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Where might I find any information about the individuals that played tuba in this world famous band? Any stories or anecdotes would be appreciated as well.
Thanks!

This was put on here some time ago- cool picture!

I am not positively certain about the title but, there was a book called "Bands of America" or "Bands Over America" which I read way back just after the middle of the last century. It had a lot of detail and photos of the Sousa band among others - including Gilmore, Barnum & Bailey's Circus Band, Arthur Pryor and so on.

I very much doubt that it is still there but, the Kewanee, Illinois public library had a copy which I checked out and read a few times. It had a lot of first hand material which included anecdotes about Helleberg,Bill Bell, JPS, Merle Evans, and others, and the battles among the bands to have the biggest and best tubas and a fair amount about the 'development ' of the sousaphone.

Somebody should go dig and find a copy of this book.

It used to be that every town populated by decent citizens had a band but when the top bands came to town it was bigger than Ben Hurr.

Even in the 60s Peoria had a professional band playing concerts in the park every Sunday over summer and it was a damned good training ground as some of the old boys from the 20s were still playing good music. For a three hour concert there would be a one hour rehearsal - top and tail - get your parts in order in the pad, show your union card, fill out the pay form. Maybe not quite as good as being in the circus or whatever but by g..., you had to play your part.

Funny thing was, we did not have 50 different "pro-qguality" tubas and 100 mp's to pick from. You bloody well learned how to play the best you could with what was available - in other words, you practiced your *** off.

Not specifically about the tuba section, but you will find info on them in here:

http://www.amazon.com/Incredible-Philip ... 238&sr=8-1

I had a very small part transcribing interviews from tapes for the book, but it was quite fun! There were some great stories from those interviews!

Check out Great Bands of America by Albert Powell Graham. You can download it here:

http://ia331332.us.archive.org/1/items/ ... 848mbp.pdf" target="_blank

IOS wrote:Check out Great Bands of America by Albert Powell Graham. You can download it here:

http://ia331332.us.archive.org/1/items/ ... 848mbp.pdf" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Make that Alberta Powell Graham...

thanks for the link!

I am not positively certain about the title but, there was a book called "Bands of America" or "Bands Over America" which I read way back just after the middle of the last century. It had a lot of detail and photos of the Sousa band among others - including Gilmore, Barnum & Bailey's Circus Band, Arthur Pryor and so on.

Bands of America by H.W. Schwartz; Doubleday, 1957.

Now reprinted.
http://www.amazon.com/Bands-America-H-W ... ition=used

IMHO, required reading for the subject of early bands in America. Don't know who Monsieur Jullien was? Gilmore? Time to catch up.

Thanks to all for their help. I have ordered the two resources mentioned here and hopefully they will answer my questions. I would like especially to learn more about William Bell considering he entered the band at such a young age.

After taking the advice of other tubenetters, I purchased both the Schwarz and Bierley books mentioned in this post. I have now read them and recommend them highly.
Both books are detailed and in one or two cases somewhat fussy, however they do a marvelous job in detailing the history of several premier bands in the United States. I was happy to learn that Sousa's band also visited my home province in Canada, albeit in 1924!
Good Reads Both!

Here's another photo of some Sousa Band players. Those instruments look to be very large. I wonder what is the collar diameter on those things. And, weight.

Ace wrote:Those instruments look to be very large. I wonder what is the collar diameter on those things. And, weight.

Are they not the predecessors of the Conn 48K Jumbo? In which case weight of over 40 lbs

Ken Herrick wrote: . . . . Even in the 60s Peoria had a professional band playing concerts in the park every Sunday over summer and it was a damned good training ground as some of the old boys from the 20s were still playing good music. For a three hour concert there would be a one hour rehearsal - top and tail - get your parts in order in the pad, show your union card, fill out the pay form. Maybe not quite as good as being in the circus or whatever but by g..., you had to play your part.

The Peoria Illinois Municipal Band performed in Glen Oak Park, and I lived a half block away on Abington Street. I remember hearing the band on summer evenings, and sometimes I would attend a concert if I could get a parent to go with me.

Our band director at Peoria's Woodruff High School, Elbert Edelbrock, doubled on tuba and string bass, although his main instrument was clarinet. Sergeant Major (Dr.) Dennis Edelbrock, US Army Band trumpeter, is Elbert Edelbrock's son.

Dan Fogelberg's father, Lawrence Fogelberg (The Leader of the Band), was the Woodruff High band director before Edelbrock.

Dean,
That shows what a small world it is. You have moved, I have moved even farther and out of the 6 billion people on this ball we would have been in the same place at the same time and have met some of the same people!

I am from Kewanee originally. I started playing with the high school band (Wethersfield) in grade 7 and got to go to contest with them in gr 8 (permission had to be granted by IMEA).
In the summer we would do a weekly concert on the school grounds and the 'band parents' would run an 'ice cream social' to raise money for the band. The director (Charles Bickhaus) and I would also go to Toulon where they did the same thing.

A "recent" graduate, Bob Kuzminski, a very good cornetist and tenor, went into the Air Force and directed one of the AF bands in Germany then the AF "Singing Sargeants". Back then, ( mid to latter 60's ) it would have been possible to go straight from high school to the Washington AF band. Maybe I should have done that as it would have made it a LOT easier to pay for university studies!

I remember Woodruff having had very good bands back then.

After I went off to Northwestern and would go visit the family we often went to "Shakey's Pizza" and I would sit in with the little trad band. Hey free pizza and beer - what more could a young tuba player ask for?

Also did a Republican rally for old Ev Dirksen - I think it was the last time he stood. Some Democrat members of the family didn't think I should go play for no Republican!

I have found a great deal of information about both Sousa and Bell. They both spent their lives making music and making others happy, I think that is about as good as it gets!

Ken Herrick wrote:Dean,
That shows what a small world it is. You have moved, I have moved even farther and out of the 6 billion people on this ball we would have been in the same place at the same time and have met some of the same people!
. . . .
I remember Woodruff having had very good bands back then.

After I went off to Northwestern and would go visit the family we often went to "Shakey's Pizza" and I would sit in with the little trad band. Hey free pizza and beer - what more could a young tuba player ask for? . . .

You have some great stories, Ken.

I often took my sons to Shakey's, where there were live banjo-led string groups. Sometime a pianist accompanied the silent-era film clips.

One thing that brought musicians to Peoria, in the heart of corn country, was the liquor industry, which spawned many entertainment establishments--before, during , and after the Great Depression.

"On the Vaudeville circuit, it was said that if an act would succeed in Peoria, it would work anywhere. The famous question was, 'Will it play in Peoria?'"

=======================

"Peoria, of course, was a major stop on the vaudeville circuit, which helped musicians immensely by providing paying gigs.

At this time, under the leadership of Mayor Edward Nelson Woodruff, Peoria was well known for its wild nightlife, earning itself the nickname “Roaring Peoria.” Woodruff’s City Hall openly tolerated such vices as gambling and prostitution, profiting from the “fines” imposed on such establishments. According to historicpeoria.com, “Mayor Woodruff allowed the old city to roar,” and jazz music, being the soundtrack of the times, roared right along with it."
http://www.peoriamagazines.com/as/2008/ ... azz-peoria" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Let's see - how does that song go????????? Oh how I wish I was in Peoria.............

Actually would be nice right now as I'd be able to visit the family for Thanksgiving. Haven't seen any of them since 94 and probably never will get the chance again.

Was it WC Fields who said he entered a contest once where the First Prize was a night in Peoria, Second Prize was a week in Peoria, etc.?

Actually a nice place as long as the Illinois River isn't in flood.

I think that quote by W.C.Fields could be changed by substituting the name of practically any city where he thought it was less than acceptable. This coming from the man who said "I will never drink water because fish XXXXX in it"

THE REAL PROBLEM with drinking water is not what the fish do in it but what the water does to your body. Excess water dilutes the alcohol stream and you get too much blood in it. Germs live in blood. Germs die in alcohol. Too many germs in your circulatory system :-!!! - you get sick and die. It's that bloody simple.

Course WC never let alcohol touch his lips.

Open wide - say aaaaaaaaaahhhhh - down the hatch as in OVER the lips, over the gums, watch out stomach - here it comes.

Elixir!!!