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The Carver Gay Blades Sr. Drum and Bugle Corps


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One tiny clarification:

There was no Northeastern Circuit in 1959. The Yankee senior circuit changed their name to the Northeastern Circuit after the 1959 season.

Thanks, going thru old DC info as I find it and finding info on the circuits is a bugger...

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  • 7 years later...

You may not realize it but Hugo Everelli also ported much of the Carver Gay Blade music to the Lakeland Goldenaires, VFW P0st 2906.  They won the Garden State Circuit championship in 1967.  Google on youtube and you may find the whole show.  if you dont find it email me and I will send it: I am gfrech1995@gmail.com  BTW, Hugo was my horn instructor in the Lakeland Goldenaires.

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In their prime, the Blades were the hippest drum corps on the field.

As Fran mentioned sometime ago, many CGB alums marched with the Sunrisers after their corps folded, among them, Gene Bennett, as Guard Captain and drill instructor, lead soprano Bob "Soupy" Cephus, first baritone Ronnie Isom, and the most incredible rifle master of his era, Duke Jordan, spinning and tossing his 11-pound Springfield like it was Fred Astaire's walking stick.

And Carver's music matched their aura perfectly. Besides the trademark "Sweets" (which they virtually owned, to the degree that nobody else ever played it, as far as I know) they put indelible stamps on "To The Ends of the Earth", "Temptation", "Laura" and "Miserlou".

As Tower of Power later put it, "Hip just is, what it is".

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On 11/25/2020 at 5:33 PM, Greg Frech said:

You may not realize it but Hugo Everelli also ported much of the Carver Gay Blade music to the Lakeland Goldenaires, VFW P0st 2906.  They won the Garden State Circuit championship in 1967.  Google on youtube and you may find the whole show.  if you dont find it email me and I will send it: I am gfrech1995@gmail.com  BTW, Hugo was my horn instructor in the Lakeland Goldenaires.

Hugo Evarelli also taught the Cambridge Caballeros.  That had to be a heck of a commute from New Jersey to Massachusettes....

SAM

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18 hours ago, ironlips said:

In their prime, the Blades were the hippest drum corps on the field.

As Fran mentioned sometime ago, many CGB alums marched with the Sunrisers after their corps folded, among them, Gene Bennett, as Guard Captain and drill instructor, lead soprano Bob "Soupy" Cephus, first baritone Ronnie Isom, and the most incredible rifle master of his era, Duke Jordan, spinning and tossing his 11-pound Springfield like it was Fred Astaire's walking stick.

And Carver's music matched their aura perfectly. Besides the trademark "Sweets" (which they virtually owned, to the degree that nobody else ever played it, as far as I know) they put indelible stamps on "To The Ends of the Earth", "Temptation", "Laura" and "Miserlou".

As Tower of Power later put it, "Hip just is, what it is".

Frank:

I believe that Carver's ace rifleman, Ray Dandridge went to the New York Skyliners after Carver folded.

SAM

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Hi, SAM.

Yes, I believe you are correct about Ray Dandridge, but Duke marched in the Sunrisers when I did.

One of his tricks was tossing his Springfield "blind", back over his shoulder, rotating above and OVER our company front in the color pre,  American Salute, to be caught by another wizard, Frank Cevasco, after several revolutions. They never dropped, in either rehearsal or performance.

If you listen to the DCA finals record from '66, you can hear the roar of the crowd at that moment. It was a great night for the Orange and Blue team, the first time in their history they finished ahead of the Cabs. There were several Carver alums with Sun that evening, and one on the sidelines, cheering: the incomparable Uncle Nick.

 

 

Edited by ironlips
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Tom Brown did a great job with his story about the Carver Gay Blades. In it he mentioned that they lasted until the mid 60s. I can state (because my corps, the Polish Falcons marched backed-to-back with Carver at rehearsals in the Elizabeth, NJ Armory) that Carver lasted into the late 60s. John Tucker their business manager was terrific and he taught them M&M. Also, Hugo Evarelli, who taught Carver, the Cambridge Cabs, etc. also taught the Falcons, as did drum instructor Frank Luke. Wonderful memories; thanks, much for this (now old) story, Tom Brown!!

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