by Bob Fields

Concord, CA, is in the middle ofContra Costa County, just east overa small ridge of hills from the SanFrancisco Bay Area. Back in thelate 1950s, Concord was one of themany fast-growing bedroomcommunities surrounding major cities alongthe West Coast.

As in the Midwest and East, many of these

small towns had marching groups basedaround their local American Legion and VFWposts. Local and state competitions for alltypes of marching groups were popular andhundreds of parades kept these groups busynearly every weekend.

I lived in the Western part of the samecounty and marched with a drum and buglecorps called the Richmond Hawks. TheStockton Commodores, Capital AiresAll-Girls (later the Capital Freelancers), LosAngeles Chinese Imperial Dragons, SanFrancisco Cathay Chinese, Relays Raiders andDelta Thunderbirds were just some of thedrum and bugle corps in parades and fieldcompetitions.

In those days, however, the Concord Blue

Devils were well-known as anexcellent drum and bell corps. Itwas certainly quite a surprise thatin just a few short years theywould rise to a powerhouse statusas a drum and bugle corps.

The beginning of the corps hasbeen well-documented, startingwith a group in 1957 called theMartinettes, an all-boy drum corpsand all-girl drill team. Bill Martinturned his organization over toAnn and Tony Odello who,through the local VFW, moved theunit to its next level.

The Blue Devils Drum Corps was namedfor the color of the VFW, blue, and formajestic Mt. Diablo (Spanish for DevilMountain), which overlooks the DiabloValley where Concord is located. With fewerthan 50 members, the organization alreadybegan its winning ways as an all-boy unitusing only percussion instrumentssupporting an all-girl drill team.

The following year, the Blue Devils addedbells to their percussion line, becoming acompetitive drum and bell corps. The drumand bell corps provided its twirling groups

with musicalaccompanimentduring parades andshows. Both unitsachieved earlysuccess at fieldshows and parades.

By 1961, a flagsection was added tothe drum and bellcorps, which allowedthem to compete inthe state juniordivision. The BlueDevils Junior Drumand Bell Corpsremained undefeatedin California StateChampionships from1957 through 1970.

In 1964,stockbroker JerrySeawright becamemanager of thegroup and soon hadbigger aspirations.

With more and more groupsbeing added to the Blue Devilsfamily, it soon became easy forthe group to make the movefrom a senior drum and bellcorps to a drum and bugle corpsin 1970.

In February 1971, the drumand bugle corps was composedof the percussion and flag linesfrom the senior drum and bellcorps and a newly added hornline. They attended their firststandstill competition inSouthern California.

A year later, in the spring of1972, they had grown to 70

members and took their first summer tour tocompete in the Pacific Northwest. They madea big splash and decided to move their statusfrom class B to a class A competitor.

In 1973, the now well-established BlueDevils entered the national scene by touringto the Midwest. They placed 23rd inWhitewater, WI, and became an associatemember of the newly formed Drum CorpsInternational. That same year, their youngerjunior drum and bell corps was converted toa B bugle corps and a C bugle corps for littlekids was formed.

By 1974, the A corps, as it is known in theorganization, had become a full DCI member,placing ninth at the DCI Championships inIthaca, NY. Nationally, the corps wasbecoming known for its powerhouse hornand percussion lines and was starting to pushthe well-established groups aside.

By 1975, the A corps made a tremendousjump to third place at the DCIChampionships in Philadelphia, PA. At homethey still had an identity crisis, with the drumcorps activity still relatively unknown to thegeneral public.

Television advertisements for the SantaClara Vanguard’s “Pacific Procession” broughtmany former drum corps marching membersout to see the new drum and bugle corpscompete. For many old-timers, just hearingthe sound the pit added to the show andseeing floating drills instead of squads was abig shock.

Having been out of drum corps for eightyears playing drums professionally, I was oneof the fans drawn back to the activity. I wasso inspired that I contacted directorSeawright to volunteer my help and was soonattending camps as a volunteer just to beclose to this awesome group.

In 1976, Seawright invited me to ride alongwith the Blue Devils on their Eastern tour.My assignment was to write a daily on-the-road feature for their local newspaper, TheConcord Transcript. As their very own ClarkKent, I witnessed what seemed to be theopening of the floodgates for what was tobecome one of the most spectacular drumcorps in competitive history.

Touring through the desert and into thehot plains states on old, non-air conditioned4103 buses for four to six weeks was notnearly as much fun as you would think. But

Blue Devils, 1973 (photo by Jane Boulen fromthe collection of Drum Corps World).

Blue Devils, 1974, at the DCI Championships in Ithaca, NY (photo by Jane Boulen from thecollection of Drum Corps World).

Blue Devils, 1976, at the DCI Championships in Philadelphia, PA (photo by JaneBoulen from the collection of Drum Corps World).

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like the kids, I was amazed to see big citiesand new worlds that most of the membershad never seen before.

Looking back, 1976 was a phenomenal yearfor the Blue Devils. The kids grew moreamazed as they won show after show whilethe corps headed East. Many of the judges,who were viewing the corps for the first time,were awed by the incredible power of theirhorn line, the flawless drum line and thespectacle of their visual show.

One Midwestern horn judge was so blownaway by what he had witnessed that hesummed it up on his tape during acompetition, uttering a couple of explicativesand nothing else.

Word spread fast about this new supercorps and many times there were hundreds ofpeople watching each and every rehearsalwhile on tour. But nothing was to comparewith the joy of winning their first DCIChampionship in Philadelphia.

I remember the kids jumping up and downin the parking lot after the finals. They hadwon their first DCI title in just three years ofnational competition. It was just like theyhad each won a million dollars. They hadwon all there was to win that year -- the

coveted “triplecrown” of drumcorps: CYONationals, WorldOpen and DCI.

Somehow it madeall those deserts andmountains wecrossed, travelingeach and everynight, sleeping inour seats and seeingnothing butcornfields along theway worthwhile.

Still, fame hadnot yet caught upwith them backhome. The on-the-road articles I sentback to thenewspapers certainlyhelped, but the BlueDevils were still

anything but ahousehold name.

I rememberreturning home toConcord and ourbus drivers stoppingto strap brooms totheir side mirrorsindicating a cleansweep. The kidswere tired, butextremely happy aswe all stood in thehot parking lotbeing welcomedback by one of thecity officials.

Unfortunately, itbecame obvious veryquickly that this cityofficial was not sureif the Blue Devilswere a basketballteam, marchingband or maybe evena motorcycle gang.

Through theyears, and the 10

DCI Championship wins, I would say thecommunity has finally figured it out.

That one trip for me turned into manymore with the Blue Devils. I learned to drivea 4104 and one of those odd looking ScenicCruisers and drove for many other corpsalong the way over the years.

I was not the only one who becameinspired by working with such a wonderfulorganization. Seawright gave the kids,instructors, volunteers and everyone aroundus that feeling of being able to leap tallbuildings with a single bound. I becamepersonally so fired up that I have spent everyyear since involving myself in the drum corpsactivity.

Subsequent corps directors and managerslike Mike Moxley, Dave Gibbs and PeteEmmons have also shared that sameenthusiasm and love of the organization,making it what it is today.

But while it is true the Blue Devils have agreat organization, what turns most peopleon to to them is the music. The incredible

horn line witharrangements by WayneDowney, the drum linethat has won eight DCIhigh drum trophies andthe dance-orientedguard all leave mostfans on the front oftheir seats wanting tosee the show “one moretime!”

Over the years, theBlue Devils have beenthe leading promoter ofthe jazz idiom. Theyhave played hot jazz,cool jazz, jazzy jazz,elegant jazz and everytype of jazz, thusconverting thousandsof drum corps fans tojazz fans along the way.

Much of the creditfor this is due toDowney, who hasarranged their musicfor more than 25 years.The Blue Devils’ brass

Blue Devils, 1980, at DCI Canada (photo by Art Luebke from the collection of Drum Corps World).

Blue Devils, 1982, at DCI Midwest (photo by Steve Linsenmayerfrom the collection of Drum Corps World).

Blue Devils, 1978 (photo from the collection of Drum Corps World).

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line has won thecoveted DCI Jim OttAward anunprecedented 17times during thehistory of DCI.

Downey hasworked with bandsand drum corps allover the world andteaches at DiabloValley College inConcord. Hisarrangements of BlueDevils tunes are nowstandards for manyhigh schoolmarching bandsthrough hisassociation withJenson Publications,Barnhouse MusicPublishing, WarnerBrothers/COO BelwinPublishing Co. andArrangers PublishingCompany.

Downey was inducted into the Drum CorpsInternational Hall of Fame in 1991 and is stillactive with drum corps and marching bandsinternationally.

Why jazz music in the 1970s? With all thedifferent styles the corpscould have gone to in theearly days, like so manyothers, I wondered why thecorps chose to go down theuncharted trail of jazz?

Downey explained, “Thechoice of jazz was a simpleone for the Blue Devilsbecause of Jim Ott’s and mylove for that style of music,and the fact that both of uswere in jazz band in collegedidn’t hurt.

“I attended San JoseState University and theyhad a very progressive jazzprogram, as did theUniversity of the Pacificwhere Jim attended school.You must also remember,Chuck Mangione was onthe radio waves big timeand Jerry Seawright’s bestfriend was Carl Jefferson,the founder of ConcordJazz Records. Carl was themover and shaker whomade the Concord Paviliona reality with the firstConcord Jazz Festival.”

But it was certainly not jazz in the verybeginning, as they experimented with anumber of styles. The Blue Devils played amixed bag of tunes that were quite like manyof the other corps in country. In 1971, jazzwas frankly not all that popular in the drumcorps activity. Their show yielded a variety oftunes like the theme from “Lawrence of

Arabia,” NinthSymphony/Ode toJoy, America theBeautiful, BigSpender from“Sweet Charity,”Stoney End andThe Shadow ofYour Smile from“The Sandpiper.”

In 1972, theyfollowed much thesame track with avariety of musicalstyles, playingStrike Up theBand, Ave Maria,Venus, The Man ILove, I GotRhythm from “GirlCrazy” and Day inthe Life of a Fool.But already theywere starting to benoticed for theirmusical strengths.

In 1973, they took their first DCI tour andcame in 24th with a 66.10, this time mixingclassical and popular with Chant and Jubilo,Jupiter from “The Planets,” Ave Maria, ThisCould Be the Start of Something Big,Miserlou, the ever-popular Caravan and

Morning of the Carnival. Still, they weresearching for a direction that would makethem unique.

By 1974, things were really looking up forthe Blue Crew and they were starting to getnoticed nationally. That year they playedChant and Jubilo, Clouds, Feel of a Vision,Touch of Venus and Lady Sings the Blues.

But it was two special pieces that year thatreally got their strong horn line noticed -- amedley from “Porgy and Bess” and the BlueDevil signature piece, Legend of a One-EyedSailor. At DCI, they surprised everyone witha ninth-place finish of 79.15. Legend seemedto work so well that they decided to tryanother jazz piece the following year.

In 1975, they played a Buddy Richselection, which almost didn’t make it to thefield. At a rehearsal site at the old TreasureIsland Naval Base in the middle of SanFrancisco Bay, Space Shuttle was almostshelved due to the inability of the percussionand brass parts to meld together into acohesive piece of music.

Month after month they tried in make itwork, but just as they were ready to shelve it,the staff found the problem in the score andfixed it. It would have been a bigdisappointment if they had cut the songbecause they shot up to third place with a88.60 playing Space Shuttle, Love’s BeenGone So Long, Squibb Cakes by Tower ofPower, Legend of a One-Eyed Sailor, Chasethe Clouds Away and Feel of a Vision.

The summer of 1976 was a revelation tothe Blue Devils. Their first-place score of92.70 at DCI was incredible for anorganization that was only in its third year ofserious DCI competition. That year theyfirmly established, as their very own, threepieces of music that still today bring goosebumps to those who remember seeing themplay it in person: Channel One Suite, Legendof a One-Eyed Sailor and Chase the CloudsAway.

In 1977, they continued to build on theirsuccessful jazz format when, with a 92.05,they took first once again at DCI, playingChannel One Suite, the beautiful SpanishFantasy andMaynardFerguson’sGonna FlyNow fromthe movie“Rocky.”

In 1978,theypremieredanotherclassic Bluesignaturepiece, the“Chicago IIISuite.” Thiswassuccessfullymarried toSpanishFantasy andLegend of aOne-EyedSailor.

Eventhough they had hoped for three titles in arow at DCI, the corps dropped to third place.Still, fans loved the marriage of rock and jazzthat music from the rock group Chicagobrought to the corps’ production.

Blue Devils, 1986, at the DCI Championships in Madison, WI (photoby Orlin Wagner from the collection of Drum Corps World).

Blue Devils, 1988, at the DCI Championships in Kansas City, MO (photo by OrlinWagner from the collection of Drum Corps World).

Blue Devils, 1989, at the DCIChampionships in Kansas City, MO(photo by Sue Johnson from thecollection of Drum Corps World).

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In 1991, they had their worst yearscore-wise since they won their firstchampionships in 1976. Although the musicwas certainly memorable, they were just notable to make it click that year. They playedCommencement from “Adventures in Time”and Bird and Bela in B-flat (second and thirdmovements). Still, with a score that mostcorps would envy, 93.80, they dropped to

their lowestplacing -- fifth --in 17 years.

In 1992, theirshow, “Big, Badand Blue,”became one oftheir mostmemorable ofthe 1990s. Anexciting showfeaturing theguard was a bighit with fans,especially theircloser of When aMan Loves aWoman.

They alsoplayedSomeone’sThere, El CongoValiente, FuegoCubano and LaSuerte de losTontos. With ascore of 95.40,they placedfourth.

For 1993, theBlue Devils’

creative team was trying to find a way toclimb out of their slump. In their show, “ADon Ellis Portrait,” they played Open Wide,Great Divide, Chain Reaction, StrawberrySoup and Niner-Two, which proved to be acrowd favorite. Their score of 95.10 keptthem in fourth place one final time.

In 1994, they hit gold once again with ashow called “My Spanish Heart.” Thisincluded Spanish Fantasy Part One, NightStreets, Day Danse, My Spanish Heart andSpanish Fantasy Part Four. For the fans,marching members and staff, it was great tosee them in that first-place spot once againwith a top-finishing score of 98.40. It was thesecond of the four times they would hit theirhighest score.

In 1995, the show was titled “CarpeNoctem” and featured Buleria from “JazzPana,” Conquistador, Coronation of the Deadand Ines from “Legend of Alcobaca,” DayDanse and Dom Pedro’s Revenge, also from“Legend of Alcobaca.” They placed third witha 96.70 and left most of the PA announcersquite tongue-tied trying to read the pre-showintroduction.

During the 1996 season, they were back inthe gold once again with one of their mostfun shows to watch. “Club Blue: A GangsterChronicle” featured the music Children’sHour of Dream, Desi, Tess’ Theme from “Dick

jazz pieces, but was unable to climb out of itsslump. Ya Gotta Try, If We Were in Love,Allegre and Johnny One Note were all big hitswith fans, but not so much with the judges.They moved back down to fourth with a95.90.

In 1990, they played selections from“Tommy,” the Who rock musical. This was aninteresting show since they dressed the field

with layers of tarps, like they use in winterguard, to simulate a pinball machine. It wasa popular show musically, with some big hornsounds. Once again they placed fourth witha 95.30.

Rounding out the 1970s, the corps placedfirst once again, playing “Chicago III Suite,”La Suerte de los Tontos and My HeartBelongs to Me. The Downey arrangement ofLa Suerte has probably been played by almostevery high school jazz and marching band inthe country since then.

Beginning the 1980s, a Downey originalalso became another signature piece for thecorps -- New YorkFantasy. This piece, alongwith Ya Gotta Try,Pegasus, Free fromChicago, La Suerte de losTontos, Pauper inParadise and the beautifulcloser of Dindi earnedthem second place.

Keeping with a goodthing in 1981, they usedNew York Fantasy as theopener, then Ya Gotta Try,La Danse Bonheur, OneMore Time Chuck Corea,the fabulous Johnny OneNote and Dindi to earnthem a second place scoreof 93.79.

Another original piece,titled T.O. -- the initialshave had manyinterpretations -- wasco-written by Downey andjazzman Rob McConnellto start the corps’ 1982show. Pegasus, Paradox, One

More Time Chuck Coreaand People Alone from themovie “The Competition”pushed them back into first with a 95.25.

In 1983, they kicked off once again withT.O., followed by a more mellow jazz/bluespiece called Everyone Loves the Blues.Paradox, One More Time Chuck Corea andanother original Downey piece called A NewBeginning earned them another second placewith a 93.80.

During the summer of 1984, they playedthe exciting Bacchanalia, followed by LatinImplosion, Karn Evil 9, La Fiesta and Like aLover. They placed second with a 97.90.

In 1985, they played Liferaft Earth, Trilogy,Karn Evil 9, Piano Concerto No. 1 and FirstCircle and moved down to third with a 97.10.

For 1986, the corps featured Channel OneSuite, Maynard Ferguson’s Conquistador,Spanish Fantasy and “Chick Corea Suite.”They shot back up to first once again withtheir highest score ever -- 98.40 -- which theyreceived three more times over the years.

In 1987, playing Fanfare for the New,Harlem Nocturne, Frank Zappa’s EnchinadasArf, Free and Spanish Dreams, the corps forsome reason dropped to fourth.

The 1988 season had the corps playing theclassic Happy Days Are Here Again, That OldBlack Magic, Goodbye Yesterday and Since IFell for You. They moved back up to thirdwith a 96.30.

In 1989, the corps continued with the great

Blue Devils, 1994 (photo by Sid Unser from the collection ofDrum Corps World).

Blue Devils, July 10, 1992, in Stockton, CA (photo by Steve Rodriggs from the collection of Drum Corps World).

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Tracy” and Trouble from the movie “MissionImpossible.” They placed first with a 97.40.

In 1997, continuing their winning ways,they did another crowd favorite with a showtitled “As Time Goes By” featuringCasablanca, Bankok, A Night in Tunisia andthe theme As Time Goes By. They took firstwith the third of their all-time highest scores

at 98.40.For the 1998 season, they offered a show

called “One Hand, One Heart,” featuringmusic from “Romeo and Juliet” byTchaikovsky cleverly blended with “West SideStory” by Bernstein. It was worth third placeand a 97.70, but for some reason it was not acrowd favorite as the previous two years’shows had been.

The corps closed the book on the 1990swith its 1999 production called “Rhythms --At the Edge of Time.” It was quite acollection of different rhythms, as the nameimplied. Estancia Ballet was Afro-Cuban/Malambo, Powerhouse No. 2 was donerumba-style, Powerhouse No. 3 was donesamba-style, Adios Nonino was a tango,Unchained Melody was jazz and the closer ofThe Dirty Boogie was a swing tune. Theresult was their 10th DCI win and theirfourth all-time high score of 98.40. Will theybreak that 98.40 in the next millennium?

The 2000 show was a wild ride indeed.Titled “Methods of Madness,” it presentedA Night Piece for Orchestra from “TaxiDriver,” Prelude from “On DangerousGround,” Prelude from “Psycho,” Scened’Amour from “Vertigo” and The Wild Ridefrom “North by Northwest.” This excitingand entertaining show yielded a third-placefinish with a 96.90.

In 2001, the Blue Devils presented“Awayday Blue” featuring Awayday andFantasy Variations on George Gershwin’s

Second Prelude for Piano. They moved backup to the second slot with a 97.60.

Their 2002 show was titled “Jazz: Made inAmerica” and featured Ragtime, I GotRhythm from “Girl Crazy,” Fascinatin’Rhythm, House of the Rising Sun and areprise and teaser of Channel One Suite.They stayed in second with a 97.30 against a

fabulous show presented by The Cavalierswho absolutely stole the show at the 30thanniversary DCI Championships in Madison.

During their years of playing high-tech

jazz, the Blue Devils have been able toprovide performance and clinic experienceswith many jazz greats like Stan Kenton,Buddy Rich, Ralph Humphrey, Dave Weckl,Peter Erksine, Maynard Ferguson, BobbyShew, Bob Motgomery and Chuck Mangione.

Many of these jazz superstars have becomefans of the Blue Devils after hearing theirown music performed by the corps live or onCD. But more importantly, many of theseperformers have had the opportunity to workin clinics with the marching members to helpthem become better musicians.

The Blue Devils have not limited theirperformances strictly to field competitions.They have explored the theater environmentby presenting such shows as “Exhaltation,”“Exubero” and “Jazz Man in the Moon” tosold-out theatres in Denver, San Antonio,Ypsilanti and at EPCOT in Orlando, FL. Manytimes they incorporated electronics into theirmusic, which has not yet been approved forfield competition, but adds a pleasingdimension to their music.

The 2003 Blue Devils show, titled“Phenomenon of Cool,” will not only be seenin the United States, but also in Japan as thecorps travels there after the season.

This is not the first time the corps hastaken its show to other lands. They firsttraveled to Osaka, Japan, in 1983 to attend

the 21st Century Celebration. Sincethat time the percussion sectionvisited Japan once again in 1988.

The corps traveled to the France in1992 to attend “Carnaval” and then tothe Netherlands for performances andclinics. In 1996, they returned toJapan for a 10-day trip of parades,fields shows and indoor performances.In 2000, the A corps members took athree-week tour to Germany, Belgium,Holland and France.

But the A corps was not the onlygroup to travel overseas during theseyears. The award-winning Blue DevilsTwirlers also traveled to Tokyo, Japan,in 1982; Milan, Italy, in 1983; Calgary,Alberta, in 1984; Turin, Italy, in 1986;and Lyon, France, in 1998. And theBlue Devils B Corps traveled to Japanin 1998 to participate in the WorldMarching Band Festival with groupsfrom Japan, Korea, Malaysia, HongKong and Australia.

Exploring new directions, the BlueDevils organization also formed theBlue Devils Music School for musicstudents as young as four to learn toplay instruments. They now teachbasic music theory, percussion andpiano classes to more than 150students ages 4-9 each year.

In 1996, they took yet anothermusical direction, founding TheDiablo Wind Symphony as a way toserve some 60-80 students ages 14-18,

catering to all types of non-marching music.The Wind Symphony Ensemble took a 14-dayperformance tour to Australia in 2000 toperform at the Newcastle and Queensland

Blue Devils, June 28, 1997 (photo by Rocky Lewis from thecollection of Drum Corps World).

Blue Devils, 1996 (photo by Ron Walloch from the collection of DrumCorps World).

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Guard International Championships fourtimes and, of course, their greatestaccomplishment is that of winning the DrumCorps International World Championships anunprecedented 10 times.

The Blue Devils organization as a wholecan be proud of the millions of hours given

by the volunteers,management, marchingmembers, board members,bus drivers, instructorsand all those who havemade the three drum andbugle corps, the twirlinggroups, winter guards andthe drum and bell corpschampions in their ownright.

And to that end, morethan 7,000 young peoplehave become top qualityperformers thanks to thisworld-renownedorganization that started asa neighborhood drum corps46 years ago.

For a photo and bio ofBob Fields, turn to page233.

champions four times. They have won DCI East seven times, DCI

North three times and DCI Midwest fourtimes. They have been DCI Southchampions twice and won the DCI “Previewof Champions” six times.

Their guard members have won the Winter

Conservatories of Music. In short, most drum and bugle corps define

the success of their organization by thenumber of titles they hold. Certainly throughthe years the Blue Devils can claim their fairshare of those titles. The A corps alone haswon the “Precision West” 16 times. Theyhave won Santa Clara Vanguard’s home show,“Pacific Procession,” 18 times. They wonboth the U.S. Open and the Drum Corps EastChampionships. They have been Drum CorpsWest champions three times, World Openchampions twice and CYO Nationalschampions three times. They have won“Drums Along the Rockies” in Denver eighttimes. They have been DCI Canadachampions three times and DCI West

Blue Devils, 2000 (photo by Ron Walloch from the collectionof Drum Corps World).

(Above) Blue Devils, 2002 (photo by Ron Walloch from thecollection of Drum Corps World); (below) Blue Devils, 2001(photo by Alan Winslow from the collection of Drum CorpsWorld).

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