ajlisko Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 That would be the incomparable John Simpson, the favorite baritone soloist of Truman Crawford (USAF D&B Corps) and Hy Dreitzer (Skyliners). Tommy Martin and he were colleagues in both hornlines. And Frank ... imagine that hall in Greenwood Lake ... filled with talent that was poured into Portrait In Brass ... beyond Tommy Martin and John Simpson - on the album playing were Billy Hightower, Pepe, Hy, Bucky Swan, Johnny Guarino, Harry Hazelwood, Gus Wilke, JoJo and Pee Wee Todaro, Jack Meehan, George Rodriguez, Carman Cluna, Al Koch and several more notables from Sky's storied past ... :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsksun4 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 And Frank ... imagine that hall in Greenwood Lake ... filled with talent that was poured into Portrait In Brass ... beyond Tommy Martin and John Simpson - on the album playing were Billy Hightower, Pepe, Hy, Bucky Swan, Johnny Guarino, Harry Hazelwood, Gus Wilke, JoJo and Pee Wee Todaro, Jack Meehan, George Rodriguez, Carman Cluna, Al Koch and several more notables from Sky's storied past ... :-) Been a long time since I saw that Portrait album. Was it recorded at that A.L. hall in Greenwood Lake? I recall in the spring of 67 and 68, Sun rehearsing up there and the people in the town saying, "Oh No! Another drum corps!". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Been a long time since I saw that Portrait album. Was it recorded at that A.L. hall in Greenwood Lake? I recall in the spring of 67 and 68, Sun rehearsing up there and the people in the town saying, "Oh No! Another drum corps!". Yesseerie ... that's the place! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsksun4 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 (edited) Yesseerie ... that's the place! There's lots of history connected to those over-nighters up there and the clashes with the locals. I seem to recall a story where there were two prominent members of Sky fooling around dancing in what was a local hang-out. Might have been La Pussycat and the locals didn't take kindly to it. Big mistake not knowing there were some 80 other guys watching their backs. Reminds me of that movie A Bronx Tale with the bikers refusing to leave the bar when asked. Then Chazz Palminteri locks the door and says "Now youse can't leave" and big boys pour outta the back room with the bats. Would have been great to be a fly on the wall back then. Edited October 9, 2012 by gsksun4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 There's lots of history connected to those over-nighters up there and the clashes with the locals. I seem to recall a story where there were two prominent members of Sky fooling around dancing in what was a local hang-out. Might have been La Pussycat and the locals didn't take kindly to it. Big mistake not knowing there were some 80 other guys watching their backs. Reminds me of that movie A Bronx Tale with the bikers refusing to leave the bar when asked. Then Chazz Palminteri locks the door and says "Now yous can't leave" and big boys pour outta the back room with the bats. Would have been great to be a fly on the wall back then. Andre's was the place where Hazelwood, Winky and a few other notables mixed it up with the locals in 62 ... most don't realize the Harry played all those solos on Portrait with a nice, big, FAT LIP ... OH MY!!!!! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 "1960's Corps in Concert" recordings: The comments about the landmark Skyliners "Portrait in Brass" recording are very revealing. Fleetwood made quite a few "Corps in Concert" type recordings in the late 1950's and early 1960's, starting with the Lt Norman Prince double side disc in 1958. Others included "Music of the Hawthorne Caballeros 1961", "Miwest Melodies" (Chicago Cavaliers & Madison Scouts), "Brass by Night"(Queensmen, Loretto, Selden & Floyd Bennet), and "Drum Beauty" (Garfield, Audubon, St Paul Scouts, Ferko String Band). Are there any alumni out there that remember just WHERE the corps recordings were taped at? Elphaba WWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornsUp Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 John Simpson was just a Kansas kid in the USAF Bolling Field corps at the time. He had already sacked out for the night, they woke him up to make the recording which was done in a single take. Right now I am restoring two Getzen DeLuxe slider bass-baritones for him. One will remain stock, the other is being hot-rodded. Meanwhile, Johnny is home in K.C. playing long tones on his bass trombone. A personal mission of mine is to get adults playing their instruments again. John Simpson will be my prize subject. Frank Doorite (mastermind of the 310ers) is plotting a quartet of vintage baritone artists. Along with Simpson, he has been recruting Billy Hightower, Baby John Chalmus, and the incomparable Bobby Gaff. Look for appearances at BHOF and DCA I&E. Johnny has also been invited to join in a trio with me and a certain West Coast mellophone player of the female persuasion. But we'll use those new-fangled 2-piston King G bugles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 "1960's Corps in Concert" recordings: The comments about the landmark Skyliners "Portrait in Brass" recording are very revealing. Fleetwood made quite a few "Corps in Concert" type recordings in the late 1950's and early 1960's, starting with the Lt Norman Prince double side disc in 1958. Others included "Music of the Hawthorne Caballeros 1961", "Miwest Melodies" (Chicago Cavaliers & Madison Scouts), "Brass by Night"(Queensmen, Loretto, Selden & Floyd Bennet), and "Drum Beauty" (Garfield, Audubon, St Paul Scouts, Ferko String Band). Are there any alumni out there that remember just WHERE the corps recordings were taped at? Elphaba WWW I was there for the 1961 Boys of Syracuse Album recording... Dick Blake pulled his car into the Regional Market in front of MacArthur Stadium... opened his trunk, plugged in a long extension cord and recorded the corps in semi circle... that record immortalized Black Saddle... it also poured down rain throughout the recording session... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) (mastermind of the 310ers) Had to say it out loud to get it. Please keep us informed on the quartet..... Now why did I think of BigW as I typed this. Showed him a 1v Tenor Bari one time and was wondering if the cops would show up before he would quit playing it and come back inside. Dang WSM Alumni Baris.... Edited October 10, 2012 by JimF-LowBari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsksun4 Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 "1960's Corps in Concert" recordings: The comments about the landmark Skyliners "Portrait in Brass" recording are very revealing. Fleetwood made quite a few "Corps in Concert" type recordings in the late 1950's and early 1960's, starting with the Lt Norman Prince double side disc in 1958. Others included "Music of the Hawthorne Caballeros 1961", "Miwest Melodies" (Chicago Cavaliers & Madison Scouts), "Brass by Night"(Queensmen, Loretto, Selden & Floyd Bennet), and "Drum Beauty" (Garfield, Audubon, St Paul Scouts, Ferko String Band). Are there any alumni out there that remember just WHERE the corps recordings were taped at? Elphaba WWW From what I was told and if I remember correctly, the Brass By Night recordings were pretty much done at the corps rehearsal sites. The 4 corps, Queensmen, Loretto, Floyd Bennett and Selden were not very far from one another and they might have been done all in the same night. Can't be sure on that one, but I was told there was a recording truck/van that made the voyage out to Seldens rehearsal site in Centereach, Long Island in the parking lot of Harrows Dept. store and made the recording not 20 feet from the street. I wasn't there at that time, but I'll always remember the site as that's where I joined the corps one night in 63. What sealed the deal was the corps was doing a run through and I stood there and heard 24 horns that sounded like 50. That first impression was killer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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