1971 Drum Corps Recordings
July 4, 1971 Wheaton, Illinois
The Stardusters - Arabi, LA
The Imperials of St Patrick - Milwaukee, WI
The Guardsmen - Mt Prospect, IL
The Racine Scouts - Racine, WI
The Black Knights - Belleville, IL
This 1971 4th of July show, the annual Pageant of Drums in our hometown Wheaton, was the first drum corps show my brother Jim ever recorded, at the age of 14, using his new reel to reel tape recorder and microphones.
Hall of Fame drum corps judge Rick Maas took a break from his usual role as marching judge and served as the announcer for this show.
The Stardusters, from the New Orleans suburb Arabi, finished in first place, upsetting the heavily favored Black Knights, who finished third at this competition. Several weeks later, at the VFW Nationals in August 1971, the Stardusters would finish a heartbreaking 13th place, knocked out of the finals by their arch rivals the Black Knights.
When Rick Maas announced the scores at the end of this Wheaton Show, the Racine Scouts, from Racine Wisconsin, placed third, but after a while, a tabulation error was discovered and the Racine Scouts moved up to second place. This knocked the Black Knights from second place down to third place, making their staff even more angry after losing to the Stardusters.
The Guardsmen from Mount Prospect, Illinois finished in fifth place at this 4th of July show, in this strong field of five corps. Bill Harty was the Guardsmen drum major, and Jim Campbell marched in the snare line. This was the first time I ever saw the Guardsmen. I was 11 years old, sitting in the audience, watching all these drum corps.
I never thought I would be marching in the Guardsmen six years later.