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ironlips

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Everything posted by ironlips

  1. Don't get your First Amendment all in a knot, Ray. "Lord and Master" was from "The King and I" (starring Vince Degan as the king), and Rogers and Hammerstein were referencing the ruler of Siam, where all those smooth cats come from. It had nothing to do with Holy Mother the Church, Holy Name or Our Lady of Most Precious Bingo. The Sunrisers, of course, did play "The Lord's Prayer" from "King of Kings", wherein Murphy and I (two good Irish Catholic lads) took turns as altar boys. But that corps was full of sinners at the time, and truly needed divine intercession. Today, they are "as pure as the driven snow."
  2. Is this photo a composite, or is the person in the foreground really a leprechaun ?
  3. This phenomenon is no coincidence. Many '70s & '80s drum corps folks moved into commercial music production. People like Jay Kennedy, Wayne Downey (whose "State of the Art" band arrangements you reference above) and Robert Smith began writing jingles and other music for television, radio , Broadway and film. Muchachos soloist extraordinaire, Jeff Keivit, is heard weekly wailing on the ABC Monday Night Football Theme and ESPN signature tags, among many others. Check this: http://www.jeffkievit.com/frames/fs_inter.htm
  4. Thanks for the kind words, Ray, but I'm not that bright. If I were I'd have gone to law school when I had the chance instead of remaining the drum corps hobo of the western world. Don't get me wrong. I don't regret that for an instant, but I suspect I'd have a bit more bread. A couple of back-story details: "Echano" was a great chart for Garfield when we got it from Larry in '76. I had originally written "Hank's Opener", a seven-eight Kenton piece Levy had composed, as a feature for our super bari soloist, George Hilger. He wailed, but the chart itself was a bit too esoteric. This was my diong entirely as I was going through my "I wish I were Corky Fabrizio" period, without the deep musical knowledge that the Silver Fox possessed. Mangione tunes were all the rage (thanks to the BDs) and the coordinator decided "Echano" would fit the bill for us as the new concert. We were trying to get into finals, after all. (We didn't, and probably wouldn't have anyway, what with the meteoric rise of the Bridgemen and some great performances by other "on the cusp". teams.) Cut to '77. Like any other seeker after musical truth, I am not above learning from others and had gleaned a great deal from studying Larry's arranging style, dating from his '72 take on "My Favorite Things"...my personal favorite of all his arrangements. I fought to keep "Echano" in the book, but decided to customize (read, "re-arreange") it for the hornline we now had. Besides, unlike '76, the musical direction was now clearly Jazz, through and through. As for teaching the guard to play brass, some of them already had done so in other corps and the rest were gamers who believed they could do anything. Bob Cardaneo and Dennis Dewey took on this project. We were going to have them join in at the shout chorus in "Echano" and they did so at some winter exhibitions but it was decided that it would be more effective to delay the surprise to later in the show. Everybody sang the "Amen" from the Kingston Show onward, except for DCI East prelims at Allentown. I "promised" to attend a DCI meeting to discuss this rule ambiguity (no singing/chanting vs no penalties after the gun) but blew it off and left the vocals in the show thereafter. It was the following year (after I had moved to BD-land) that they excised the "Amen" at finals and held up the sign. Re "Pieces of Dreams", I later learned that some on the Blue Devils staff were angry with me for having arranged it for Garfield. They wanted to use it as a closer in '77 to replace "Chase the Clouds Away", and went with "Rocky" instead. I laughed when they told me this. "You guys were put off by Garfield, the 14th place corps? You're kidding, right?" The Blue Devils could have played the yellow pages and sounded better than anybody. Ray, I'm not so smart, just lucky.
  5. I think there are several, actually. If I'm not mistaken, the first one was the Riptides.
  6. "Sunny" shores...was that another obscure hint, in more ways than one? Why am I hearing the theme from "The Godfather" in my head? Is there a famiglia involved here, or should I just fuggedaboudit?
  7. And his waepon of choice is a Getzen Deluxe G/D single piston ring slide baritone. They don't make 'em like that anymore, bugle or bugler.
  8. I'd just like to point out that virtually all current members of the USMC Drum and Bugle Corps are "veterans" of DCI or DCA, and the rest have extraordinary marching band skills. There is a little audition involved, you see. This style of drum corps is every bit as valid as any other and requires as much skill and a good deal more dedication, in this instance. Playing Renaissance music well is no less an achievement than performing John Adams or Frank Zappa. An appreciation of history will enhance an understanding of the present, even in something as relatively trivial as the drum corps activity.
  9. In keeping with the overriding theme of spirituality here, I believe the holy man in question actually taught drums for the corps with the All-time-Most-Oxymoronic-Name in the history of the activity: The Immaculate Conception Hell Gaters of Astoria, Queens. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_Gate_Bridge (And even if he didn't, he should have.)
  10. Having had the honor to serve as an adjudicator for this competition, I can attest to the sheer excitement generated by these very special drum corps. That said, this is a wise decision. Anyone who has real corps experience understands the time and energy required, and to compress your effort into a seven-week marathon for one contest is to mis-align priorities. The service academy corps have daily ceremonial musical duties as well, and represent their schools at athletic and civic events. Our Washington lawmakers have also severely reduced travel budgets through sequestration. Flying 200 Middies to Colorado for a contest is not in the stars right now. I look forward to seeing all these marvelous and unique units in the future, in any context. "Semper Paratus", "Anchors Aweigh" and "Off We Go..."
  11. This dude rocks. He was a wicked French Horn (a lost art today) but also made a name for himself as a voice talent and writer, unless I miss my guess.
  12. Bucky will be remembered by many as a legendary soloist and a masterful raconteur, but that's just part of the story. He was an extraordinary instructor who could teach a tree how to play. Mostly, he accomplished this the old-school way: by example. And he didn't even need to be physically present. Every horn player of my generation gained immeasurably by simply listening to and attempting to copy his recorded performances. Bucky Swan is gone, but he has left us all so greatly enriched.
  13. Rodney Goodheart was a great gift to all of us. There isn't a single drummer, arranger or instructor currently active in corps today that has not been positively influenced by him at some level. It was no accident that he had real credibility as a teacher and judge. One didn't become center snare in the USAF Drum and Bugle Corps unless he could play with the skill and heart of a fighter pilot. Rod had all the right stuff, and he shared it generously.
  14. So what was it about St. Raphael's Golden Bucs that enabled them to produce so many monster low brass players? It's almost 50 years since these photos were taken and all of these cats can still bring it.
  15. DCI didn't wipe out anybody. It was always intended to be (and still is) an association of the elite corps, dedicated to their own progress. What is notable is how many of the others actually pushed their way into the group over the years. The other "local" groups disappeared because the Legion, VFW and church support groups declined drastically in membership and therefore could no longer support those corps. The basic infrastructure evaporated. Our parents' generation put money and energy into this activity. Ours, by and large, did not. We didn't have as many kids for one thing. (OK. Ray Fallon did, but not the rest of us.) We didn't join the VFW. We left the church. On the upside, many drum corps-trained folks moved into music education at the secondary level. Today's high school bands serve the very same populations that the neighborhood corps did years ago and, by and large, they do it more efficiently. There is absolutely nothing that prevents anyone from starting a neighborhood corps right this minute in almost any town in the country. What you can't do is easily start a viable and competitive DCI or even DCA corps and get it on the field immediately. You can't build a house starting with the third floor. The inner cities are crying out for such groups, just as they were in the old days. Who will step up?
  16. Shows were about 25% longer, up to 14 minutes or so as opposed to today's 10+ routines. They had great variety, but less thematic continuity, in general. There were notable exceptions early on, like the Archer-Epler Musketeers, who played several selections from "The King and I" in their early '60s routine. Vince Deegan played the Yul Brynner role in full costume. He later became a premier brass judge and mentor to many future instructors, including yours truly.
  17. This is a very accurate assessment, overall. One factor that's often omitted is the fact that no one ever forced those "local" corps to take on the touring model. They could very well have continued as they were, doing parades, local appearances...etc. while the more financially stable units toured the country. It was the unpopularity of the Viet Nam war (reducing enthusiasm for veteran's organizations) in conjunction with the change in demographic (the baby boomers did not support church and fraternal groups as had their parents) that ultimately doomed those smaller corps. In addition, the Selective Service decimated the ranks of drum corps from the mid-'60's through 1975 or so. Most of those folks were the cream of the crop, the older members of junior corps and the incoming classes for the seniors. Some of us were able to stay involved despite military commitments, but many never came back.
  18. There's at least one copy available now through Amazon (along with several other specialized, corps-specific books like Jud Spena's "Echoes in the Valley"), and Volume I occasionally shows up on Ebay. Since Mr. Vickers has recently moved Drum Corps World to the digital world, he may consider an online version of the history books as well.
  19. Yes, they were. It was drum corps Camelot, literally, and the story should be told to inspire all future drum corps participants and fans. Steve Vickers' great labor of love, the two volume "A History of Drum and Bugle Corps"" is still in print and available from Drum Corps World, and the real literature of the era is in the music itself, much of it now re-released through the efforts of Glenn Kubacki for the Fleetwood catalog and Ken Mason via ""The Beat Goes On" series. If you want the real stories, start with those resources. Ray's essay above is brilliantly insightful as expected from a most talented guy who had a foot in both worlds and remains connected through his children who have their own accomplishments in contemporary corps and guard. That's just one of the reasons he will be inducted into the World Drum Corps Hall of Fame in Annapolis during DCA/Labor Day weekend, (not that he would ever mention that). He will forgive me for correcting one point: "You Made Me Love You" (and "The Fox Hunters") comprised the Individual routine for the incomparable Tommy Martin, in my view the greatest of all buglers. Tom "Bucky" Swan put his stamp on many other solos, including a Carnegie Hall performance of "Desafinado", the wickedly chromatic Brazilian piece that was technically impossible to play on a single valve G/D bugle with a slip slide. That fact did nothing to stop him, however. Ray is correct in equating these players to rock stars, and others would follow like Johnny "Grass" Ursbruch, Jeff Kievit, Bonnie Ott, Barbara Maroney, Jim Brady, and many more. To be sure, there are wonderful soloists in today's corps as well, though they are rarely given extended features and we don't hear their names announced. (We should.) Perhaps some of them will match the achievements of those earlier stars...but they will never surpass them in our hearts. Remember, it was Camelot.
  20. This very afternoon, John B played the big horn with Park City. Standing there in front of that arc when they began "How the West Was Won", I thought, "I can now personally vouch for the existence of time travel."
  21. Not to mention "Caveat Emptor" and "Carpe Diem". Ray Fallon is a Renaissance Man.
  22. Yes, it's used extensively in Klingon music.
  23. Having shared the field with and worked for Bobby on so many occasions over the past 50 years, I can truthfully say I never met a more honorable and courageous man. Most now think of him in a management role, but he was one hell of a solo soprano. Bob was the very definition of "a natural". When his photo appeared prominently on the front sleeve of Fleetwood's 1967 Mission Drums LP, he joked that he preferred that to the cover of Rolling Stone. Had he been a guitarist with even remotely similar skill, that would have been a certainty. http://www.fleetwoodsounds.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=195 My deepest condolences to Patti, their family and all who loved him.
  24. If you would like to hear the great Sunriser soloist, Frank Diliberto, at the absolute top of his game, get your hands on a copy of this recording from the 1965 Cavalcade: http://www.fleetwoodsounds.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=270 Billy Hightower couldn't make this show, so Frank covers his "Sing, Sing, Sing" solo like it will never be heard again, as well as his own signature "Ballin' the Jack". He played on a Getzen slip-slide G/D soprano, and no one has ever surpassed his performance that night on such a horn. The cat was positively on fire.
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