Jay B

For sale on Craigslist - "Precision Drumming, the McCormick Method" Written by Larry McCormick and covers his approach to rudimental snare drumming. Larry was the Cavaliers drum instructor/arranger during the 1960s and early 1970s https://wichita.craigslist.org/bks/d/maize-precision-drumming-the-mccormick/7861008998.html

I judge venues primarily by how they sound. For large stadiums, sitting between the 40 yard lines no more than 10 rows up, I would choose the Cotton Bowl in Dallas (1971) and Legion Field in Birmingham (79/80). Cessna Stadium in Wichita isn't bad either. As far as small venues, which I prefer, I liked Great Bend High School (early 70's)and Mercy High School in South Milwaukee (early 60's). In both of these venues backfield was brick school walls. Great Bend had the best low end I have ever heard.

I remember watching. Weren't they on ice? Do you know how 27th got the gig?

I love seeing this. A "neighborhood" corps. Looks like old fashioned snares and rotary/piston G bugles. I'll bet they are having a blast.

In fact, if you didn't read the activity papers or mags, or were connected to the activity in some way, you were probably not aware of DCI. I had gone to 70 and 71 VFW, so thought I'd travel to Minneapolis for 72 VFW. Well, there were a lot of fans there wondering where the corps were. That is when I discovered DCI, and I remember being pretty frustrated. Yes, there were only 39 corps at Whitewater, but all the best were there. The Cavies, Argonne, Bridgemen, and Kilts were the only top 12 DCI corps in Minneapolis. It took me until 75 to make a DCI championship. Got to Whitewater for DCI midwest 80 thru 82, and feel it is a pretty good place to watch and listen to drum corps.

They had Sandra Opie as well, which didn't hurt. Wasn't their guard all-male? It sure looks that way on the videos.

And it replaced Ballet in Brass from 62. Lotta years spent playing those two pieces.

I was watching a DVD of the 1970 Troopers at the World Open and the back stands are full. Can you imagine buying a ticket to watch the performers backs? Same thing 1967 American Legion. Back in the 60's/70's, it wasn't unheard of for shows to alternate the concerts side, with every other corp playing away from you.

Marched early 60's. Avid fan up thru late 80's. 1. Grass-roots/neighborhood corps. 2. Loud horn lines using anything that would generate the sound of the old G lines. 3. Great rudimental snare lines using low-tension heads. 4. Horizontally oriented, symmetrical drills (lines and arcs, as apposed to boxes.) 5. Musical arranging done by folks who have not been indoctrinated by the music education establishment. This goes for players too. 6. You play it, you carry it.

I love these old starting line photos where 2 or three corps are stacked up. It was like an assembly line. Being from the mid-west, I don't think I ever saw the Falcons, but love those uniforms. They really pop. Same color tops and bottoms was pretty rare I think. Milwaukee St. Pats Imperials is the only other corps that I can remember doing that. From the looks of it, they must have been a pretty young group.

In 1972 I decided to go to the VFW national championships in Minneapolis. I had gone to Miami(1970) and Dallas (1971), so 700 miles up I35 from Kansas and I'd enjoy another couple of days of Drum Corps at its best. What I didn't know, is that the Combine had become DCI, had already held their own championship, and that most of the top 12 DCI corps would not be in Minneapolis. I'll bet a good portion of the crowd was as surprised as I. Once I got over my disappointment of not seeing the Vanguard or Troopers, I really enjoyed the show. As I remember, the Cavies, Argonne, and the Bridgemen were there. After the show, I picked up a subscription to Drum corps Digest (I don't think it was World) so I would know what was going on.

Mark Baker (1979-1985), Ralph Poznanski (1973-1979), and Tom Kasten (1953-1959) all spent seven years marching snare. Pretty impressive. I expected to see this happen in the 50's when corps members came from the neighborhood and were younger on average than today, but was surprised that the 70's and especially the 80's were represented. These guys were 14 when they started. There are 10 guys with 5/6 years, including a few guys from the 90's and 00's. Sal Ferrara and Larry McCormick are the most significant names on this list.

I don't remember this album, but would like to own it. Anyone know the exact name of it?