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Long Awaited Trivia


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My memory really isn't that sharp - I just looked in my 1975 Scouts year book.

Craig did in fact march tymp all of 1975 but was not from the same family of Beckmans.

"Dueling Beckmans." I loved that drum solo.

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WINNER!!!!

Just to set the record straight.

Ken Norman is a prolific and ground breaking composer. I have seen him crank out fully developed charts in a single sitting. He once sent me a chart written in pencil on blank paper on which he had to draw the bars. He wrote the first full theme show I know of, In 1974 for the Kilties, but the rest of the staff didn't have the nerve to put on an 11 minute chart of Emerson Lake and Palmer music, and chopped it up. His work for the 1968 and 1969 Kilties has never been fully appreciated and is equal in my mind to what Truman Crawford did for Royal Airs in 1964 and 1965. (My favorite thing of the many that he did was in 1968, when he wrote recognizable parts of the openers of Cavaliers, Troopers, Vanguard, and Royal Airs--the four corps that beat the Kilties in 1967 VFW--into the Kilts' 1968 opener, Strike up the Band.)

I write this as preface to his actual record of writing for DCI corps. These 13 DCI corps paid for and performed Norman charts: Kilties, Blue Stars, Madison, Anaheim, DeLaSalle, Guardsmen, Argonne, Glassmen, Etobicoke, Belleville, Blue Knights, Commodores, and Velvet Knights. And he was paid by 27th for a chart they didn't ultimately use. His personal peak was US Open in 1970 when 5 of 10 finalists played his music. I was at many shows in Wisconsin in which several corps played his charts.

I'm proud and happy to say that I was along for some of that ride.

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I was in one of those WI corps playing Ken Norman arrangements - challenging, aggressive, and a whole lotta fun. :thumbup:

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Just to set the record straight.

Ken Norman is a prolific and ground breaking composer. I have seen him crank out fully developed charts in a single sitting. He once sent me a chart written in pencil on blank paper on which he had to draw the bars. He wrote the first full theme show I know of, In 1974 for the Kilties, but the rest of the staff didn't have the nerve to put on an 11 minute chart of Emerson Lake and Palmer music, and chopped it up. His work for the 1968 and 1969 Kilties has never been fully appreciated and is equal in my mind to what Truman Crawford did for Royal Airs in 1964 and 1965. (My favorite thing of the many that he did was in 1968, when he wrote recognizable parts of the openers of Cavaliers, Troopers, Vanguard, and Royal Airs--the four corps that beat the Kilties in 1967 VFW--into the Kilts' 1968 opener, Strike up the Band.)

I write this as preface to his actual record of writing for DCI corps. These 13 DCI corps paid for and performed Norman charts: Kilties, Blue Stars, Madison, Anaheim, DeLaSalle, Guardsmen, Argonne, Glassmen, Etobicoke, Belleville, Blue Knights, Commodores, and Velvet Knights. And he was paid by 27th for a chart they didn't ultimately use. His personal peak was US Open in 1970 when 5 of 10 finalists played his music. I was at many shows in Wisconsin in which several corps played his charts.

I'm proud and happy to say that I was along for some of that ride.

I believe the score written for the Glassmen was "In the Mood" which we played in 74 and 75. He may have written others for us. "In the Mood" was our concert piece. It was an audience favorite and put everyone, even the corps in a good mood. It was our signature piece from those years and will always be one of my favorites. Mr. Easton, father of a snare drummer, would always shout out before the start of the piece "Come on Glassmen...Put me in the Mood!"

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