Column: Music Memories: Vi and Eddie Keys

Vi and Eddie Keys perform with Jimmie Lawson in Idaho Falls, Idaho, in 1947 with an unidentified steel guitarist.

Photo submitted by Steve Schaffner

Growing up in Cape Girardeau in the 1970s, one of my fondest music memories was hearing Vi and Eddie Keys play in the Arena Building during the SEMO District Fair. Although the Keys never experienced what some might consider “mainstream success” in the form of hit records and national tours, they performed, traveled and frequently rubbed elbows with those who did. They were successful musicians, music teachers and retailers in the Cape Girardeau area.

Vi and Eddie Keys met in the 1930s in an area of rural Oklahoma known as McCurtain. Eddie was a member of a local dance band, and Vi landed a gig as drummer in the band. A female in a dance band in the 1930s was an oddity, and Vi’s mother did not approve.

Eddie was a gifted guitarist who mastered the style of the day. He played big, fat jazz chords that filled the harmonic pallet while maintaining a driving beat on an archtop Gibson.

As bandmates, they traveled in a Model A Ford playing for dances and “joints” in Southeast Oklahoma, across the state line in Arkansas and as far as Wichita, Kan.

As a youngster, Vi’s first instrument was harmonica. Due to her family being poor Dust Bowl farmers, they couldn’t provide a piano she longed to play, so they purchased a violin. In time, Vi became a contest-winning fiddler.

As the years progressed, she became an accomplished accordionist and jazz organist.

Vi fell in love with “the good-looking Indian boy who played guitar,” and they married on Eddie’s twenty-first birthday in 1940.

At the end of WWII, when Eddie finished his stint with the U.S. Army, the couple migrated to Kansas City, Mo., where they stayed for 15 years. Post-war Kansas City was a mecca for live music, and the Keys were in steady demand in clubs and hotels in the area. From 1952 to 1958, “Vi and Her High Flyers” were one of the few — if not the only — integrated bands in the KC area, featuring Black saxophonist Jimmy Keith. The Kansas City Musicians Union Local 627 did not allow integrated bands at the time, so the Keys petitioned the union, securing approval so the gifted player could work with their band.

In 1959, the Keys and family traveled from Kansas City to Cape Girardeau to play a month-long engagement at the Marquette Hotel. The couple performed as a duo, with Vi on organ — occasionally playing a Western swing tune on fiddle — and Eddie on guitar and vocals.

It was not their intention to remain in Cape beyond the Marquette engagement, but a daughter, Monta Sue, became ill and needed surgery. They were not comfortable traveling with a recovering child, and due to the Musician’s Union rules at the time, the duo could not continue to play in Cape Girardeau.

They were fortunate to land a gig at the Purple Crackle across the state line in Illinois, where they performed in the lounge six nights a week. The Purple Crackle engagement lasted for nine years. Musicians who performed at the Crackle with national touring acts frequently sat in with Vi and Eddie after they performed in the main room.

With three growing children in the family, they needed to generate additional income, so they began to teach guitar, piano and organ lessons out of their home. Their home teaching studio became so successful that in 1965, the Keys opened a full-fledged studio and music store at 110 Main St. They hired additional teachers to teach a variety of instruments and stocked books, accessories and instruments. In the same year, the Keys organized Local No. 818 of the American Federation of Musicians.

In 1973, Vi and Eddie acquired a retail space — formerly the Masonic Lodge — at 121 Broadway, currently Rust and Martin Interior Design. The first floor allowed more showroom space, and the second floor became the family living quarters. The top floor became a recital area. As the business evolved and their son Eddie, Jr. became involved, a recording studio was launched, as well.

The following year in 1974, Eddie, Sr. passed away from a heart attack. With Eddie, Jr., Vi continued with Keys Music at the Broadway location until 2001. Keys Music Store officially closed on Sept. 11, 2001. Vi Keys continued to play until the Fall of 2001. Her last gig was at the Cape Girardeau Holiday Inn. Vi passed away in 2009 at the age of 90.

Vi and Eddie Keys left an immense legacy in the Cape Girardeau region. Their gig at the Marquette Hotel in 1959 was supposed to be a “vacation stint” away from their routine gigs in Kansas City. Due to circumstances — or fate — Cape is in its third generation of Keys Family musicians, educators and music dealers. Son Eddie Ray continued to perform as guitarist and vocalist in local band TUFA through the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. He recently retired as director of research and product development at Rapco Horizon, the world’s largest manufacturer of audio and video interfacing products. Grandson Billy Keys performed as a member of the local band Papa Aborigine through the 1990s, has served as band director for Cape Public Schools since 1998 and has been part of the worship team at Lynwood Baptist Church for the past 13 years.

Steve Schaffner is the director of the Music Academy at Southeast Missouri State University. Previously, he was the orchestra director for Cape Girardeau Public Schools and Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School in Augusta, Ga. He has performed and/or directed in 48 states and 11 countries.