Believe it or not, the story continues, and maybe Robert "Missing" Link is indeed the missing link in the evolutionary process of "(That Slippery) Slide Trombone". Robert recently wrote me, saying,
I should have told you that I knew Bill Oler when he was a freshman and I
was a senior; I assume that he's the reason that Song Fest got into the
Whiff repertory. Also, a many years friend of mine is Brower McClintock,
'40, a founding member of O&Bs. If it's in the O&B repertory, I assume that
Brower got it there.
So the trail has not gone cold. Oler, Brower.... Connections and all part of the evolutionary process.... By the way, Mr. Link was made an honorary Whiffenpoof in 1947, as I said before, but is also an honorary O&B. Connections....
Connections... and another Whodunnit
Another fun whodunnit story surrounds the classic Whiff arrangement, "I'll Take Romance". I engraved this long time favorite many months ago from a manuscript that was marginally readable. Before and after screenshots of a few measures this piece can be found on our home page, Acappellanation.com. Of side interest, this note: there is an error in that screenshot that has since been corrected in the actual engraving.
But I digress, don't I? During some months last Summer after making that engraving, I also engraved another half dozen or so arrangements by the same Whiff arranger, but these from his undergrad years in the Bakers Dozen. This arranger is Lewis Girdler, known for "MacNamara's Band" as well as "When Sunny Gets Blue", among other gems. I wrote about him before as the man I believe introduced the faux string bass line in a cappella singing. This humble genius probably turned the a cappella singing world on it's ear in the late 1950's and opened the door to some of the expression we have seen flourish in our genre ever since. That's another investigation....
I'm still digressing, but it's a story! Well, I attributed the arrangement to him because I could make out his name in the top, right corner where it emerged from a black cloud caused by too many xerox generations. I also recognized the handwriting, but so many of the works I engraved had been recopied by others hands making this evidence less credible. However the style of the arrangement, it's voicings, pace and rhythms all sounded like classic Girdler, so I had no reason to doubt it was his.
Arranged by "Unknown"!
Nonetheless months after I submitted it, our lead editor and musicologist bounced it back to me saying to change the arranger to "Unknown". I looked at the original xerox (interesting combination of words there). Girdler's name was clearly legible at the top and I was baffled. Perhaps the black cloud from which it emerged had said, "copied by", but the rest of the evidence suggested otherwise.
Luckily, I had come to know Mr. Girlder while doing the Bakers Dozen engravings, and I sent him a copy of the copy asking, "What about it?". Yes, he replied, and thanked me for sending the manuscript so he could say for certain. It turns out our lead editor had asked Lewis about 10 years ago at some Whiff function if he'd arranged "Romance" and well, he wasn't sure he had. So rather than take credit for what might be someone else's work, he said, "No." Remember what I said about humble? Besides, Mr. Girlder's contribution to both the Whiff and Bakers Dozen repertoires is vast and this is but one sweet "Romance" that slipped his mind. ;-)
Once Mr. Girdler recognized his own hand writing, we'd solved this whodunnit. Luckily, he's still matriculating along with the rest of us, otherwise this piece might have remained forever "Unknown".
Dick Peaslee's Garden of Earthly Delights on Broadway now!
Quick note before I depart: Dick Peaslee, another Whiff and Bakers Dozen arranger I've mentioned in earlier blogs, has a new musical on Broadway, called "Garden of Earthly Delights". Click on the name to visit the web page about it. The man is a powerhouse. I am currently engraving another bunch of his works from the 50's that he'd saved away in his attic and there are some great songs there!
Bob
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