airmanjerm

It's more about being unable to get past ridiculous Air Force spending limits on services. Ugh. I'm excited for a new USMB concert though!

Aww dang it, you beat me to it by one minute!

Well, it turned out at least. I've done this medley for so many groups, it's crazy. But if this is what they pay me to do, I guess it beats digging ditches. LOL You can hear Semper Paratus (the Coast Guard Song) at around 1:45 in the attached MIDI render. Those Schoenfeld elements are so engrained into the tune that I even use them for clarinet trio writing. Ha. 295689746_ArmedServicesMedley-ClarinetTrio.mp3

I wrote my last post at a really crazy hour while working on (believe it or not) and armed services medley for our Clarinet Trio at the Air Force Academy Band. I'm afraid my last message sounded a little jerk-ish. Apologies - it wasn't meant that way. But yes - the drums would have been an incredibly easy thing to ask a few percussionists to make up on the fly, if he (or somebody else) didn't write it out in some form.

I'm not sure what you're hearing, but that "Marching Band no. 2" is 100% the Schoenfeld arrangement. It's not even a "maybe" situation, or a "guess." There's a bit of added drum cadence in the Jaws track, but that's about it. The rest is literally the same exact tune and the same exact arrangement, albeit played by a "ragtag" sounding group.

There's a good chance that came from me, although it would have only been partially accurate. Cray did an arrangement of the Armed Services medley that most of us have used off and on for decades (we occasionally have to switch versions because the "official" order of songs changes from time to time). Cray's version naturally includes the Coast Guard Song, but his treatment borrows heavily from the Schoenfeld version (which most people had become accustomed to hearing). I couldn't find a good YouTube recording of the Cray medley so I'm attaching it as a track from one of our albums (properly licensed for distribution, of course). You can hear Semper Paratus around 1:35" or so. 350137343_ArmedServicesMedley.m4a

That one doesn't sound familiar, so it may be a JW original. It's not very good......not a slam on JW of course, but for the idea of "write a decent-sounding source-music march," it sounds pretty on-point.

Yes, "Marching Band #2" is the official Coast Guard song (reference that video I posted earlier - it's literally the same tune, albeit a different recording). At the very end of the liner notes (right before the final paragraph begins), the notes say "Four 'beach band' pieces heard in the film are followed by two marches composed by John Williams. Be sure to listen for the director on clarinet!" You know I love the release and the folks who made it happen, this is just an odd (and exceptionally RARE) inaccuracy.

I've always noted that the kids are not playing "Semper Fidelis," they are playing "Semper Paratus," which is the Coast Guard Song. Additionally, the arrangement they are playing is not even remotely by Williams, it is the official version as written by composer Francis van Boskerck and arranged for band by William Schoenfield. The liner notes say "two marches composed by John Williams," which is not accurate. Not slighting Williams' score of course (and of course I LOVE Mike's notes and the whole packaging), but credit should go where it's due. Also: I've always been troubled that this tune was not mentioned remotely in the liner credits. "Semper Paratus" is NOT public domain, and remains under copyright by Sam Fox. I would think they would get a mention in the liner note credits, but there's nothing. I do hope the Intrada folks realized this was not a JW march or some public domain thing and that they didn't just overlook it in licensing. Sam Fox is notoriously very litigious, and if they caught wind of a big release without the proper permissions they would not be happy about it. :-/

Ordered! Glad that I saw it was live already, or I would have been waiting til tomorrow. 😊👍

My jewel case broke while unwrapping also....dang, it's like that stuff was hot-glued onto there.

Just a note about your note on these notes (haha): The new Sony actually goes on longer than the Varese, though not much. That little ostinato ("repeated doodad") fades out ten bars after the clarinets drop out at 1:19. In the Varese we get to the 9th bar and it stops after the first beat. I kinda like that better (it's definitely more of a proper ending as Frank said), but the Sony doesn't fade out early. We just hear the fade out. Edited to add a P.S.: that spreadsheet is awesome! I missed the Varese but picked up the Sony. It arrived yesterday and I've enjoyed reading the spreadsheet and this thread. Good stuff and a lot of work!

One thing I know we can agree on, Thor: it's incredibly frustrating that JW couldn't recall his exact enlistment date in the interview he did with Col. Lang a few years ago. I wanted to pull my hair out over that! haha

No, the enlistment periods were for four years. We didn't have three-year enlistments then. The reason someone would have signed up voluntarily (instead of being drafted) would be to have more control over the career field ("job") you would do. The AF Bands were a hot ticket at the time because so many musicians from LA and NY were joining it to beat the draft - therefore, you would be in a band with a lot of talented folks. This stemmed from the decade before when Glenn Miller took his act into the Air Force and became Captain (later Major) Glenn Miller; this created an incredibly talented pool of musicians in the AF Bands and the reputation still persists even now - it certainly would have in the early 1950s. Also, the audition process at the time wasn't like it is now (which is highly competitive), but it WAS somewhat political. You often had to know somebody who knew somebody to get a spot you wanted in the career field. You can hear Sandy Courage talk about this in an interview he did with Jon Burlingame years ago. (I'd have to dig up that link, but it was rather comical how he had to know-people-who-knew-people to get into an AF Band - when they were still the Army Air Force Bands.)

I can't check his S/N specifically because he is still alive and I'm not a next-of-kin; the Privacy Act of 1974 prevents looking someone up specifically. But I do have records (old regulations and historical data) of how the serial numbers were assigned (see the info I included above).

But - he wasn't drafted. No worries Thor...I'll always leave room for errors in a 65-year-old article. The only other thing I'll mention is that the ID numbers 200000-399999 were used for enlisted Airmen who joined the AF in Jan, 1951 (the numbers 000001-199999 were used for US Army enlistees). The last six numbers of JW's serial number (389341) fall into that numerical category.

Thanks! But no, sadly I am too busy to entertain that idea. I'm happy to contribute to the folks to do though. I've been an active duty composer/arranger for the Air Force Bands for nearly 19 years now, and have served as the unit historian for several of the bands I've been in. That article that floats around - the one that introduced everyone to the existence of "You Are Welcome" - was one I found back in 2001 or 2002 at the archives at March Air Reserve Base in southern CA while researching the history of our northern CA band - the USAF Band of the Golden West. In the 1990s, the AF Band at March AFB was deactivated and combined with the (smaller) group in northern CA to form one 60-member unit. So although we were in the northern CA Band, the March AFB Band was also part of our history. I ran across the JW article totally by accident, but it was definitely an interesting read. Years of dealing with Air Force details (paperwork, rules, instructions, etc.) make it easy to look up enlistment (and other) details. Not a marketable skill, but it serves a little purpose here and there.

You and I have agreed to disagree on the enlistment date in the past, which is fine, despite the news clipping I have that specifically states "Enlisting in January, 1951, John spent some time at David-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona..." (etc.). As the other article states that his discharge was coming in Jan, 1955, that would be the natural end of the Air Force's standard 4-year enlistment. I understand he did some things during early 1951 that don't have to do with the AF, but as I've mentioned in the past: the AF doesn't control everything I do in my off-time (and they didn't in 1951 either). I've finished graduate courses from several states away while on active duty, studied with composition teachers via snail mail, and done many non-AF things during my active duty time. Most of my publications were completed in off-duty hours. It's possible (and likely) that's why some of the times overlap. Yes, it was 12 airmen-musicians on the "You Are Welcome" score, I just meant that the entire unit wasn't only 12 members.

OK, I just finished the podcast and it was very nice. Great job Trumpeteer! Here are some slightly incorrect details though: - JW spent four years in the Air Force, not two. The Air Force did not offer 2-year enlistments in the early 1950s. His enlistment ran from Jan, 1951 - Jan, 1955. - JW was not drafted, he enlisted voluntarily. This is based on his service number: AF19389341; the prefix "19" was a geographical identifier that indicated the Airman had enlisted from one of several western states (CA, OR, WA, AZ, NV, others). Draftees from those states were issued a service number that started with a 56. At the time though (and during the 1960s-70s) it was common for young men to voluntarily join the military and pursue a specific job (i.e. the AF Band) to avoid being drafted and sent to a job they did not want; so, the voluntary enlistment is not surprising. - JW also did not "lead" the band. He was a pianist who also served as an arranger, and obviously had the opportunity to conduct some, but he was not the band leader. The commander of the band (the "leader," as you might say) while Williams was there was WOJG (Warrant Officer, Junior Grade) Robert T. Neal. WOJG Neal also entered the AF as an enlisted member in Jan, 1951 - it's possible he and JW already knew each other from basic training, but not certain. They were not stationed together at any point before Pepperrell; - The AF Band at Pepperrell AFB would also have had either 36 or 45 members at the time, not a "12-man AF Band." He just didn't write for all of the players. These are mostly trivial details that I normally wouldn't even worry about, but since you asked.

Oh...in all the excitement, I almost forgot there's samples to listen to. A nice preview now that the excitement of ordering is over. 🙂

Ordered! 166786!

"This Junkin" is one of the most highly respected conductors in the country, in both wind band and orchestral circles; the fact that you don't know his name says a lot more about you than it does about him. Different conductors have different takes on the limitless interpretations of every piece of music. Just because you don't personally like it doesn't make it wrong or "amateurish" (which it most certainly is not). Certainly you've heard the recording of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" on Williams' album "Out of this World" with the Boston Pops, right? It is painfully slow. Does that mean that "This Williams" is an amateur because he conducted it differently than Goldsmith? No, of course not. FYI: I think the album is fine - great playing (I have several friends in that group), but no I don't love Jerry's tempi either in some places. I actually agree with you on those points Bespin, but just please be careful when you make unfounded assumptions.

Sad to hear about legendary composer John Morris. NY Times Story here.

You're right, of course, and as I mentioned earlier my little rationale was just an optimistic attempt at wishful thinking. People study online trends and those can have a bizarre effect on things like this, but I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. I think the only thing we can know for certain is that there doesn't seem to be an established "norm," so that's another thing to help continue the positive thinking. 😉