Del's behalf requesting them to write forwards. They were delighted to do so. Brubeck wrote his sentiments in a letter, while Madden verbally shared his with me. I sculptured Madden's thoughts as they appear in the book.

After I e-mailed Del the final chapter, I prepared myself for the impending tedious task of working with publishers to do re-writes. Weeks and months went by as I heard very little from Del only to have him tell me he was still working on getting a publisher. His 91st birthday came and went without said desired book in hand.

During these past four years, I have often wondered what ever became of my literary efforts. As much I personally wanted to have Del's book published, have my named credited as co-author, and to be paid the balance for my services, I rested comfortably knowing that I had done an honest job and that I had earned most of what Del agreed to pay me for my services.

Last month, a friend of mine, who also has self-published a book through AuthorHouse and who knew of the book project I had with Del, notified me that Del's book had been published and was currently being advertised on the AuthorHouse web site. I checked out the website and sure enough it was there! I ordered a copy of the book to see if any of what I had written was ever put in the book.

To my surprise, every word that I had written was in Del's book! I had checked it against the original manuscript on my computer disc and against the original notes I saved from our in-person meeting. Nothing whatsoever was edited. In fact, the book itself was printed with the same font type that was on the computer I used. While I'm flattered that my work did not seem to warrant editing, Del's desire to finally get his book out, even after "sitting" on the manuscript for over four years, was, I suspect, sent to the publishing house in an eleventh-hour haste. I say this because there are a few pages where paragraphs aren't lined up properly, and any good proof-reader would have caught that and would have immediately corrected it before it went to print.

Other than that, Hey! The Band's Too Loud reads well and its contents are interesting. To me, it's a five-star story. But then, I'm biased.

I sincerely hope people will take the opportunity to check out Del's story. It is a story worth reading.

Empirical evidence may not herald to the world that I'm a published author, but I know I am.

- Stephen Fratallone/Jazz Connection Magazine

Hey! The Band's Too Loud can be purchased from AuthorHouse on line at  www.AuthorHouse.com   Hardcover edition is $19.95; Paperback edition is $12.25; and Electronic Book is $4.95. Hardcover and paperback copies of the book can also be purchased from Amazon.com at  www.amazon.com   

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