Grenadiers Yearbook 1963

Sent by Paul Capobianco
We were mainly a parade corps but had ambition to compete, so we worked on a field show for that summer. As I recollect we competed in Lindsay ON, Smith's Falls ON, Port Hope ON, and sponsored the very first Parade of Drums in Kingston ON. That year we traveled for over 8 hours, on old army bus, to Kitchener/ Waterloo ON to compete in the Canadian Championships.

Our uniforms were powder blue satin shirts, white pants with a blue stripe which flared at the cuff. We bought the Rochester Gray Knights shakos and red plumes. Bill Henden (since then departed) worked for weeks converting the mother of pearl finish to a match the shirts. 

As I recall we played most tunes by ear, with the exception of "The Start of Something Big" which was arranged for us by Larry Murphy of the Lindsay Cavaliers and "Begin the Beguine which was arranged by Jimmy Rene. The marching and maneuvering, the field show, as it was called in those days, was designed by Spiro Sakel.

We averaged 24 brass, 2 cymball, 4 snares, 2 tenor and one base drum. Spiro Sakel was the horn instructor and Frank Harvey the Drum Major. In those days the Contra Bass was not yet invented, all instruments were one valve, sopranos and small baritones. We learned later on, that we could change the pitch by pulling out the slide, so most of us polished the slides so that it would pull out rather quickly. You had to be really careful not to pull it out too far as it would come out of the instrument.

We did a lot of parades then and sold raffle tickets to produce revenue in order to buy better instruments and uniforms.
Special thanks to Paul Capobianco for sending so many great memories from the 1963 season!

1963 was a time of many senior drum corps...some are familar names, some are not, some are the same names of those competing today. Here's a short list of some of the corps that were in existence in 1963...

Amboy Dukes, Archer-Epler Musketeers, Bangor Yellow Jackets, Byram Stateliners, Carver Gay Blades, Connecticut Hurricanes, Geneva Appleknockers, Rochester Grey Knights, Hamilton Viscounts, Hawthorne Caballeros, Kingston Grenadiers, Minnesota Brass, Inc., Mohawk Troubadors, Pittsburgh Rockets, Reading Buccaneers, Rochester Crusaders, Rome Cavaliers, Seneca Chiefs, NY Skyliners, Southern Tier Vagabonds, Sunrisers, Syracuse Brigadiers, Whippany Colonials, Winfield Scott Rebels, Yankee Rebels.

Many of the corps listed above exist only in memories, and there are many more than in the list above. Several of those listed above withdrew from competition with intentions of returning. Many did not make it back. Be proud to be Grenadiers.

If anyone remembers the 1963 marching season, contact me and I'll add a paragraph or two here.

There are no available scores for the Kingston Grenadiers that I can find for the 1963 season.

Our musical selections included:

1. Somewhere Over the Rainbow (from The Wizard of Oz) , ( E.Y Harburg, Harold Arlen)
2. This Could Be the Start of Something Big (Count Basie - Live At The Sands (Before Frank), (Steve Allen)
3. Begin the Beguine (from Night and Day) , (Cole Porter)
4. Mambo (from West Side Story) , (Leonard Bernstein)
5. You Belong to My Heart (from The Three Caballeros), (Lara Augustin, Ray Gilbert)