Purdue "All American" Marching Band History

"All American" Marching Band History

The colorful history of the Purdue marching band began in 1886 when a small group of five instrumentalists formed a drum corps for the Purdue Student Army Training Corps, a predecessor to ROTC. The drum corps played sporadically during the early years since it often depended on whether there was anybody on the university staff qualified to drill the group. Incoming members did not have any past experience to draw from because high school bands did not exist at that time. Without school provided instruction, the members relied on private instruction and the guidance of friends and family. Community bands were also gaining popularity in the post-Civil War era, and these groups offered an excellent chance for young musicians to practice. In addition to finding their own instruction, members of the band were also required to furnish their own uniforms, instruments, and music.

With the beginning of Purdue football in 1887, the band began to perform in its current role at football matches and students soon noticed the natural affinity between the great sport of football and band. During this time period there was no permanent director and the usual practice involved the bandsmen electing a professor or student to lead the ensemble. As a result, frequent band reorganization became the standard operating procedure during these early years. Gradually though, the band grew in both size and quality with the 1900 Debris claiming "it can now be classed foremost among the best college bands in the country."

By 1902, the band had grown to 50 members - its first significant jump in size - and moved toward solving its old money problems by becoming partially self-supporting from revenues derived from concerts and other appearances. However, its primary role was still to perform for military drilling, inspections and ceremonies.

It was into this environment that a man named Paul Spotts Emrick from Rochester, Indiana joined the band as a freshman in the fall of 1904. Based upon his experience and musical background (a family of band directors) he was quickly elected director of the band as a sophomore in 1905. He was subsequently re-elected to the position of director his junior and senior years, and went on to serve in that capacity until his retirement in 1954. An innovator with a flair for capturing the public's attention, Emrick came up with one idea after another that would put Purdue's marching band in the spotlight. In 1907 during his senior year, he dared to defy military tradition by having the band form the letter "P" on the gridiron. It marked the first time a band had ever broken military ranks to create a formation of any kind. Honoring that ground-breaking event, the band still recreates the now famous Block “P” before every Purdue home football game to this day. The Block P on the right is from the 2006 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, FL.

In 1919, under Emrick's direction, the band became the first to carry all the colors of the schools in the Big Ten. This tradition was lost over the years but was recently restored by Director Jay Gephart. Below are the present day Big Ten Flag Corps.

These firsts in college band history were followed by many other notable achievements. In 1920, the Purdue Band was the first to play the opposing team's fight song. In 1929, the Purdue band was first to use massed lyrabells. In 1930, the AAMB was the first to use fanfare trumpets on the field.

Hungry for ever flashier firsts, the ever-resourceful Emrick started talking about building a big drum that would set the Purdue Band apart from other bands. Tracking down huge steer hides in South America for the drum heads, the Leedy Corp. of Indianapolis built the big bass drum that is still in use today as one of the most visible icons of the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band. It stands more than 10 feet tall on its carriage, weighs more than 500 pounds, and is still believed to be the "World's Largest Drum." Below on the left is the BBD and the Big Ten Flags during the 1950's when the band still wore the old army-green military style uniforms. Below on the right is a picture of the BBD at the 2006 Champs Sports Bowl. Follow the link for more photos of the BBD.

All the acclaim the drum brought the band only encouraged Emrick. On Oct. 5, 1935, on the occasion of the Big Ten's first night game, the Purdue Band presented the first-ever lighted halftime show. The only lights on the field were those outlining the band. Headlights projected out from inside the big bass drum, white lights sparkled in the plumes of the marchers' hats, and colored lights lined their instruments. The drum major held a flaming baton.

When Emrick's Purdue Band finished its program that night, CBS radio announcer Ted Husing couldn't help but say it. "This," he proclaimed, "is a real 'All-American' band." People all over the country heard it live, and the name stuck. From that moment on, unofficially at first, but eventually as a formal name, the Purdue Military Band became the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band.

Perhaps the most visible function the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band participates in is their role as the official band of the Indianapolis 500. It was Paul Spotts Emrick who forged the initial relationship with the Indianapolis 500 in 1919 during the race's ninth year of existence, and the band has played for the opening ceremonies at the track every running of the 500 since that time. In 1957 the Indy 500 Festival Parade was added to the Memorial Day weekend events and the Purdue Band has marched as the first band in every parade since. Below is the Big Bass Drum at the 1957 Indy 500 mounted on the back of the Purdue Bands pick-up truck where it has traditionally performed laps around the track before the start of each race. To the right, the BBD at the 91st Indy 500 in 2007.

Later, the Purdue "All-American" Marching band would go on to become the first band to use a dancing line of majorettes in 1954. In 1955, the Purdue AAMB became the first college band to play on nationally sponsored network broadcast. The year of 1963 saw the Purdue AAMB as the first college band to perform at Radio City Music Hall. These are just the tip of the iceberg when discussing the international fame of the Purdue marching band. The fame of the Purdue band even stretches beyond this planet as alumni baritone player Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon in 1969.

Finally, who could forget Purdue's Golden Girl - a nationally recognized position of twirling excellence. The tradition of the Golden Girl was begun in 1954 during the era of quarterback Lenny Dawson, whose poise on the field prompted the press to nickname him Purdue's "Golden Boy." At the same time, Dr. Al G. Wright (now Director of Bands Emeritus) brought his first twirling protégé to the field, Juanita Carpenter, who earned the title of "Golden Girl." When Dawson graduated Purdue was left without a "Golden Boy," but Carpenter's graduation didn't have the same effect on her title. Instead "Golden Girl" evolved into a movable crown that's been passed down through generations , and the position has become the standard for excellence within the twirling community.

The success of the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band was awarded in 1995 with the coveted Sudler Trophy. Widely considered the Heisman Trophy for marching bands, the prestigious award is only given to a school once. Despite this long and storied history, the Purdue AAMB has only been lead by five permanent conductors: Paul Spotts Emrick, 1905-1954; Dr. Al G. Wright, 1954-1981; William C. Moffit, 1981-1988; Dr. David A. Leppla 1990-2006; and our current director, Dr. Jay Gephart 2006-Present. If you have any further questions email Roy Johnson or visit the Purdue Bands website. Go here for more specifically on AAMB History.

Another Purdue "All-American" Marching Band tradition that had its roots in the Al G. Wright era of Purdue Band history is the band cheer. The band cheer's history dates back to the late 1950s when Fredrick Hovde was president of Purdue University. At that time, it was a tradition for students at football games to respond "Hell yes!" when cheerleaders asked them if Purdue was going to win. In a letter to the Exponent , Hovde expressed his opinion that the profanity was out of place, but it fell on deaf ears. Students not only continued the cheer; they added, "Damn Right!" to it. The fervor of the situation, and its two key phrases, initiated the long chant that is one of the most colorful parts of band lore. In the 29 phrases that make up the band cheer, beginning with "Hell yes" and ending with "Awesome!!!," you'll find a microcosm of Purdue "All-American" Marching Band history. Every word in the cheer represents a specific memory of a hilarious, unique or memorable moment to the Purdue Band. It takes a vote by the band itself and approval by the band faculty to add a new word to the cheer. Currently having had so many words added to the cheer, it is becoming increasingly difficult to approve any new additions to the cheer.

Today, the band cheer is performed by the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band before every Slayter Center concert and after every Fountain Concert on game days. It is also initiated by the drum majors at various special occasions for the band as they present themselves. The drum majors will yell "Heeeeeey Band"... followed by the question "Have we got the best damn band in the land?" ...to which the obvious response is "Hell Yes! Damn Right! You Bet!...". The most recent addition to the cheer occurred on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2005 at the band's Slayter Center concert where it was announced by Matthew Query that the word "Coach" would be added to the cheer in honor of the band's retiring assistant director, Bill "Coach" Kisinger, for his 37 years of leadership, enthusiasm, and dedicated service to Purdue Bands.

Since the band cheer is an important reminder of Purdue Band history, it was painted on boards by Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi and hung in the front of Rm. 15, Elliot Hall of Music, where the "All-American" Marching Band holds indoor rehearsal despite far from adequate accommodations. It was originally designed to be easily taken down during the spring semester because one of the concert band directors was not partial to the "All-American" Marching Band memorabilia. Long after this particular director left the Purdue Band Department, the cheer remained a series of separate boards that were poorly attached to the wall via peg-board and screw-in hooks since no one had the money, manpower, or time to change them. After one of the boards fell down during concert band rehearsal in the fall of 2005 and hit then symphonic band and orchestra director, Jay Gephart, in the head, Director of the "All-American" Marching Band, Dr. David Leppla, mentioned to the band during rehearsal that it was time to do something about the band cheer. The following spring semester, the Kappa Kappa Psi - Class of 2006 (Shakaka), decided to undertake the gargantuan task of reconstructing the band cheer as their required service project for entry into the band fraternity. Above is what the band cheer used to look like. Roughly 550 hours of work, two fires, two dead shop-vacs, two broken end mill bits, and six broken router bits later, the new and vastly improved band cheer was completed on Saturday, April 29th, at 5:40 AM. The new band cheer was shown briefly to members of Kappa Kappa Psi at final chapter and remained covered until it's official unveiling at Band Camp 2006 where it was proudly presented to the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band by the members of Shakaka, Kappa Kappa Psi Class of 2006. Members include Spelios Bacoyanis, Kevin Brett, Stephanie Frank, Ashley Harris, Kristen Ignaczak, Wes Jackson, Dan Jemison, Dan Kellermeyer, Matt Schramm, Keegan Shiner and Mike Smith.

Top Row: Spe, Kristen, Steph, Matt, Kevin... Bottom Row: Dan J., Keegan, Dan K., Ashley, Wes... Not Pictured: Mike Smith

~Much of this information was borrowed or originally obtained from the official Purdue Bands website.

This simple, but meaningful, reading has its roots in the political unrest in the years surrounding the Vietnam War.

In 1966, Jack Scott, publisher of the Journal and Courier called then Director of the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band Al G. Wright. "There was a lot of student unrest going on. At Purdue it was not too bad, but he said 'Al, we've got to get some patriotism into these kids - can you help,' " Wright recalls.

A former mayor, and a retired Marine Corps general, Scott was a big fan of band performances infused with patriotism.

The idea of a short speech that would be spoken over an arrangement of "America the Beautiful" appealed to Wright. "It's a beautiful tune, a nice quiet thing you can read over," says Wright.

Inspired by patriotic verses he read either on a menu or a placement at the Downtowner Restaurant in Lafayette, he penned the five-line reading that begins and ends with the words " I Am An American."

Wright remembers that everyone in the stadium automatically stood the first time the band announcer read "I Am An American" as the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band performed as part of a halftime show. He remembers how pleasantly surprised he was with the positive reaction it received from students.

What Wright didn't know at that time was just how big an impact it made. Always one to do things differently, and not repeat ideas, he dropped "I Am An American" from the next home football game show in the 1966 season. An editorial came out in Journal and Courier asking what had happened to "I Am An American," and "the Exponent and the Journal and Courier were inundated with letters," he says. So Wright made the reading part of the pregame flag ceremony for the last two games of the season. Capping that season, Purdue played in the Rose Bowl for the first time and "I Am An American" was heard all over the United States of America for the first time on national television.

At the beginning of the 1967 season, Wright decided once again it was time for a change and he eliminated "I Am An American." Once again, public outcry forced him to restore it. And it's been a tradition ever since.

That doesn't mean, however, that Wright didn't try one more time to reshape the tradition he started by rewording the script and substituting some different phrases. The public didn't go for the rewording either. They were incensed, and the response was "horrific," Wright recalls. "It was like changing the Bible. You can't do it."

"I Am An American" returned to its original wording and no more changes have been attempted.

Although different band announcers presented "I Am An American" in the early years, the honor of presenting it since 1973 has belonged to Roy Johnson, a Purdue alumnus who was serving as Associate Registrar when he retired after 25 years with the university. He is also a former member of the Big Bass Drum Crew. But Johnson is best known as the "Voice of the All-American Band" and his distinctive voice is indelibly linked with that reading by Purdue football fans.

Some time in the past decade, Johnson thinks around the time of the Gulf War in the early 1990s, the Purdue crowds started chiming in on the reading's last line " I AM AN AMERICAN" - and that has also become a tradition.

In good times, and in times of national unrest, this important Purdue "All-American" Marching Band tradition, has provided an important sense of pride and continuity to those on the Purdue campus, and to alums scattered around the world, as well as to the Greater Lafayette community and the state of Indiana.

~This "I Am An American" history passage was borrowed from the Purdue Band website and can be seen in it's original form here.