ColtFoutz Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Hello all, Hope your Thanksgivings were happy. Drum corps 2008 is only six months or so away! But maybe I have a way of bringing it to you sooner. The release of my book, Building the Green Machine is just FOUR days away. You can find out the basics below in my reply post, or visit www.cavaliersbook.com for excerpts, photos, music, outtakes and other goodies. That's the official stuff, and it's all fun and nifty. But what I want to say to the dedicated folks on this forum is this: I wrote this book to show the world how passionate, how hard-working, how talented and souful and FUN drum corps people are. I wrote it because I once drop-kicked my trumpet to marching band infamy as a member of the Dover (Ohio) Marching Tornadoes from 1990-94. There was nothing more grueling than an eight-hour rehearsal in the July and August heat; and nothing more thrilling than blowing my eyeballs out the bell of my horn under the stadium lights on autumn Friday and Saturday nights. This is why I wrote a book about all you go through to be amazing performers. I spent two years interviewing 200 members, alumni, volunteers, fans and family connected with the Cavaliers and other drum corps. Yes, the book utilizes the Cavaliers as the window through which you can view specific stories, traditions and tales. But there are NINETY-FIVE OTHER CORPS mentioned in this book, and several dozen more winter guards and high school groups. You get a sense of the whole activity, and that was very important to me. It was a thrill to write, and even more fun now to get it out to YOU. Because I wrote it for people like us. And the book publishing world needs to know about us as an audience, so there will be more books like this, about the groups you and I go nuts for, in the future. So there's my personal spiel. Order Building the Green Machine today at www.cavaliers.org. Among the nifty things Savas Beatie is doing as publisher is offering the book to the drum corps audience first -- as signed first editions -- months before it hits bookstores. So be among the first to own this piece of history, your heritage. Pass this message along to people like us. And keep filling the world with music! Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFoutz Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 NEW BOOK OFFERS BEHIND-THE-SCENES RIDE THROUGH DRUM CORPS HISTORY Can the Van Halen. Rack your Kid Rock. Stow your Styx. For this musical journey, we’re leaving the amplifiers with the long-haired pretty boys in spandex and taking a flying leap from the concert stage: to a football field, baking in the heat of a late June afternoon. Sixty guys spread out in a loose parabola near the 50-yard-line, lean back with horns in their hands and manufacture loud the old-fashioned way – with their lungs. With these words, author Colt Foutz opens Building the Green Machine, which tells how a ragtag bunch of Boy Scouts from Chicago’s Logan Square grew into one of the most popular marching groups in the world, winners of 20 national and world championships. The story of the Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps is also the biography of their charismatic leader, Don Warren. With no musical talent, Warren founded the Cavaliers as a teenager in 1948 and has led them ever since. His gift for working with people – instructors, parents, volunteers, the kids – built the Cavaliers into a musical juggernaut, “The Green Machine”. His eye for innovation led to the creation of Drum Corps International, which helped the nationwide youth activity evolve from its military roots into a new artistic era. Hop along on the tour bus for this rags-to-riches ride. From more than 200 interviews with Cavaliers alumni, and officials, musicians and fans throughout drum corps, Foutz gives a behind-the-scenes look at the camaraderie, guts, politics, pranks and tradition that have shaped marching music over the last seven decades. Whether you’re a drum corps nut, or a newcomer, you’ll laugh, cry and cheer for Building the Green Machine. Building the Green Machine: Don Warren and Sixty Years with the World Champion Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps by Colt Foutz published by Savas Beatie ISBN-13: 978-1-932714-39-5 ISBN-10: 1-932714-39-5 Creative Nonfiction/History Hardcover, 480 pages Publication: Dec. 1, 2007 $29.99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowtown Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 how a ragtag bunch of Boy Scouts from Chicago’s Logan Square Where in Logan Square were they based? Always been curious about that, I know where the Vanguard hall was, is - but what’s the address of the old Cavies haunt (I live in the area)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobrien Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Where in Logan Square were they based? Always been curious about that, I know where the Vanguard hall was, is - but what’s the address of the old Cavies haunt (I live in the area)? The original corps hall was above a bar at 2507 N Kedzie. Burned down in a fire in '67. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFoutz Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 The original corps hall was above a bar at 2507 N Kedzie. Burned down in a fire in '67. Exactly! They were there 13 years until the fire, and then they moved around the corner to 2511, to a vacant pool club and dentist's offices above Eddie's Barbecue. That move lasted six years, until the neighborhood got too dangerous to stick around. From there, it was Park Ridge, and eventually, in 1981, to Rosemont. The original Hall was above Ferrera's Lounge, a tavern owned by the father of original Cavalier and brass arranger Sal Ferrera (a drum corps Hall of Famer). Sal and many of the original guys were members of Troop 111, which met in the basement of the Church of the Advent on Friday nights. They were all buddies from the neighborhood, in the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Brace Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Exactly! They were there 13 years until the fire, and then they moved around the corner to 2511, to a vacant pool club and dentist's offices above Eddie's Barbecue. That move lasted six years, until the neighborhood got too dangerous to stick around. From there, it was Park Ridge, and eventually, in 1981, to Rosemont.The original Hall was above Ferrera's Lounge, a tavern owned by the father of original Cavalier and brass arranger Sal Ferrera (a drum corps Hall of Famer). Sal and many of the original guys were members of Troop 111, which met in the basement of the Church of the Advent on Friday nights. They were all buddies from the neighborhood, in the beginning. Have you thought about having a contest and giving away a couple of books here or there as a prize? Maybe giving a book away to a person who came up with a nifty idea like having a contest and giving away a couple of books for instance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColtFoutz Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Have you thought about having a contest and giving away a couple of books here or there as a prize? Maybe giving a book away to a person who came up with a nifty idea like having a contest and giving away a couple of books for instance? Great idea, Tom. We'll consider it. But for now, the best (and only) way you can ensure yourself of getting the book and getting into all the great stories that are contained within, is to order it. Really, you're going to love it. And if and when we have contests connected with the book, I'll make sure to get the word out here. Speaking of creativity, if I'd ever won that Lamborghini for contributing my big idea to my radio station's Miami Vice contest back when I was in grade school, I wonder if I'd ever have written this book. Probably still be hanging down in South Beach with my sleeves pushed up... yeah, hanging with Crockett... and Tubbs... and... well, you see where creativity can sometimes get you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowtown Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 (edited) just a few blocks from my house *Attention stalkers, come and get me, I'll make some tea* is the 2511 still there, I think that would be about Argyle and Kedzie Logan sq did have the highest homicide rate2 years running, also had the most drive bys – the Trib did a big feature on it and freaked out my parents, that was around 2003ish – odd neighborhood, lived they about 15 years and parts of it are now very nice and expensive and other parts are not I think the Cavies were from Des Plaines when I became aware…that was prior to Park Ridge, correct? Were they ever from Des Plaines or am I remembering it wrongly? Edited November 27, 2007 by cowtown Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 (edited) ...I spent two years interviewing 200 members, alumni, volunteers, fans and family connected with the Cavaliers and other drum corps ... My invitation for an interview must have gotten lost in the mail. So much for being "The Pen of Pageantry." Well, at least I'm still mentioned in the book for the 1975 finals comment. Colt, I'm assuming you're saving me for book two? :) Edited November 28, 2007 by Michael Boo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudi man Posted November 28, 2007 Share Posted November 28, 2007 I used to work for the railroad and I ran trains between Toledo and Chicago . Cowtown you should know where I'm talking about ? We yard our trains at the 55th street or the 51st street yards . 55th & 51st street run north and south and Kedzie runs east and west so would 2511 Kedzie be closer to 39th street or what ? What major intersection ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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