John H Evans 
We Sang and Whistled Then [EPUB ebook] 
The Glory Years of the American Popular Song

John Howard Evans was born before the onset of the Second World War in the mining community of the Rhondda Valley in Wales. He started learning to play the piano at the age of eight years and by thirteen had passed the senior examinations of the London College of Music playing classical music. Somewhere along the way he became attracted by American popular music largely the music of Gershwin, Kern and Porter.
In his early years he was classed as a ‘delicate child’ owing to asthma and overcame this handicap by virtue of his ability to play soccer and rugby well. The war saw him develop a keen interest in flying and he completed his two years National Service in the Royal Air Force in the early fifties.
His mother led the way in his choice of profession and he then spent three years training to be a teacher at St Pauls College, Cheltenham, Gloucester. His first teaching post was at Seaford County Secondary School in East Sussex. Here he was successful and spent approximately five years in that post, but now flying was again ‘tugging at his sleeve.’
Consequently John resigned his teaching post, returned to Wales and began serious study to become an airline pilot. Later he developed a great interest in the business of aviation and in the course of the next twenty years or so saw him start four regional airlines in the UK and became Chief Executive of a Government airline in the Caribbean. He also held most of the airline senior positions including Chief Pilot, Chief Training Captain and he also became an approved UK Civil Aviation Authority Flight Examiner. In his career he totalled in excess of 10, 000 accident free flying hours.
During the writing of this book John suffered an accident which saw him having his left leg amputated and spent 16 weeks in two hospitals. He was in the midst of a house move when all this occurred and as a result all the working notes he used in researching this book were lost as was his memory. At one stage he was even unable to play the piano for a number of weeks. Showing admirable fortitude he completed the book and made every effort to cite sources hence the extended bibliography.
John has asked the publisher to remove or change any omission in this respect. Also, he states that any errors in the text are all his own and he asks for the readers forbearance.