REAL PEOPLE/THE JUMPING JAZZMEN
From Record-Setting Athlete to Recording Artist
Olympic long jump legend Bob Beamon on returning to his first passion: music
Beamon on the conga drums
THE KEY TO LEARNING something new is total commitment. You’ve got to shut out the part of your brain that finds excuses. It’s like when I was getting ready to take my long jump in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. I’d worked hard, and it was my time to perform well. I won a gold medal that day and set an Olympic record—8.90 meters (29 feet, 2.5 inches)—that hasn’t been broken yet.
But my first passion was not sports; it was percussion. When I was around 9, I asked my family to get me a pair of bongos, and I taught myself. I would play with my friends, just banging on whatever we could find to make a sound.
At the same time, I was doing well in track and field and basketball. It got to the point where I thought, OK, I’ve got to make a choice, and it’s going to be sports.
Setting his Olympic record
I never forgot music, though. I was always surrounded by it: I have a collection of 8,000 albums. About three years ago, I contacted my cousin Al Brisbane, the bassist with the band Stix Bones and the BONE Squad, and said, “I need to make music again.” He introduced me to Stix Bones, the band’s leader, who agreed to help me get my hands back in shape. I worked with Stix and Bobby Thomas Jr., who played with Weather Report, three to four hours a day for a year.
Then Stix invited me to make an album with the band. In my honor, they called it Olimpik Soul. It’s jazz mixed in with hip-hop and a lot of other beats. The album came out last year.
Even though I had to work hard to get to where I am musically, I can’t say I ever got frustrated. I would use mistakes to think about how I could be better. Music is bigger than me. I’m always trying to be as big in my playing as what I can hear in my head. —As told to Beth Levine
Bob Beamon, 79, who is also a graphic artist, lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.