a dream come true
BOB COOK - BLUE ROCK ALUMNUS
EXCERPT FROM MY BOOK "MY SEVEN DECADES OF DRUM CORPS ADVENTURES"
I had been marching in drum corps for 11 years, and after experiencing a terrible season with the Earls of Bucks where our scores never got out of the fifties, I had had enough! Being one of the oldest members and longest tenured, I was tired of getting my brains beat out every week on the competition field and marching with a bunch of inexperienced 10 and 12 year old horn players. I decided I would sit out a year, and then hopefully join Blue Rock for the 1972 season. I left Earls in December 1970, and figured I'd work the next summer and make enough money to march in 1972. Funny how things have a way of working out even though my original plan got altered.
It's very early March of 1971, my dad answers the phone and on the line is Tom Cellucci (a fantastic soprano horn when I marched with the Earls the previous two seasons, who would go on to be a great soloist for Blue Rock and then the Reading Buccaneers). I wasn't home at the time, so my dad takes Tom's phone number and gives me the message to call him. I call Tom back, and he encourages me to join Blue Rock, as they're having a really good winter, but are short a few horn players, and can use some help in the lead soprano line. I'm now real excited, and start trying to figure out how I can convince my dad to let me join Blue Rock (who were based 60 miles away, a long distance to rehearsal in those days).
Fortunately, my dad (being a long time drum corps guy) after hearing my sales pitch (Hey! I'm going off to college in the fall, have a job, a car, money in the bank, and several guys from Earls are already down at Blue Rock!) he agrees to let me march (I think he was just as excited as I was but didn't let on right away). So off to Penns Grove, NJ and Wilmington DE I go!
THE AUDITION
Unlike today's DCI auditions it was much less sophisticated trying to earn a spot in a top level corps in 1971. A year before I joined Blue Rock, I made sure if my corps was in the same parade, I'd warm up nearby and try to play some stuff that would catch their attention. Knowing a few guys from the Earls who were already marching with Blue Rock helped, as when kids from Blue Rock would hear me play they'd inquire and say "Who's that kid? He's pretty good", and my friends would say, "we're hoping to get him down here next year." So it helped that I had some recognition when I finally arrived at a Blue Rock rehearsal being introduced to the guy who would "audition" me, he said "Oh, I've heard about you from some other guys that came here from the Earls."
In the Earls, we were still playing G-D horns, so I borrowed a G-F horn from Don Coles, the Earls horn instructor to prepare for my Blue Rock venture. This, in fact, was a big deal because, for me, a bugler who learned music by ear, I now had to learn the "fingerings" for the G-F horn that were different from my antique Getzen valve slide Titleist. I would compare the transition to going from playing a bugle to a trumpet, not an easy one for me as I actually made myself a fingering chart.
Anyhow here's how it went ..... we go to the Men's room, the only room in Rockyknocker Hall (the tiny Corps Hall in Wilmington, DE) that's not occupied by horn players or drummers at the moment. My auditioner says "What are you trying out for?" I say "Lead Soprano". He instructs me to play the G Major scale, playing whole notes and go as high as I can go. I go up to a Double A and Voila, I pass the test, and now I'm a first soprano in Blue Rock, and on top of the world! That night we were learning our concert number "Midnight Cowboy" a ballbuster tune, that was really fun to play ..........
It's very early March of 1971, my dad answers the phone and on the line is Tom Cellucci (a fantastic soprano horn when I marched with the Earls the previous two seasons, who would go on to be a great soloist for Blue Rock and then the Reading Buccaneers). I wasn't home at the time, so my dad takes Tom's phone number and gives me the message to call him. I call Tom back, and he encourages me to join Blue Rock, as they're having a really good winter, but are short a few horn players, and can use some help in the lead soprano line. I'm now real excited, and start trying to figure out how I can convince my dad to let me join Blue Rock (who were based 60 miles away, a long distance to rehearsal in those days).
Fortunately, my dad (being a long time drum corps guy) after hearing my sales pitch (Hey! I'm going off to college in the fall, have a job, a car, money in the bank, and several guys from Earls are already down at Blue Rock!) he agrees to let me march (I think he was just as excited as I was but didn't let on right away). So off to Penns Grove, NJ and Wilmington DE I go!
THE AUDITION
Unlike today's DCI auditions it was much less sophisticated trying to earn a spot in a top level corps in 1971. A year before I joined Blue Rock, I made sure if my corps was in the same parade, I'd warm up nearby and try to play some stuff that would catch their attention. Knowing a few guys from the Earls who were already marching with Blue Rock helped, as when kids from Blue Rock would hear me play they'd inquire and say "Who's that kid? He's pretty good", and my friends would say, "we're hoping to get him down here next year." So it helped that I had some recognition when I finally arrived at a Blue Rock rehearsal being introduced to the guy who would "audition" me, he said "Oh, I've heard about you from some other guys that came here from the Earls."
In the Earls, we were still playing G-D horns, so I borrowed a G-F horn from Don Coles, the Earls horn instructor to prepare for my Blue Rock venture. This, in fact, was a big deal because, for me, a bugler who learned music by ear, I now had to learn the "fingerings" for the G-F horn that were different from my antique Getzen valve slide Titleist. I would compare the transition to going from playing a bugle to a trumpet, not an easy one for me as I actually made myself a fingering chart.
Anyhow here's how it went ..... we go to the Men's room, the only room in Rockyknocker Hall (the tiny Corps Hall in Wilmington, DE) that's not occupied by horn players or drummers at the moment. My auditioner says "What are you trying out for?" I say "Lead Soprano". He instructs me to play the G Major scale, playing whole notes and go as high as I can go. I go up to a Double A and Voila, I pass the test, and now I'm a first soprano in Blue Rock, and on top of the world! That night we were learning our concert number "Midnight Cowboy" a ballbuster tune, that was really fun to play ..........
For the "Rest of the Story" - you can purchase Bob's book on Amazon
http://amazon.com/dp/B08KPXM6J6
http://amazon.com/dp/B08KPXM6J6
NOTE THAT ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THE BOOK WILL BE DONATED TO BILL IVES
"MARCHING PAGEANTRY ARTS MUSEUM"
CURRENTLY HOUSED AT THE ARCHER EPLER VPW POST IN UPPER DARBY, PA.
AND LOOKING FOR FUNDING TO GO TO A PERMANENT HOME
"MARCHING PAGEANTRY ARTS MUSEUM"
CURRENTLY HOUSED AT THE ARCHER EPLER VPW POST IN UPPER DARBY, PA.
AND LOOKING FOR FUNDING TO GO TO A PERMANENT HOME