“A Grand Gathering of Glorious Song”
by Richard Huggins
Page Four

A GRAND GATHERING OF GLORIOUS SONG -- FIRST HALF

It had been decided not to attempt any sort of organized ascension into the starting configuration, such as a singing procession or anything similar. Not only could it have sucked up valuable rehearsal time but there's a good chance that by the time everyone got in place we'd be singing an unintentional round. Thus did we simply mosey into our positions willy-nilly, cowboys in back, fillies in front. (Horse neighs in background.) You'll see the picture, but the guys stood on eight choral risers behind the piano on the main level while the girls stood on the steps leading up to the platform.

A nice-sized audience was assembled. Hard to tell the count but maybe 800+ eagerly awaited the magic to come. At 7:30ish a clever "announcement" was made: the current-day Fallen Angells sang a turn-off-your-cellphone vocal arrangement. Good idea, guys, and well done!

Then it was that every clock and watch inside Raley stopped. For the next two hours not only would no one be aware of or care about what time it was, if they had they could have picked a time, a decade or a year and been right. 1942 sang alongside 2007 who stood next to 1963. The 70's blended with the 50's. Small Town and Big City made harmony. Music majors counted beats and business majors reconciled them. The BGC sang as a timeless choir, a performing legacy, as the brothers and sisters they eternally are.

The mass group opened up the secular portion with All Hail Our Alma Mater (trivia: its first public performance was for J. Edgar Hoover!), followed by Oklahoma, in celebration of the state's centennial. An exercise in glossolalia followed, in the form of Hawaiian War Chant. At its end, either a recording of Dale Higgenbotham's "Oo ah la" from the early 60's was played or Dale sings the same 40 years later! A mellow ballad for your listening pleasure followed with a lovely rendition of September Song, and the set ended with, yep, an anatomical discourse disguised as Dry Bones. Popular as ever, and fun to sing as ever, it was received to great applause!

Emceeing for this portion were the Embellishments, who demonstrated (1) there is life, humor, cleverness and talent after 60 and (2) see #1. They covered for people movement in a most welcome and entertaining way!

The Little Sisters had decided not to be seated so, there being no choice, we let them sing a couple of numbers. And I gotta tell you, when they kicked off Blue Skies, man oh man...that deep female unison was terrific. (Later as I thought back on the whole matter of the Little Sisters, I thought about what great variety they added to a program--they could sing decoration ("Oo") or descant, carry a unison line against TTBB beds, carry three parts against 4-part men, sing on their own and after all that they also greatly improved the atmosphere! They may not fit into a male-chorus model, but they sure are nice to have!) The girls ended with ...I Think You're Wonderful, with the honorees being one Michael Cox and one surprised (but honored!) piano player. Ladies, you looked beautiful and sounded even better.

One of OBU's finest piano grads, Sharon Williams Goldsberry, was next with two piano solo pieces, one legit and one scandalous. The legit was Dedication by Robert Schumann, and Sharon played a wonderfully- moving performance of it. The "scandalous" (smile) was a quite invigorating piece and...quite familiar! If Dean Angell leaned over the rail of heaven anytime he surely did this time as one of his Favorite Daughters played his, um, "infamous" Gatlinburg Boogie! And played it well. What fun it was to hear it again. I was so very happy that Sharon was present--her skills were so needed and so invaluable, as she accompanied the LS, TCs and Battle Hymn.

Next up were the FAs, whose wrangler was J. Paul Williams, as fallen as ever there has been. But despite his sinful condition he sure did a heck of a job pulling together guys who had sung different songs and even different versions of the same songs. But they fond some common ground and with great effectiveness sang Gotta Quit Kickin' My Dog Around (Duh) and Cruisin'. Despite doing more honest work than at any moment in recent years, JPW made it to the end of the set.

The Tuneclippers next winged their way onto the steps, looking in vain for people in fatigues. Nevertheless they performed a couple of the numbers that were part of their troop entertainment tours to Asia and Europe in the early 60's, There's No Business Like Show Business and Great Day. Hearing these guys and gals sing again made it entirely believable that they wowed their audiences way back when and likely gave the U.S.O. people quite a surprise in terms of their quality and showmanship.

Wrapping up the first half was clearly the most-anticipated performance of the weekend, at least by the alums, the performance by the current-day BGC. In September I had told them they'd be singing for the most critical audience ever, their alums! But from the first few measures it was clear that the BGC is back! Under David DeSeguirant's skilled hands they sang with precision, with intonation, with dynamics and with blend. They were a bit nervous, but they sounded great. Their numbers were My Soul Has Found A Resting Place, Ride the Chariot and Rise Up. They deserved every bit of the loud, long-sustained, invigorated standing ovation they were awarded. It was a great way to end the first half!