Andy Griffith ''became somebody'' when playing the trombone
One day, a slide trombone changed it all.
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/2si7n-1701276590-5120-blog-Andy%20the%20music%20mandy.png)
We all know that Andy Griffith was a skilled musician. Anybody who has seen him pick up a guitar on The Andy Griffith Show has seen the ways his Southern charm can light up a melody. Not everybody knows, though, that it was actually a different instrument altogether that changed Griffith's path forever.
Rewind, if you will, to the year 1940, and we'll find ourselves in Mount Airy, North Carolina, where a young Andy Griffith is about to make a life-changing discovery. At the time, the 14-year-old Griffith was considering a career in the church, where he intended to be a preacher. However, the music he heard at the Haymore Memorial Baptist Church excited him so much that it genuinely altered the way the rest of his life would play out.
"When I was 14, I got a slide trombone from the Spiegel catalog and had no idea what to do with it," Griffith told the Baraboo, Wisconsin News Republic. "We didn't have a music program in my school in Mount Airy."
What was a young trombone owner to do? With the right equipment but none of the know-how, the new instrument would've been useless. Luckily, a family connection led the young Griffith to Rev. Ed Mickey, a local pastor who taught boys how to play horns.
"He didn't know about slide trombones, but I had a book that came with my horn," said Griffith. "When I first got that horn, I tried to pick out 'The Old Rugged Cross.' I don't think I got it, but I approached it. He said 'Leave this book and come back next Wednesday,' I did and he started teaching me. Within two months, I played a solo in church. It was great."
With just that tiny taste of the limelight, Griffith's career aspirations shifted. Performance became his outlet. Moving a crowd became his number one priority.
"When music came into my life, with the trombone and the singing, I became somebody. That is, I became an individual, where an athlete is a real individual or a fine student is a real individual."
![](https://cdnmetv.metv.com/8OCZ2-1593721061-104-show-300x165-AndyGriffith.jpg)
Watch The Andy Griffith Show on MeTV!
Weeknights at 8 & 8:30, Sundays at 6 & 6:30 PM
*available in most MeTV markets![](/images/metv_mall_logo_900.png)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/products/ELV784-AT.jpg?v=1474485171?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/products/SUN133-AT.jpg?v=1479162036?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/products/16d455f8912cee75675aa3a4c23ae26f628dcfd5d777c8697cb6b8de53550a87_1001-1001.jpg?v=1628715156?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/products/ELV807-AT.jpg?v=1474485442?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/products/YES111-AT.jpg?v=1479224720?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/products/ELV778-AT.jpg?v=1474485788?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/products/YES102-AT.jpg?v=1479224508?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/TPH523.jpg?v=1717693505?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/PF5168.jpg?v=1717692632?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/JOU5125.jpg?v=1717690760?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/JOU5126.jpg?v=1717690590?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/JDPR505.jpg?v=1717690025?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/JDPR506.jpg?v=1717689718?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/KISS586.jpg?v=1717621997?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/PERRY322-TK.jpg?v=1715799464?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/TPH523.jpg?v=1717693505?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/PF5168.jpg?v=1717692632?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/JOU5125.jpg?v=1717690760?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/JOU5126.jpg?v=1717690590?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/JDPR505.jpg?v=1717690025?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/JDPR506.jpg?v=1717689718?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/KISS586.jpg?v=1717621997?width=200&height=200)
![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0219/7690/files/PERRY322-TK.jpg?v=1715799464?width=200&height=200)
3 Comments
![](/images/wcs_logged_out_user.gif)