cantgetenoughcorps Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 I always thought, from what I have heard, that the corps song is Over The Rainbow. Someone at a show told me this isn't actually the corps song. I know they end with this at every encore I have seen them do. But aren't there 2 songs combined on this. The first part of the song doesn't sound like Over The Rainbow, it sounds like another song, before they come in with Over The Rainbow. Anyone here have any info on this, like what song is the first part, or is it a part of OTR that you don't normally hear(like Pomp And Circumstance-you don't usually hear the first part of the song at graduation)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle z Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 http://www.cavaliers.org/cgi-bin/faq.pl?cm...d=1#question_27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cantgetenoughcorps Posted January 12, 2008 Author Share Posted January 12, 2008 Thanx for the info, the link was great. It was interesting seeing all the corps selections over the years, and the winning corps from American Legion and VFW shows. I also notice there are 2 other Fiedlers listed as drum majors over the years. Are these 2 related to Jeff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shostahoosier Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Thanx for the info, the link was great. It was interesting seeing all the corps selections over the years, and the winning corps from American Legion and VFW shows. I also notice there are 2 other Fiedlers listed as drum majors over the years. Are these 2 related to Jeff? I dont know...but Jeff's sister marched Regiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrinkinOuttaCups Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 They're not related. I actually thought they were at first, but I just started reading "Building The Green Machine" today, and it says at one point that they're not. I was definitely surprised at the fact that there were this many Fiedler's in the corps, though. Pretty interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usmcontra Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 The Cavalier Corps Song is set to the tune of the Coast Guard song. I always loved it in the Marines when we played "Armed Forces Melody" and got to the Coast Guard Song because I would remember the words to the corps song. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFoutz Posted January 12, 2008 Share Posted January 12, 2008 Hello, everyone: great discussion! Let's see if I can clear things up a bit (while implying -- hint-hint -- buy my book, because all of this, and a whole lot more about the Cavies and drum corps at large over the last 60 years, is in there!) The Cavaliers' "corps song" is titled, simply, The Corps Song. It's a set of original lyrics set to the tune of the Coast Guard anthem Semper Paratus -- or Always Ready. Story is that drum corps Hall of Famer horn instructor (and original Cavalier) Sal Ferrera was sitting at the back of the bus, coming back from a 1960s show, with member Reno Valle and they wrote original lyrics to the tune. You can find them at the link posted earlier. Each generation of the Cavaliers tends to sing the song a little differently, melodically and rhythmically. It's the organization's philosophy that when you're in the corps, you get to pick. But they're really just variations of each other -- one more strictly melodic (which all Cavaliers tend to know), and the other a bit rhythmic, chanted, all leading to the culminating cheer, SPLOOIE! (I don't know much about Splooie, not being an initiated Cavalier, and though I asked about it, it wasn't my intention to reveal this secret of secrets in the book. I think you get a feeling of how special it is by knowing how sacred they keep it. And it would never mean the same thing to you or I as non-Cavaliers as it does to the corps. But I do go into Splooie's origins in the book: check it out.) As far as Somewhere Over the Rainbow, this piece first crossed Cavaliers music stands about 1951 courtesy of instructor Ed Baker. It cemented itself in the repertoire in 1952, after a Cedar Rapids contest in which the Cavaliers were hardly favored to win (they'd been finishing third pretty regularly that summer.) But they leapfrogged local rivals Norwood Park and Austin Grenadiers to take the trophy at the Hawkeye Tournament of Drums, and Midwest Corps News trumpeted: Cavaliers' Wish on Rainbow Comes True. As for singing it differently, that, too, seems to vary by generation. Now for the Fiedlers -- a funny coincidence that the first two drum majors, brothers Dave and Jarvis Fiedler, should share the same name as Cavaliers legend Jeff Fiedler. But that's it. A coincidence. Dave and Jarvis actually traded the baton from 1951 to 1956, with Jarvis taking it during Dave's two-year stint in the army, then passing it back for a season before resuming his leadership. Really cool legacy. And then Jeff became drum major in 1979-80. So, a whole lot of "Fiedlers" leading the corps, and Jeff's dad, Maurice, was instrumental in developing the corps' Cavalier Promotions Inc. souvenir business, for which, among other feats of support, he was made an Honorary Cavalier. The family tree, as readers of the book know, gets a whole lot more entangled and joined, as guys in the corps marry each other's sisters, etc., and girls from other corps join the Cavalier family. A story that is reflected throughout drum corps, of course! Well, that's enough spilled computer characters from me! Any other questions, ask away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCFF Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Do Cavies still play SOTR at encores? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle z Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Do Cavies still play SOTR at encores? Nope. They huddle up and sing "The Dead Baby Song." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCFF Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 What is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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