Friday, August 11, 2006

Blue Eyes and Bellbottoms




Clicking on the links below will take you to five short clips of young Frank Sinatra performing on stage with a Navy band . They're short, grainy and have no sound. I found them by searching "Sinatra" at Google Videos. It looks to me like a real performance, as opposed to a movie.

Old timers: anyone got a clue?

One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.

Monday, August 7, 2006

Navy Band Video Online

Ever been to YouTube ?

It's a site that displays an astounding variety of videos: old TV show, movie clips, backyard films, anything that users submit.

Including this nine-minute production by the U.S. Navy Band: Evolutions.

It features:

  • Still photos from the early days of the Navy Band.
  • Television coverage of a 1992 Swedish Army Tattoo performance including Ceremonial Band performing "We Like to Be in America."
  • A live 1968 performance by the Commodores.
  • The Sea Chanters singing "Anchors Aweigh" in 1986.
  • A 1991 "Good Morning America" segment, filmed in the Navy Museum in Washington, D.C., featuring Country Current doing a song dedicated to troops in the Gulf, with what looks like the entire Navy Band doing the background vocals.

I'm tempted to tell the story of my record-breaking three-hour tour of duty with the Navy Band, but I'll save it for another day.

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

What a bunch of Navy Lyres

Shipmates have been sending so many contributions to the Navy Musician's Dictionary, I've had to expand it into an entire Lexicon for Navy Musicians, a compendium of terms, expressions and phrases from the world of Navy bands. Keep 'em coming--I'll print the best of the best and try to fix up the rest so they're the best, too. (Check the fine print over on the right under the photo of Uncle Frank.)