Singin’ In The Rain

February 12^th, 13^th & 14^th: Despite the weather, our quartets rose to the occasion to deliver twenty paid ‘Singing Valentines’ this weekend at a variety of venues from Petaluma to Mill Valley.

From the eighteen chorus members who volunteered, the following eight quartets were assembled for duty:

With Relish

Lead: Jack Goerke

Bass: Dale Steinmann

Baritone: Jon Goerke

Tenor: Paul Wren

The Achy Brachy Heart Quintet

Lead: Ralph Kling

Bass: Chuck Northup & Howard Lee

Baritone: Dave Hanchette

Tenor: Frank Montenegro & Howard Lee

The Totally Lost Chordsmen

Lead: Ralph Kling

Bass: Chuck Northup

Baritone: Paul Goldsmith

Tenor: Frank Montenegro

The Sunrise Sensations

Lead: Dick Robinson

Bass: Howard Henry

Baritone: Bob Engan

Tenor: Stan Elkjer

The Redwood Ramblers

Lead: Tim Garthwaite

Bass: Howard Lee

Baritone: Paul Goldsmith

Tenor: Frank Montenegro

The Early Birds

Lead: Tim Garthwaite

Bass: Chuck Northup

Baritone: Bob Engan

Tenor: Stan Elkjer

The Blue House Brothers

Lead: Ralph Kling

Bass: Howard Henry

Baritone: David Hanchette

Tenor: Frank Montenegro

The Birthday Boys

Lead: Ralph Kling

Bass: Howard Henry

Baritone: Bob Engan

Tenor: Frank Montenegro

The Achy Brachy Hearts at Aegis

The Iron Man Award goes to Chuck Northup who sang at the very first gig

on Monday at 9:30am as well as the very last around 8:00pm (along with numerous appearances in between).

Performance venues included: preschool, elementary, high school and college offices and classrooms; retirement communities; flower and coffee shops, business offices and private homes.

For the analytically minded we offer the following stats:

Total Paid Gigs: 20

Total Revenue: $810.00

Total Expenses: $70.00

Total Volunteers: 18

Total Singers: 15

Total Roses Presented: 25

Total Songs Sung: 60-100

Total Ears Listening: 1000’s

Total Tears Elicited: Many

Total Smiles Induced: Numerous

Total Value Rendered: Priceless

Experiences of note encountered throughout the day as reported by participants as well as comments heard from appreciative recipients are included in the following paragraphs.

“The check is in the mail.”

“ I haven’t had this much fun singing Valentine songs since last year.”

“The chili was hot, but Willy was not!”

- (Nancy McGovern of Mayflower Chorus after our description of Coney Island Baby as a song about a girl who was ready to get married and a guy who was not!)

“On Sunday we sang at an 80^th birthday party. Several Sweet Adeline members were present and were moved to sing Heart Of My Heart for us after we had finished.”

Sherna’s Mom in San Rafael was moved to tears as we sang. (Since she doesn’t see very well she was holding the rose upside down until we righted the situation.)

We sang for two guys along the way and used our special lyrics for Let Me Call You Sweetheart, viz.:

‘She says you’re a sweetheart, she’s in love with you. She paid us good money just to sing to you. Do not be embarrassed, don’t be sad or blue.

We’re just proxy sweethearts, SHE’S in love with you!”

Congratulations to Paul McGovern at the final sing-out of the day for finally identifying the well-known song whose verse begins with “I am dreaming dear of you, day by day.” (Throughout the day, Kling had kindly volunteered Pogo to give a barbershop buck to numerous previous audience members numbering in the dozens and nobody knew the answer until we sang for Paul.) Final score:

Paul M.: +$1.00

Paul G.: -$1.00

The Totally Lost Chordsmen at the Hough’s

Q: What four guys will be included in a new indie flick now being filmed at Jeannie’s Java Shoppe in Belvedere?

A: Kling and a tenor, baritone & bass whose schedule permits!

Q: What is Kate, the parrot’s, favorite song?

A; “Rubber Duckie” as performed by The Achy Brachy Quintet.

And this in from David Hanchette:

“Aside from the fun of being with you guys and meeting different recipients of our melodies, was the experience of sitting in the coffee shop in Tiburon with Jeannie. I looked up from my coffee, in that quasi- Victorian living room, and saw my old oak hutch that had sat in our dining room for at least 20 yrs. We got it at some Garage sale or antique shop, and finally decided to trade it in as partial payment on a nice piano that I saw in a Mill Valley Antique Shop. That was about 4 years ago and all of a sudden I see it in Tiburon! I verified that she bought it where I left it. It's one of a kind but we just moved on to a new one. I will take my wife to see it next time in Tiburon.”

“On Valentine’s Day we delivered two songs, a card and a red rose to our County's Public Health nurses (singing as a trio when our baritone misplaced himself). Twenty minutes later our Early Bird Quartet was singing in the corporate headquarters of Il Fornio and crunching chocolate biscotti. By noon we were returning to Valentine Headquarters having sung to a biology teacher at Novato High, his wife, eight month old son and 30 captivated students.”

- Tim Garthwaite, Leader of the Early Birds

Presidential

Historical Footnotes

Special to the Pitch: In a little known and even less widely recognized footnote to history, it has been recently discovered that both George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were avid barbershoppers. This amazing discovery came to light recently when Professor Mandrake Mallard was reviewing old newspaper clippings found when cleaning out the attic of his log cabin on the grounds at Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. The articles suggest that both men, though widely separated in time, had an interest in singing four-part harmony. They also seemed to suggest that Washington was not only the father of his country, but it was he who first suggested that the melody line should be carried by the 2^nd tenor and NOT the tenor as had previously been the custom in other four part vocal arrangements of his day. (Historians feel that the fact that Washington himself sang, what we now refer to as ‘Lead’, may have had some influence on this innovation.) Whatever the case, this influence has been passed down through the generations and fortunately flourishes among us to this very day!

Lincoln, on the other hand, was most renowned for his sterling bass voice that was most widely noted during his brief (yet highly effective) orations. To his closest friends and associates though, he was more highly regarded for providing the solid bass sound so necessary in making the male vocal quartet that he founded such a great success in the parlor. Originally, Abe started just singing around the piano with his wife and friends in his early days as a small town lawyer. Although hymns were the mainstay of this activity, the family also enjoyed singing many of the popular songs of the day.

He began singing a cappella during his early years on the campaign trail. As fate would have it, his 3 closest advisors (who were always with him on the road) turned out to sing tenor, lead and baritone; and, all enjoyed harmonizing together after a long day on the hustings. A piano wasn’t always available; and, since none of them played anyway, was seldom used on these informal singing occasions. History also suggests that Lincoln was influenced by some of Washington’s arrangements and his group continued the tradition of the lead melodic line. History also suggests that since Abe was also known to be pretty handy with an ax, that in all probability he did some singing around the woodshed, a tradition that also survives to this day!

It is for this reason that we men, who like to sing in the barbershop style, feel a special kinship to these two giants of American history.

InSTALLed Again

February 4^th: San Rafael Joe’s once again played host this evening to that annual SPEBSQSA ritual known affectionately as the Installation Dinner. Members and their guests assembled for the usual round of small talk, cocktails and pleasantries before sitting down to a Joe’s special four course dinner of roast lamb, chicken piccata or red snapper.

Members and their guests observed attending the festivities included: Stan & Marion Elkjer, Bob & Madge Engan, Sid Foster, Paul & Connie Goldsmith, Jon & Betty Goerke, Roy & Jimmie Harvey, Howard & Dodie Henry, Ralph & Claire Kling, David & Dorli Hanchette, Terry & Marie Lazzari, Howard & Eileen Lee, Frank & Elvera Montenegro, Harry Paretchan, Dick & Judy Robinson, Dale & Carter Steinmann, Frank & Bobbie Walker, Paul Wren, Jak & Cindy Goerke, Chuck & Joanne Northup, Mark Klunk, and Ken Harris.

During the course of the evening entertainment was provided by the members as they rose in their places at table to sing a few songs from our current repertoire led by Stan, Chuck & Paul.

Of special note during the salad course, Bob Engan conducted a craft session on vowel sounds in his own inimitable style. We believe that these pearls of wisdom were somewhat lost on the often inattentive audience (who seemed to tune out about the time the lesson on ‘loose vowels’ began).

Professor Engan at Work

Performances by our chapter quartets, With Relish, Harmony Express and The Buskers highlighted the entertainment program.

54 year member, Don Kidder, and his wife Laurel from the Vacaville Chapter presided for the 2^nd straight year over the formal installation, encouraging us to attend conventions for the fellowship even if we don’t compete!

Barbie

Goes

Barbershop

February 4^th: Pictured above are this year’s recipients of the coveted ‘Barbie’ awards for excellence in annual show activities. Honorees included:

David Hanchette: Best Set Decoration for a 50^th Anniversary Show.

Jon Goerke: Best Non-Professional, Long Range Digital Recording of an Originally Scripted Barbershop Show Composed Entirely of Unoriginal Melodies and Arrangements Thereof.

Ralph Kling: Best First Time Director of an Originally Scripted Barbershop Show Composed Entirely of Unoriginal Melodies and Arrangements Thereof.

Bob Engan, Paul Goldsmith & Ralph Kling: Best Original Script for a Barbershop Show

Composed Entirely of Unoriginal Melodies and Arrangements Thereof.

Jak Goerke, Lead

Dale Steinmann, Bass

Jon Goerke, Baritone

Paul Wren, Tenor

The ‘WITH RELISH’ Quartet:

Best Performance by a First Time Quartet.

‘With Relish’ in Action at Dinner

Ralph Kling & Bob Engan: Best Parody Lyrics of a Stock Barbershop Arrangement for The Money Song; The Song of the Pros; and, The Song of the Cons.

Stan Elkjer, Producer & Ralph Kling, Director:

Barbershop Bandwagon

Best Originally Scripted Barbershop Show Composed Entirely of Unoriginal Melodies and Arrangements Thereof

February 4^th: Capping off this year’s annual installation dinner, outgoing BOTY, Frank Montenegro, presented this year’s award to our President, Paul Goldsmith. In his presentation remarks, Monte paid special tribute to former winners including attendees, Ken Harris & Mark Klunk; as well as, inactive member, Art McCurdy.

Frank Montenegro Presents BOTY 2004 Award to Paul Goldsmith

In his acceptance, Goldsmith, seemed at first to be at a loss for words (but soon recovered his volubility). Goldsmith (or ‘Pogo’ as he is called in some quarters) won the award based on his peripatetic efforts on behalf of the Chapter in the past year. Whether it was organizing our first ever appearance at the Mountain Play; maintaining contact with other SPEBSQSA members nationwide; entertaining us with jokes during the President’s ‘minute’ at each meeting; reminding the leads whenever they went flat; flooding us with emails; being generally disruptive; or, singing flawless baritone at all times in both quartet and chorus, Paul was the run-away choice for this year’s award. Congratulations, Paul! You indeed are poised on the shoulders of giants!!

Editor Relaxing at his Studio

REDWOOD

HEADLINES

February 1^st: Stealing a page from the ‘Lifestyles’ section of last Sunday’s IJ, our columns of choristers entered a packed house this evening to headline an evening of barbershop harmony. Appearing at The Redwoods Retirement Community for the 51^st consecutive year, our Golden Gate Chorus was given a warm reception even before they began to sing! Opening with Give Me That Barbershop Style and The Old Songs / Do You Remember Medley; MC Extraordinaire, Bob Engan, then thanked the crowd profusely for being such a great audience (which can make or break a show for us amateur singers). He then challenged members of the audience to identify the songs we were about to sing based only on a newspaper style headline describing the song. This game kicked off with an audience sing-along led by Kling clad in his new red & white ‘Cat in the Hat’ topper. Kling bet Engan that the folks would be able to identify the songs from the headlines; Engan bet that they couldn’t. (For the rest of this article we’ll just give you the headline – you can figure out the song!) Here are the sing-along songs.

‘Senior Citizen Recalls First Meeting With Blue-Eyed 16 Year Old Wearing Gingham Dress’

‘Lady, Offered Marriage and a Ride on a Two-Seat Bicycle, Declines Both’

‘Lover Asks Object of Affection to Agree on Mutual Use of Term of Endearment’

(Kling won most of the bets but gave his winnings to audience members with the correct answers.)

The Chorus then produced pretty decent renditions in response to the following headlines:

‘19^th Century Lovers Plan Picnic in Park, Weather Uncooperative’

‘Prodigal Son, Away For 20 Years, Takes Train Home To Beloved’

Bob then proceeded to describe how Prohibition had tarnished the image of the next lovely old song, written 100 years ago by an 18-year-old grocery clerk. He had called it, Down Home In Old New England. The last words of the song, “Sweet Rosalie” were hard to sing so were later changed. It had such easy harmony that drunks could enjoy singing it around a lamppost.

To fully appreciate the sentiment of the song’s chorus, Bob suggested that we picture a cozy cottage in the evening. An old man in a rocking chair is warming himself before the flickering flames in the fireplace. He has a blanket over his knees and a cat sleeps at his feet. His eyes are half closed, as he muses to himself the verse of the song:

‘In the evening, when I sit alone a-dreaming, of days gone by, love, to me so dear. There’s a picture that in fancy of appearing, brings back the time, love, when you were near. It is then I wonder where you are, my darling, and if your heart to me is still the same. For the sighing wind and nightingale a-singing are breathing only, your own sweet name.’

As Bob’s description unfolded, the men of Harmony Express quietly assembled to sing the old familiar strains of this barbershop standard. The HE-Men then pleased the crowd with Give My Regards To Broadway; Yankee Doodle Dandy; and It’s A Grand Old Flag. (The composer of the latter tunes was readily identified by several members of the audience as George M. Cohan. $1.00 was awarded to the first person to provide his name.)

Chorus In Action at the Redwoods

The Chorus resumed its performance by responding with a song for each of these headlines:

‘Ra da da di da, Ra da da di da,

Ra da di da di da,

Boom, Boom, Boom!’

‘Irish Expatriate Fondly Recalls The Old Sod’

‘Lone Bather Expresses Admiration For Bathtub Toy’

‘Lonesome Man Unhappy in Apartment With Table, Chair & Clock’

The Honcho quartet (Kling, Northup, Engan & Elkjer) then did credit to the following headline:

‘Man Respects Father’s Choice of Women, Hopes To Repeat Success’

The Chorus answered well to:

Man Heads West,

Leaves Memories of River, Valley or Indian Maid

(We’re Not Sure Which)

With 10 minutes left on the program, Engan brought Kling back to lead a few more sing-along songs as selected by members of the crowd. I’ve Been Working On The Railroad; Shine On Harvest Moon; and For Me & My Gal filled the time gap nicely. (A request for Old MacDonald’s Farm was politely declined as being potentially too time-consuming.)

Finally, the Chorus provided a great big finish with:

New Ragtime Band

Sensation Sweeps Land

Participating in this evening’s performance were:

Basses: Field, Henry, Lee & Steinmann

Tenors: Elkjer & Montenegro

Baritones: Engan, Goldsmith & Harvey

Leads: Goerke, Kling, Lazzari, Paretchan, Robinson, Thomas & Walker

with Maestro Northup officiating.

Overheard over punch and cookies following the show:

q “I really liked the sing-along and the humor. Oh, and the music too!”

q “I LOVE barbershop!’

q “I don’t know how you manage to sing so well a cappella.”

q “Are those suspenders special ordered?”

q “Thank God you guys finally ditched those blue coats.”

q “We think your suspenders are really cute.”

Living in Four-Part Harmony

January 30^th: After many years of complaining about the lack of coverage of barbershop events by the Marin Independent Journal, our beloved local paper; Stan Elkjer was finally rewarded with a feature article in the Lifestyles section of today’s edition! We’re not sure how this came about but consider it a coup for our PR program. We’re now waiting for the flood of singers eager to join us in our hobby to show up at our weekly meetings.

Happy Lady posing with Poster Boy’s Quartet

Aegis Express

January 21^st:

Q: When Bud Abbott, well-known entertainer, cancels his gig at the last minute, what do you do?

A: Call on the almost as well known, barbershop quartet, Harmony Express to fill the bill!

Thus was the above dilemma solved by the Aegis Activities Impresario, Karen Killian, today to provide ‘Happy Hour’ entertainment for her residents.

Appearing on short notice but in fine fettle, and responding to rhythmic clapping from the expectant crowd, our boys began their show without the services of their baritone (who claimed he was not only working late but also missed the freeway exit in his haste to appear).

Nevertheless, Heart Of My Heart, My Wild Irish Rose, Let Me Call You Sweetheart, and I Love You Truly were nicely rendered by the Kling, Lee, Elkjer trio delivered along with a pitch and flyers to promote our Singing Valentine’s.

With the better late than never arrival of Prof. Paul, the full show then could begin with the Express’ signature Hello/ Let’s Sing A Little Barbershop followed by The Old Songs/Do You Remember and Bye Bye Blues. An I Want A Girl quartet personal part introduction and barbershop style demo followed. Now suitably educated, the audience could sit back and enjoy the rest of the program which included: Five Foot Two Medley, 1908 Medley, Nellie, Cohan Medley, California Medley, and Frisco Bay. (A barbershop buck was awarded for the most creative answer received to identify the song which begins with the ‘I am dreaming dear of you’ intro.) ‘Just for fun’ the boys (some clad in duck hats) then performed Rubber Duckie to the general amusement of the crowd. The program closed with Gang That Sang, Coney Island Baby and a high kicking version of Side By Side.

Nicasio Nuptials

January 2^nd:

Q: When Rick Roth and Carey Feierabend decide to have a wedding reception and her mom loves barbershop, what happens?

A: They invite The Sweatermen quartet (Kling, Northup, Goldsmith & Elkjer) to greet the guests as they arrive at Rancho Nicasio for their huge nuptial celebration bash!

The Sweatermen back in the saddle

The theme song for this rainy Sunday afternoon, of course, was Wait ‘Til The Sun Shines, Carey!! Happy Nuptials To You was also well received by the happy couple and their admiring family and friends who had flown in from all over the world for the event.

Carey’s mom, Charlotte Mauney, whom Ralph knows from Aegis, was serenaded with Let Me Call You Sweetheart; Muskrat Ramble & Down By The Old Mill Stream.

A table full of youngsters was also absolutely delighted with a spirited rendition of Rubber Duckie.

Singing to other small groups of guests our sweater boys performed Wild Irish Rose; Ragtime Joe, Mary Lou and a couple other tunes before retiring to the bar for a drink on the house. While at the bar, Chuck narrowly escaped being eaten by a large and ferocious grizzly bear that had crashed through the wall into the bar.

Bass Ignoring Threatening Bear

Gone To The Dogs

January 1^st: OK, just when you least expect it, a rare item of barbershop mania floats in from the membership. This from Hank Kingdon:

“Ralph: as I promised, here are the words of the song I made up to sing with my two dogs on our early morning walk. It goes to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Dog lovers will recognize the behaviors referred to in the song. The four collars in the last line refer to each dog having two, one that carries the dog tags, and one (sturdier) which is the real collar for leash law purposes.

”Take me out in the morning,

Take me out for a walk.
Bark at some birds and some neighbor dogs,
We won't stop till they call us the hogs,
So it's root, root, root in the garden,

If only the earthworms could talk!
And it's one, two, three-four collars on,

For our morning walk.”

Mar 13: NORCAL Novice Quartet Competition

Mar 17-20: FWD Spring Convention & International Quartet Prelims

Burbank Airport Hilton

Mar 29: Barbershop Harmony Class

thru Meeting, San Anselmo

Apr 26 7:00-8:45PM

Apr 8-9: NCW Quartet & Chorus Contests

Heritage Theatre, Campbell

Marin Chapter	A fun-loving fraternity of Barbershop Harmony	Our 51^st Year
SPEBSQSA, Inc.	singers, leading the cause of encouraging vocal music
Golden Gate Chorus	in our schools and community.	Jan-Feb, 2005

Marin Chapter

Jan-Feb, 2005

Chapter Officers

President

Paul Goldsmith 383-5429

Past President

Sid Foster 479-5261

Secretary/Treasurer

Music & Performance

Chapter Development

Ralph Kling 990-0230

Chorus Director

Associate Director

Assistant Directors

Youth Outreach

Program &

Chorus Manager

Howard Henry 461-0450

Web Master

Jack Goerke 388-5092

Board Member

Singin’ In The Rain

With Relish

The Achy Brachy Heart Quintet

The Totally Lost Chordsmen

Lead: Ralph Kling

The Sunrise Sensations

Lead: Dick Robinson

The Redwood Ramblers

Lead: Tim Garthwaite

The Early Birds

Lead: Tim Garthwaite

The Blue House Brothers

Lead: Ralph Kling

The Birthday Boys

Lead: Ralph Kling

The Iron Man Award goes to Chuck Northup who sang at the very first gig

“On Sunday we sang at an 80th birthday party. Several Sweet Adeline members were present and were moved to sing Heart Of My Heart for us after we had finished.”

Sherna’s Mom in San Rafael was moved to tears as we sang. (Since she doesn’t see very well she was holding the rose upside down until we righted the situation.)

We sang for two guys along the way and used our special lyrics for Let Me Call You Sweetheart, viz.:

Jon Goerke: Best Non-Professional, Long Range Digital Recording of an Originally Scripted Barbershop Show Composed Entirely of Unoriginal Melodies and Arrangements Thereof.

Ralph Kling: Best First Time Director of an Originally Scripted Barbershop Show Composed Entirely of Unoriginal Melodies and Arrangements Thereof.

Bob Engan, Paul Goldsmith & Ralph Kling: Best Original Script for a Barbershop Show

Mar 13: NORCAL Novice Quartet Competition

Mar 29: Barbershop Harmony Class

Apr 26 7:00-8:45PM

“On Sunday we sang at an 80^th birthday party. Several Sweet Adeline members were present and were moved to sing Heart Of My Heart for us after we had finished.”