By Maylon Rice
After the recent musings on pre-dawn Lumberjack band practice, I feel compelled to write about all the “other” music other than military marching music played at ballgames.
First of all, due to many years of fundraising by Lumberjack Band Boosters, the band had one of the nicest, spacious bandstands (covered and dry) in the entire state for a school the size of Warren High.
How did they fund such a bandstand?
It was through the sale of Mary Lou Martin’s chili dogs, Coca Colas, candy bars, a wild assortment of car wash cleaners, lightbulbs, an annual Band Tag Day drive and just plain old fundraising activities such as the Band Queen Contests of the 1970s.
There were also some local corporate donations.
For example: The bandstand was built out of several massive AP&L light poles with a slick and shiny Southern Pine flooring wide enough on each of the six levels to allow chairs, music stands and room to navigate.
From the bottom level, where Curry Martin’s raise directing platform was center stage – to the top level claimed by the drummers and most of the upperclassmen that played Sousa Phone or trombone, that bandstand was a sight to see and to perform on.
In a discussion with some of my friends in and outside of Warren these days one major change came about in 1970.
As both school systems in Warren were consolidated, away went the old fight song “Dixie.”
A new fight song, “The Washington Lee Swing,” came into vogue.
It was embraced by the band and the community and lent itself much better to being a “fight song” for the Lumberjacks.
Back to the lighter, more musical selections offered by the Lumberjacks. We played some of the swing staples – as Curry and Mary Lou Martin cut their collegiate teeth at Arkansas State Teachers College (now UCA) on playing piano and clarinet for college dances on and off campus in Central Arkansas before arriving as a young couple to take over the music program at WHS.
The band played some Glenn Miller tunes. “In The Mood,” “Rock Around the Clock,” and “When the Saints Go Marching In,” as a trio of the classics, I remember playing.
But there were also some back in the 1970s new tunes making the rounds, like, “Mission Impossible (Theme),” “Everything Is Beautiful,” “Band of Gold,” “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” “The Theme from Romeo and Juliet,” and “Shaft.”
The crowd favorite was, hands down, “The Horse.”
I remember one hard fought contest, against Star City, when the Lumberjacks were down on the northern end of the field (about the 30 yard line), defending the Lumberjack goal line against the visiting Bulldogs.
Mr. Martin fired up the band with “The Horse.
It was, no doubt, our loudest and most fiercely played tune. The Bullpups, in this musical din just a few feet away, could not hear their signal caller.
The band was flagged for a 15-yard penalty of excessive noise by the officials.
Star City did not score on that drive.
But once the communication came to the band stand, via one of the assistant coaches from Coach John McGregor, we were told to keep playing “The Horse.” The band repeated the request on the next several Star City offensive drives – they never scored again and the ‘Jacks won.
As a footnote: McGregor, who has coached as an assistant coach at the college level at Florida State, prior to taking the Warren job, kept Martin looking for a song the Norte Dame Fighting Irish played.
McGregor wanted to change the “fight song” but thankfully Martin resisted his pressure to find this new fight song.
Back to the fight song change in the 1970s.
The newer fight song was more of college level fight song. It was easier to play when the Jacks scored a touchdown and it was indeed a tune that contained plenty of brass.
Back in the day, I always remember my late mentor and newspaper editor extraordinaire Bob Newton saying people could hear Bob Roddy’s trumpet all the ways to the Saline River bottoms when the Lumberjacks scored a TD and the band fired up the fight song.
We were a lively bunch head quarter up in that elevated bandstand on the north end of O.O. Axley Field.
Band members were always given the third quarter off – after marching the halftime show. There was a lot of smooching under the bandstand by young lovers until the fourth quarter began. I got one of my first kisses under that old creosote and pine bandstand.
But that’s a Pastime for another day….
After the recent musings on pre-dawn Lumberjack band practice, I feel compelled to write about all the “other” music other than military marching music played at ballgames.
First of all, due to many years of fundraising by Lumberjack Band Boosters, the band had one of the nicest, spacious bandstands (covered and dry) in the entire state for a school the size of Warren High.
How did they fund such a bandstand?
It was through the sale of Mary Lou Martin’s chili dogs, Coca Colas, candy bars, a wild assortment of car wash cleaners, lightbulbs, an annual Band Tag Day drive and just plain old fundraising activities such as the Band Queen Contests of the 1970s.
There were also some local corporate donations.
For example: The bandstand was built out of several massive AP&L light poles with a slick and shiny Southern Pine flooring wide enough on each of the six levels to allow chairs, music stands and room to navigate.
From the bottom level, where Curry Martin’s raise directing platform was center stage – to the top level claimed by the drummers and most of the upperclassmen that played Sousa Phone or trombone, that bandstand was a sight to see and to perform on.
In a discussion with some of my friends in and outside of Warren these days one major change came about in 1970.
As both school systems in Warren were consolidated, away went the old fight song “Dixie.”
A new fight song, “The Washington Lee Swing,” came into vogue.
It was embraced by the band and the community and lent itself much better to being a “fight song” for the Lumberjacks.
Back to the lighter, more musical selections offered by the Lumberjacks. We played some of the swing staples – as Curry and Mary Lou Martin cut their collegiate teeth at Arkansas State Teachers College (now UCA) on playing piano and clarinet for college dances on and off campus in Central Arkansas before arriving as a young couple to take over the music program at WHS.
The band played some Glenn Miller tunes. “In The Mood,” “Rock Around the Clock,” and “When the Saints Go Marching In,” as a trio of the classics, I remember playing.
But there were also some back in the 1970s new tunes making the rounds, like, “Mission Impossible (Theme),” “Everything Is Beautiful,” “Band of Gold,” “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown,” “The Theme from Romeo and Juliet,” and “Shaft.”
The crowd favorite was, hands down, “The Horse.”
I remember one hard fought contest, against Star City, when the Lumberjacks were down on the northern end of the field (about the 30 yard line), defending the Lumberjack goal line against the visiting Bulldogs.
Mr. Martin fired up the band with “The Horse.
It was, no doubt, our loudest and most fiercely played tune. The Bullpups, in this musical din just a few feet away, could not hear their signal caller.
The band was flagged for a 15-yard penalty of excessive noise by the officials.
Star City did not score on that drive.
But once the communication came to the band stand, via one of the assistant coaches from Coach John McGregor, we were told to keep playing “The Horse.” The band repeated the request on the next several Star City offensive drives – they never scored again and the ‘Jacks won.
As a footnote: McGregor, who has coached as an assistant coach at the college level at Florida State, prior to taking the Warren job, kept Martin looking for a song the Norte Dame Fighting Irish played.
McGregor wanted to change the “fight song” but thankfully Martin resisted his pressure to find this new fight song.
Back to the fight song change in the 1970s.
The newer fight song was more of college level fight song. It was easier to play when the Jacks scored a touchdown and it was indeed a tune that contained plenty of brass.
Back in the day, I always remember my late mentor and newspaper editor extraordinaire Bob Newton saying people could hear Bob Roddy’s trumpet all the ways to the Saline River bottoms when the Lumberjacks scored a TD and the band fired up the fight song.
We were a lively bunch head quarter up in that elevated bandstand on the north end of O.O. Axley Field.
Band members were always given the third quarter off – after marching the halftime show. There was a lot of smooching under the bandstand by young lovers until the fourth quarter began. I got one of my first kisses under that old creosote and pine bandstand.
But that’s a Pastime for another day….
No comments:
Post a Comment