His father, Harold Petersen, worked for
LTV and his mother, Effie, worked at Russel-Newman Manufacturing Company. When Jack Petersen was five years old, his family moved to
Denton, Texas. He began playing guitar when he was 16 under the influence of
Western swing. He won a course in guitar from a radio contest. The teacher was
Bob Hames, a former soldier who was attending University of North Texas. Hames introduced Petersen the music of
Charlie Christian,
Herb Ellis,
Tal Farlow,
Barry Galbraith,
Barney Kessel,
Carl Kress,
Oscar Moore,
Remo Palmieri,
Chuck Wayne. While in high school he and his friend Dick Crockett listened to North Texas Lab Bands and the small groups that performed on campus, and developed their playing style. Petersen graduated from Denton High School 1951. In 1955, he enlisted in the Army to perform with the 8th US Army Band in
Seoul, Korea. While in Seoul, Petersen met many musicians and played eleven gigs a week. After leaving the Army, he attended the University of North Texas to study music. He played cello and double bass in the orchestra and guitar and piano in the jazz ensemble where he collaborated with faculty members Gene Hall and Floyd Graham. Petersen was proficient on double bass, cello, and piano. This gave him
sight-reading skills, an advantage for guitarists of the day who were earning money in recording studios and dance orchestras. Sight-reading and maneuvering jazz progressions (beyond
blues,
pentatonic, and
classic rock) made him a popular guitarist in recording studios, with big bands, and musicians who had little time to teach parts to their sidemen. ==Career==