fecontra Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 Also something to remember about that recording, no contra bases and no mellophones. And all the horses played. If I remember correctly, the 1965 St Kevin's corps had switched to contra basses and also had introduced rudimental bass to their drumline. Their nickname was " The Christmas Trees" due to their colors, and as a light moment played some Xmas music in 1965. 1964 St. Kevin's was ( IMHO ) cleaner than 1965, they were unbelievable soundwise. Not to restart the annual debate over a few corps, but my three favorite " pure Drum Corps " programs in order of favorite is 1. 1964 St. Kevin's 2. 2004 Santa Clara Vanguard 3. 1989 Phantom Regiment. In 64 I think it was the Garfield contest where the Emerald Knight's lost to the Golden Knights, and the crowd was in near riot condition due to what was perceived to be some " home cooked " scores, especially in the light of the host corps being exhibition only in the old days. The 1964 Dream Recording of the Emerald Knights is absolutely incredible, especially given that I believe they had the then standard " 36 Man Horn Line " ( give or take a few ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil50 Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 If I remember correctly, the 1965 St Kevin's corps had switched to contra basses and also had introduced rudimental bass to their drumline. Their nickname was " The Christmas Trees" due to their colors, and as a light moment played some Xmas music in 1965. I was referring to the Brass by Night Album with the NY corps. They were recorded in 61-62. Kevins indeed had contras probably in 63 like everyone else. Listen to the pedal tones at the end of Stars ans Stripes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corpsjazz Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 I am the original poster. I am really enjoying learning about these corps from those who were kind enough to respond. Two more questions: Firstly...the scores posted earlier for St. Kevin's etc., reference a standstill show. Was that because the corps were not drill ready or was it the way the sponsor set up the show? Secondly...I once owned a batch of early 60's recordings. It seemed that all that one could get featured Garfield and Cavaliers. St. Kevin's, Floyd Bennett, etc. were not getting the same treatment...yet the scores posted would indicate they were very much in the same league. Why Garfield and Cavaliers yet not these other corps getting the recording exposure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajlisko Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 I am the original poster. I am really enjoying learning about these corps from those who were kind enough to respond. Two more questions: Firstly...the scores posted earlier for St. Kevin's etc., reference a standstill show. Was that because the corps were not drill ready or was it the way the sponsor set up the show? Secondly...I once owned a batch of early 60's recordings. It seemed that all that one could get featured Garfield and Cavaliers. St. Kevin's, Floyd Bennett, etc. were not getting the same treatment...yet the scores posted would indicate they were very much in the same league. Why Garfield and Cavaliers yet not these other corps getting the recording exposure? To your first point: drum corps was a twelve-month activity in the 60's ... winter time was for I&E, Color Guard and Standstill shows ... it was a great period in dc history To your second point: Fleetwood recorded who they thought would sell records ... Stetson D. Richmond, on the other hand, recorded everyone at as many shows as he could physically show up at ... two different philosophies ... and many times they were at the same shows ... he was the Moe Knox of vinyl ... LOL ... Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomPeashey Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Nice stuff here and I appreciate that one of the younger enthusiast is interested in learning about our history... please... check out the DCW website for the 2 book set of the history of drum corps... (I even wrote a couple of chapters) it is VERY enlightening... We would need an entire new thread to discuss the various instruments we played on over the years... my first horn was an Italian Soprano, but I was quickly switched to an old Conn French Horn... Horns were a weird combination of U.S. (mostly Conn and Leedy) and foreign mades stuff prior to 1960 and the emergence of Getzen - Don Getzen prooved that the sound could be vastly improved and intonation almost bearable by playing on a matched set... Dom DelRay invented the Mellophone in 1963 and I played my first mello in 1966 (Rochester Crusaders)... the first available Mellophones were made in Toronto by Whaley Royce... they were AWFUL (not Dom's fault) And to the original poster, the changes in Drum Corps that occured from the late 60's were actually more clearly defined as the changes in society that happened then... and subsequently... we would have to spend hours documenting this but believe me, the changes (definitely not all for the good) were no one's fault... from the Viet Nam war and the emerging communications of the world... we would NEVER be the same... that's life... unfortunate though it was... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ContraLou Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Kevins indeed had contras probably in 63 like everyone else. Listen to the pedal tones at the end of Stars ans Stripes. For a couple of years (63 & 64) Kevin's used 2 contras and 1 euphonium. In 65 the 3rd contra replaced the euph. The pedal tones were often played by the baris. From 60 on you can hear pedal tones in the routine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ContraLou Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Their nickname was " The Christmas Trees" due to their colors, and as a light moment played some Xmas music in 1965. "The Christmas trees" nickname was started by our Jersey friends that stuck with the corps. In response Mr. Bregdoll tought the corps Sleigh Ride/Jingle Bells. We would play it leaving the field in retreat and at in door stand still shows. You can hear it on the 65 recording at the Chicago Civic Oprea House Show. 1964 St. Kevin's was ( IMHO ) cleaner than 1965, they were unbelievable soundwise. 64 was a great horn line. It took a while for things to jell in 64. The corps started very slow but as August came around the corps got on a roll and put it all together at the Dream. That was the first show St. Kevin's won that year. From that point on, they were a threat to win any show they were in. After 64 there was a big turn over in members. For the 65 season many members of the Knights feeder corps (The Emerald Gems) moved up to the the Knights to fill those spots. The 1964 Dream Recording of the Emerald Knights is absolutely incredible, especially given that I believe they had the then standard " 36 Man Horn Line " ( give or take a few ) You are correct. 36 horns was the standard. We held that through most the 60's. In the late 60 years it became more difficult to maintain that number due to the draft. At one point a drill change was needed to cut down to 30 horns but later on the corps managed to get the line back up to 36 for competitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donincardona Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Nice stuff here and I appreciate that one of the younger enthusiast is interested in learning about our history... please... check out the DCW website for the 2 book set of the history of drum corps... (I even wrote a couple of chapters) it is VERY enlightening...We would need an entire new thread to discuss the various instruments we played on over the years... my first horn was an Italian Soprano, but I was quickly switched to an old Conn French Horn... Horns were a weird combination of U.S. (mostly Conn and Leedy) and foreign mades stuff prior to 1960 and the emergence of Getzen - Don Getzen prooved that the sound could be vastly improved and intonation almost bearable by playing on a matched set... Dom DelRay invented the Mellophone in 1963 and I played my first mello in 1966 (Rochester Crusaders)... the first available Mellophones were made in Toronto by Whaley Royce... they were AWFUL (not Dom's fault) And to the original poster, the changes in Drum Corps that occured from the late 60's were actually more clearly defined as the changes in society that happened then... and subsequently... we would have to spend hours documenting this but believe me, the changes (definitely not all for the good) were no one's fault... from the Viet Nam war and the emerging communications of the world... we would NEVER be the same... that's life... unfortunate though it was... if memory serves me correct i believe in1969 we got a complete set of brand new olds horns and they all matched. it was quite a chunk of coin to buy those. but they were sweet. man was the hornline excited. we got new ludwig drums that year to. we got them after the first show so we had to use the hurcs drums in syracuse or someplace. how funny that looked black pants, white blouses with red trim and red shakos with a tall whit plume and the hurcs green drums. we looked like christmas trees. ray luedee had the heads so tight you could bounce the sticks off of them. you didn't need wrists.great times really. the comoradrie back then was awsome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 I am the original poster. I am really enjoying learning about these corps from those who were kind enough to respond. Two more questions: Firstly...the scores posted earlier for St. Kevin's etc., reference a standstill show. Was that because the corps were not drill ready or was it the way the sponsor set up the show? Secondly...I once owned a batch of early 60's recordings. It seemed that all that one could get featured Garfield and Cavaliers. St. Kevin's, Floyd Bennett, etc. were not getting the same treatment...yet the scores posted would indicate they were very much in the same league. Why Garfield and Cavaliers yet not these other corps getting the recording exposure? "Standstill Show": The "Eastern States Championship" was a "For Real" indoor, winter time standstill contest. In the "Wonderfull World of DCI's 5 week season" 'standstill's' no longer exist, but "Back in the Day" they were all the rage, not only back East, but also in the Mid West. The 1962 'Eastern States" was a series of contests run by Drum Corps News and Fleetwood records as a "Warm Up" to the first Carnagie Hall concert, also run by Fleetwood/DCN in 1962. Prior to the New Haven "Final" there were shows in Boston MA (At the Garden) and Newark NJ (At the Masque Theatre). Cambridge Caballeros won the "Garden" show, and St Catherines won the Masquue contest. They, and the next three highest placing corps form each contest went on to the Finals at New Haven, with the results as shown on Andy's post. The Mid West's big "Standstill" was at Lane Tech High School in Chicago. You could usually find all the Chicago "Biggies" (Cavaliers, Royal Airs, Vanguards and Norwood Park) and occaisionally the Racine Scouts and Kilties previewing their shows for the comming season. In 1965 Drum Corps Digest sposnored a "Standstill" at the Chicago Opera House that included Eastern powers St Kevins Emerald Knights and the Hawthorne Caballeros. Andy is correct in saying that "Way back when" drum corps was a 12 months a year activity. Sad to see it almost all gone. Elphaba WWW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorpsBuff Posted October 23, 2007 Share Posted October 23, 2007 Nice stuff here and I appreciate that one of the younger enthusiast is interested in learning about our history... please... check out the DCW website for the 2 book set of the history of drum corps... (I even wrote a couple of chapters) it is VERY enlightening... There are many things that attribute to my interest in the older corps. 1 - I'm a history teacher 2 - I'm a drum corps fanatic 3 - I work with Cliff Richmond (Buglers HOF member) 4 - Corps were so much more interesting with the lack of musical background of corps members as well as the lack of technology of the horns. But I'm only 22, so I'm not THAT young. Sadly most of this stuff will be lost with the baby boomer generation I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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