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DEL.ICIO.USPresenting….’the human trumpet’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Name a traditional tune.
“Amazing Grace.”
“Auld Lang Syne.”
“When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Terry Barker can play them, but not on an instrument. He just sounds like one.
“I can be sitting in a restaurant and start doing a song,” said Barker, 68, of Stone Mountain. “Everybody will stop. They even come out of the kitchen.”
He discovered his talent nearly four decades ago in Pensacola. Barker, then a aircraft production contractor at the Pensacola Naval Air Station, heard a mechanic trying to emulate a trumpet. Barker gave it a whirl. He nailed it.
Terry “Pops” Barker, the human trumpet, was born.
Locally, he performs in nursing homes, churches and at events — wherever there’s interest. He’s entertained on the national stage, too. Last year, he appeared on “America’s Got Talent.” He performed on the Jay Leno Show two years ago. A scrapbook of his life includes a photo of him and the comedian.
“I was going to do ‘Jingle Bells’ ” he told me, “but Leno walked by whistling ‘Winter Wonderland’ before the show. I asked him if I could change my song, and he said, ‘Sure.’ ”
When he opens his mouth, people listen.
I interviewed him two weeks ago in the AJC Gwinnett News office in Norcross. He performed a few bars of “When the Saints Go Marching In.” Colleagues strained eyes and necks to find the source.
Our paths first crossed during the holidays. I’d written a column about a Duluth man who wanted to give a brand new $500 trumpet to a musically inclined kid whose family couldn’t afford a brass instrument. Jerry Robb’s generosity touched Barker. He, too, had an instrument that he wanted to donate to a kid. It was a trumpet that he used as a prop for performances.
The two men met for breakfast one Saturday. Barker gave Robb the trumpet, then serenaded a waitress.
“He’s amazingly good,” said Robb, 61, who played trumpet in high school and college. “And he likes people. That’s why he wanted to make another kid happy.”
Barker doesn’t hide his soiled past. He started drinking when he was 17 and quit when he was 50. He had to make a choice between two loves — whiskey or Elaine, his wife of 24 years.
“This is my third wife, and I didn’t want to lose her,” he said. “I took the bottle of whiskey and poured it out in the sink. That’s when I really started entertaining.”
Hard times have befallen Barker in recent months. His nerves have grown bad. Medicine to treat them caused his legs to swell. He had to quit work at a local Kroger.
The retiree needs extra income. His talent may be the ticket. Barker says he can entertain for most any gathering. He charges a small fee that varies, depending on the length of the show and other factors.
He has a list of about 50 tunes that he can perform. He can even crow like a peacock.
“I love entertaining people, he said. “God has given me an unusual talent.”
Contact Terry Barker at 404-433-7477.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
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By Mark
January 28, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this
Chirp, chirp, chirp