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Spirit hornline, 1979, 1980


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It's good to read all these posts. I stood in front of the line too many times to count and the sound was incredible. The sonority and the power were overwhelming.

We used to refer to the sound the line made when the overtones stacked up just right as "the sizzle". You knew they were on when you heard it.

The line could also play much louder than what most people heard in shows. They were occasionally told to "let it eat", though the sound was a little edgy and uncentered, just so they knew where the limits were.

Sorry to say the recordings just don't do the line justice and trust me, it's just not an old man's recollection, you had to be there.

Bittersweet memories...

I was there Jim, and I'll never,, NEVER get over it. I believe that Standing in front of your hornline at several shows from 78 Virgina Beach to Birmingham 80, was the cause of my hair loss. LOL. The G-Force was amazing. Never heard a line like it before or since. B)

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We did have several modes of volume:

Full Volume;

Performance Volume; and

Exhibition Volume (a/k/a RMFL).

Ahhhh, overtone city...

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First and foremost, I am not trying to belittle you, or the memory of that emotional night on July 19th, 1980 at our home show Precision West, but PLEASE can we get the facts right? This is the 2nd time I have seen you reference to this, and you have two different scenarios within 45 min of one another, here are excerpt from these posts:

scv guy posted Apr 17 2004, 09:17 PM  

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The fondest memory of the '80 season was playing Ott's chart of "The Naval Hymn" in tribute to the man on 7-19-80 at the Precision West show in Concord. The combined horn lines (200 horns in total) of BD, Spirit, SCV, Freelancers and the Commodores played the song twice. Once nice and pretty and again at FFFFFFF. I'm sure he heard us! This experience was really moving. In fact, I am pretty sure I shed a tear or two. Ott had been around BD and Freelancers, so the feeling was of great loss to the corps at retreat. I think that Spirit played with unbridled passion that year because of this painful experience. "Let it be Me" still gives me chills because of that.

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scv guy  posted Apr 17 2004, 10:10 PM  

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We played with Spirit and BD in a standstill in a tribute to Jim Ott at Precision West in '79. 200 horns--louder than anything you can imagine.

Are there two different people posting under this name? Maybe you can enlighten me how you could changes the facts within 45 min of each post. Being that I was there that night, and also having the video that BD sold "Blue Devils 1974-1980" which in fact recorded the ENTIRE tribute from beginning to end, I don't recall any mention of any members from Spirit being there.

More clarification from the Spirit website (http://www.spiritdrumcorps.org/1980/)

Cynthia Piggot Crowe writes of the 1980 Riverside, CA show:

This is from a Blue Devil Alumni from 1980. I also marched Freelancers in 1979.

Some may not know this, but Jim Ott arranged the show for the Freelancers in 1979 and I was fortunate enough to have been instructed by him during that year.

When I went to the Blue Devils in 1980, I continued to hear about the legendary Jim Ott. He was around some and his family was around since they live in Stockton.

We were in Riverside, CA when the staff called us together in the gym. This staff had worked together with Jim for years and we had a lot of alumni as well who knew Jim. They told us Jim had been killed in an auto accident on tour with the Spirit of Atlanta. We were stunned.

On July 19, 1980 at the Blue Devil's home show, Precision West, we honored the memory of Jim Ott. All of the members of the Blue Devils, Vanguard, and Freelancers gathered on the field. There were also several horn players not in uniform. These were former members of the Stockton Commodores.

Wayne Downey led over 200 horns in playing "The Navy Hymn." The first time we played it, we played it as Jim had arranged it. The second time we played it was for Jim to hear.

This tribute is on the video that the Blue Devils put out several years ago, a fitting tribute to a great musician.

I remember DCI where the folded up seats spelled JIMOTT as we entered the stadium for prelims. Later, they spelled "27th."

I really enjoyed the Spirit of Atlanta's show that year. You really could feel the passion of the corps through the performance. Spirit's 1980 show is one of my favorites.

If I am out of line here, then I apologize, but I find it hard to believe that your memory could change in 45 min, maybe just enough to gain some personal notoriety?

Edited by Blue Devil Legend
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Atlanta went west only in '79...still recovering...

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Atlanta went west only in '79...still recovering...

that's the way I remember it also.............

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BDL, a few posts back I asked questions because what I was reading seemed to make no sense and I wasn't even there. The years were incorrect to begin with...if they were playing in his memory in 79 that's incorrect, so I asked where you playing for him in 1979 or in his memory in 1980?

I apologize ahead of time if this person just has a bad memory.

The first post made no sense the first time, and now there's another? I'm having a problem going getting off of this page so I cannot go back to see what ended up happening and if this person answered my questions yet.

...."Severe from Revere"

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BEWARE: When DCP says "Error" or your information has not gone thru (something along those lines) sometimes it may not be true.

My post actually became postssss.

:wall:

Nancy

Edited by LancerFi
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:wall: Edited by LancerFi
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and another stutter.... :P

Edited by LancerFi
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Howdy... :wall::wall::peek:

...."Severe from Revere"

Edited by LancerFi
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