Keith Hall Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 What's there story? Remember reading an article about this corps from Osage but not sure what publication. Talked about using a college football stadium for rehearsals. Saw they competed in DCI 1972-27th place, 1973-25th place, 1974-25th, 1975-14 (I saw them at NT Open and loved them), 1976-22nd. Were the disbanded after 1976? Staff? Arrangers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironlips Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 (edited) "You gotta see these cats from out in the cornfields!", DCI Judge Rich De Cola raved to me in 1975. He wasn't kidding! The main driving force was Darvin Omer "Doc" Crosser, a Korean War vet who founded the corps in '65 and became their first drill and music instructor. They were 'way too hip for their own good when they began knocking on DCI's door. Check this: As the story goes, Jim Ott and some of the Blue Devils staff saw the Precisionnaires and said, in effect, "That's it!". For 1975, these charts, and (particularly) their interpretations, were superior to almost everything else on the field, but a bit ahead of the judging techniques (except for the aforementioned De Cola and a couple of others like Lloyd Pesola). The drumming was too musical to get much credit vis-a-vis the prevailing standards. Argonne had suffered the same kind of undervaluing a couple of years earlier. The only Osage brass instructor from this period that I knew was Bobby Hagglund. He was playing trombone in a progressive R&B band out of Minneapolis called "Haze". They were opening for a kid who called himself "Prince". A peek at their roster will reveal a future corps director and more than a few important instructors and adjudicators, in addition to no small number of members who became professional performers. Like Camelot, they seemed to exist for only "one shining moment" but they certainly sparkled. Edited May 13, 2023 by ironlips 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSnareDrummer Posted May 14, 2023 Share Posted May 14, 2023 (edited) One of my absolute favorite corps of the 70s. They were Blue Devils cool even before the Blue Devils were cool. That swagger and confidence they had was inspiring. Competing against them many, many times was difficult early on, but finally in 75 we had a corps capable of getting within tenths to them in June and July, but then I don't know what got into them, but they just left us in the dust from then on through DCI. I'm sure I've told this story before, but in 76 they did Evil Ways. My God, it was awesome. One show when critique was being done, I overheard the brass judge telling their staff, "When that guy on the baritone solo started playing, I stopped judging completely and just listened." Edited May 14, 2023 by OldSnareDrummer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSnareDrummer Posted May 14, 2023 Share Posted May 14, 2023 Also found this. The Osage Precisionnaires Book | Create (osagecreate.com) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironlips Posted May 14, 2023 Share Posted May 14, 2023 17 minutes ago, OldSnareDrummer said: Also found this. The Osage Precisionnaires Book | Create (osagecreate.com) Ok. I must put this on my Summer reading list. Those "Cats from the Cornfields" were some kind of cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkman Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 "76" was a fun summer with Osage... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSnareDrummer Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 56 minutes ago, darkman said: "76" was a fun summer with Osage... Who was that baritone soloist in Evil Ways? He blew away the crowd, the judges and the competing corps every show he performed in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkman Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 That was Dan Crosser son of "Doc" Crosser ( Corps Director). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSnareDrummer Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 3 hours ago, darkman said: That was Dan Crosser son of "Doc" Crosser ( Corps Director). Well I'll be. I never knew that. I remember reading somewhere Doc lived with ALS for a long time before passing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkman Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 I lived with the Crosser in 76 that summer season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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