http://nola.com/sugarbowl/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1073199645146180.xml Band of gold When the LSU Tigers take the field tonight in pursuit of a national championship, they'll be accompanied by phalanxes of musicians clad in emroidered gold. To fans of the team, the Golden Band from Tiger Land is so much more than just another marching band. Sunday January 04, 2004 By Siona LaFrance Staff writer It's a moment that can give even a casual LSU fan goosebumps. The marching band, hundreds strong, takes the field in the electric moments just before a game at Tiger Stadium and strikes the slow, opening chords of "Tiger Rag" (Hold that Tiger): "Daa, daa, daa, DUM!" "I think everyone I know who has been to a gamegets chills when the music starts," said Cory Cochran, a 1999 Louisiana State University graduate who attends many home games. The band's pregame show, with its rousing fanfare to all corners of the stadium, is one of the great rituals of college football, fans say, one that never fails to send a current through the crowd. There's something else at work, too, a feeling that goes beyond the excitement of game day. It has to do with the band itself, a unit LSU faithful regard with a passion that borders on reverence. Fans line up on game day to cheer the band's march into the stadium. They go wild for pregame and halftime performances and every time the band plays from the stands during the game. Fans linger after the last down to hear the band play the school's alma mater one more time. "I don't think any other school in the country has fans like ours, where they absolutely worship the band," said Molly Bel, an LSU freshman who plays the baritone in the band. "It's amazing to have all those people watching you and cheering for you." John Sita of New Orleans experienced it 20 years ago when he was in the band. "It was almost like an aura," said Sita, now a teacher at Louisiana Technical College. "I remember several years when the football team stunk, the band was always good. Fans would tell us that they came to the game to see the band." The 325-member group known today as the Golden Band from Tiger Land got off to a humble start 110 years ago. Its founders were two student cadets, Wylie Barrow and Ruffin Pleasant, who served as the first captain and director of the 11-member band. Pleasant, a future Louisiana governor, was the quarterback of the football team, which also made its debut in 1893. (It would be another 30 years before the band made its first halftime appearance.) Entering the 20th century, the cadet band was still a small group, but it had become an important element of campus life, according to LSU's music department. The band also was embarking on tours of the state and making Mardi Gras appearances in New Orleans. When the school's music program launched in 1915, all music class participants were required to perform in the military band. In 1916, the band led the inaugural parade for the state's new governor, Pleasant, the band's co-founder. Years later, another Louisiana governor would have a dramatic impact on the LSU band. "There is a longstanding tradition here of support for the band," said Frank Wickes, band director since 1980. "But it probably really started to have focus when Huey Long was governor and took a great interest in the band." Long, who enjoyed music, made the LSU band his pet project, setting out to transform the small military band into the nation's most dazzling show band. The first order of business was installing a new band director. His choice was Castro Carazo, orchestra leader at the Roosevelt Hotel's Blue Room. Long called Carazo and informed him that he was now the new band director at LSU. "He never asked me if I wanted to live in Baton Rouge," Carazo said in a 1978 interview, "never told me what my salary was -- those were all minor details to be worked out later on." Firing the current band director was one of those details, handled in a 3 a.m. meeting that Long called in Baton Rouge. Long insisted the band change its look from military-inspired to showy with uniforms in purple and gold. He also saw to it that the band increased its numbers to nearly 250, making it one of the nation's largest. Long took pride in showing off the band. "He took the band on trips and to parades," Wickes said. "And he paraded with it." Long was assassinated in 1935, but his influence on the band continued. Long has songwriting credits, with Carazo, on band numbers still played today, including "Touchdown for LSU," the predominent song featured in the band's pregame show. Carazo continued as bandleader until 1940. During his years there, women had marched with the band as drum majorettes. But it wasn't until 1943, with the band's ranks reduced by war, that women were added as musicians. Other milestones in the band's history include the arrival in 1945 of L. Bruce Jones, under whose leadership the band department joined the LSU School of Music; the addition in 1959 of the Ballet Corps, which would evolve into the Golden Girls dance team; and the creation of the Tiger band's pregame show. Designed in 1964 by band director William Swor, the ritual developed over next nine years into the format LSU fans know today, Wickes said. The show includes drum cadence and a medley featuring the opening strains of "Tiger Rag," with a segue into "Touchdown for LSU." The band turns to play to the four corners of the stadium and the upper deck, plays the "Star-Spangled Banner" and the LSU alma mater, then forms two lines for the football team's entrance to the song "Fight for LSU." "It's different from any other college in the SEC," said Craig Davis, the band's drum major for the past two years. "I've been to every one of our away games and we are the only school band that marches in that way." The band's other much-loved ritual is its march to Tiger Stadium. "There's usually an enormous number of people," Davis said. "Sometimes you just want to freeze and take it all in. It just makes you feel good knowing that you're doing something for the team and the school that creates that kind of support." Support from LSU fans is one thing, but the Golden Band from Tiger Land also can boast national accolades. In 1970, the band was named All-American College TV Band in a one-time contest sponsored by General Motors. In 2002, it received the Heisman Trophy of band honors, the Sudler Trophy, awarded by the John Philip Sousa Foundation. "It's just like a football team is great with a great coach," Wickes said. "The band is good because we have great teachers. It comes down to people like Linda Moorhouse, the associate band director, and Roy King, the assistant band director. They have the bulk of the work and they're very good at writing the drills and getting a high level of quality from the performances. "It's a combination of everything: the show design, the playing, the recruitment of talent and the ability to include the auxillary units, such as the color guard and Golden Girls." Each year at the homecoming game, former band members reunite to perform again at Tiger Stadium. Dressed in khaki pants and white shirts, the alumni band members march out and play one of the old songs such as "Hey Fightin' Tigers," then they play another song with the current band. "It's wonderful just to march again," said Sita, who played clarinet in the band from 1981-85, "and to be out there with the real band, who every year look to us younger and younger." Today he sees a band that's larger and louder than during his years at LSU, Sita said, but then, as now, the band is known for its quality and dedication. Mark Conger, who played trombone in the LSU band from 1977-79, hopes one day to see his own children march in the Tiger band. "Let's just say that if they come and ask about going anywhere else in the state, we're going to have a serious talk," said Conger, an environmental scientist in Prairieville who grew up in Belle Chasse. When Matthew, 13; Meredith, 12; Maxwell, 8; and Mark, 4, were babies, Conger rocked them to sleep by singing the Tiger fight songs he used to play, such as "Hey Fightin' Tigers" and "Touchdown for LSU." Conger played his LSU band albums every Saturday morning and read to them from the book "History of LSU Football." His experience in the LSU band continues to stir strong emotions in him. "For me, having been on the field 36 times and playing in front of a sellout crowd was just the ultimate experience," he said. The 2003 Tiger Band has been preparing for its Sugar Bowl performances as it does for any other game, Davis said. Band members got together again in Baton Rouge on New Year's Day to run through the routine, which blends elements of shows performed through the season. A final rehearsal takes place this morning in the Superdome. "In a way, bowl games are a lot more relaxed than other games," Davis said. "Of course, this being the national championship game is a big deal." As it does throughout the season, the band will be an important part of the game atmosphere, playing cheers for each down for defensive stands and offensive triumphs. "I'm sure to a certain extent the players tune us out. They can't be paying attention to us playing every single down," Davis said. "But when we get into tough spots and we play, it gets people pumped up. The band can play an extremely important role that way."
Thanks for posting the article. It warmed the purple and gold cockles of my heart; brought back so many fond memories... like the Saturday night marches from the old field house and band room to Tiger Stadium. I was in Tiger band '62 to '65 when Bill Swor was there. Tonight will be very, very special. Biggest game of my life, so far. I expect to be in the same position next year.....except maybe coming in as no. 1.
Best Wishes to you NCTIGER and all the rest of the band I know you guys will do us proud. Geaux Tiger Band
