Golden Anniversary Album - The Whiffenpoofs Of Yale

 

Golden Anniversary Album

1909 - 1959 Golden Anniversary Album 

The Whiffenpoofs Of Yale

Cover Photo by A. Burton Street, New Haven, Conn.

Sheep courtesy of Stephen J. Pachl family 

Produced by Elliott H. Kone

Carillon Records LP100

1959

Allan G. "Mind Over Matter" Atherton

Douglas H. "Zeleft" Banker

Robinson W. "Pitchpipe" Buck

Marcus E. "Sic" Cunningham, Jr.

Randolph J.  "Popocatepetl" Ney

Paul G. "You'd Be So" Nyhus

David S. "Pitter" Patterson

Lawerence C. "Dia" Pierce

Richard S. "Rantin'n" Ravenscroft

Herbert C. "D" Rule, III

John B. "Exit" Stetson

Thomas B. "Great Gilder" Stevenson

From the back cover: The Whiffenpoofs of 1959 met on Yoctangee Island in Ontario, Canada for the traditional pre-season rehearsing. "Pitchpipe" Robinson Buck presented the groups with a new ending to Aj Lúcka Lúcka, and a working repertoire of thirty songs capable of pleasing any listener, from the most conservative "old blue" to any old discriminating musician. Thought the rest of the year the repertoire was steadily increased to keep the singing fresh and spontaneous. The group became noted for its unusually rich, full sound, evident particularly in such numbers as Strike Up The Band and Aj Lúcka Lúcka. In addition, the fine blend and precision that was achieved may be heard in Scarlet Ribbons, Talk To The Trees and Through A Long And Sleepless Night.

This album presents a representative selection of the songs sung by the 1959 Whiffenpoofs. Annie Laurie, Mavourneen, and The Old Songs have been sung and enjoyed by Whiffenpoofs dating back to 1909. Strike Up The Band, Tear It Down, and Toot Toot Tootsie are songs that have been established as part of the Whiff musical heritage during the last ten years.

The record also includes arrangement presented this year for the first time. Mountain Greenery and Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair were arranged by last year's "pitchpipe" August Kinzel for this year's group. The arrangements retain the charming simplicity of the folk songs despite their intricate harmony. This year's "pitchpipe" Robinson Buck, has given us the stirring Through A Long And Sleepless Night, and a wonderful arrangement of the Trolley Song which combines a clever background with the steady rhythm in the second tenor solo. "Mind Over M" Atherton went back to 1910 to find Aphrodite; his arrangement has a skillful interplay of solo voices, melody, and driving rhythm. The record closes, as traditionally does each concert, with the singing of the Whiffenpoof Song.

The Whiffenpoof "experience" is, of course, more than music; it includes girls, traveling, memorable engagements, assorted beverages, and alumni. In this vein the group will remember short but sweet trips to Philadelphia, Hartford, New York, and Boston, as well as journeys to the always pleasant women's colleges. This was the year of the Fiftieth Reunion when over 200 Whiffenpoofs convened on February 7th to celebrate the founding of the oldest singing group of its kind. It was also the year that comprehensive examinations came at the end of Spring vacation; the Whiffs turned Bermuda's Castle Harbour Hotel into a study hall, and spouted love sonnets, math formulae, and the names of obscure American patriots as they raced across the sand dunes on rented motor bikes.

This year the list of memorable engagements included appearances at the National Football Foundation Dinner, where the group and before President Eisenhower and General MacArthur, a Christmas party at the "21" Club where the chefs, as well as the patrons, were entertained, a dinner given by the Banker's Trust Company, where we mingled with the world of finance, and a dinner party given by the New York State Bar Association in honor of Governor Rockefeller.

Lest "we pass and be forgotten", the Whiffenpoofs of 1059 present this anniversary album; the culmination of many hours of hard work, many hours of fun, and a year of fine music.

Autumn Leaves
Mountain Greenery
Scarlet Ribbons
I'll Be Ready When You Are
Old Grey Bonnet
The Trolley Song
The Sunshine Girl
Mandy & Down In The Old Cherry Orchard
Tear It Down
Through A Long And Sleepless Night
Saloon
Toot Toot Tootsie
Strike Up The Band
Without A Song
Slide Trombone
Annie Laurie
Aj Lúcka Lúcka
I Talk To The Trees
The Lady Is A Tramp
The Old Songs Medley
You'll Have To Put A Nightie on Aphrodite (To Keep All The Married Men Home)
Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair
Daddy Is A Yale Man
The Whiffenpoof Song