CAL ORAL HISTORY PROJECT BAND INTERVIEW WITH BUD BARLOW Drum Major 1949 Table of Contents INTERVIEW WITH BUD BARLOW, Part 1 ........................................................................... 3 Cal Games Before Being a Cal Student ................................................................................................. 4 World War II .......................................................................................................................................... 6 Cal Band Audition .................................................................................................................................. 7 Room 5 ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Early Memories of Cal Band ................................................................................................................ 10 Pappy Waldorf ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Baton Society and “Smokers” .............................................................................................................. 16 Trips to Los Angeles ............................................................................................................................ 17 Rose Parade and the Cal Band Drumbeat ............................................................................................. 20 1949 Rose Bowl ................................................................................................................................... 23 Rose Bowl 1950 ................................................................................................................................... 24 Changes to Stunts ................................................................................................................................. 29 Cushing’s Departure ............................................................................................................................. 31 James Berdahl ....................................................................................................................................... 34 After Cal Band: Treasure Island ........................................................................................................... 34 Rose Bowl 1951 ................................................................................................................................... 35 Final Thoughts ...................................................................................................................................... 36 INTERVIEW WITH BUD BARLOW, Part 2 ......................................................................... 38 Stanford and Other Pacific Coast Bands .............................................................................................. 38 Marching Styles .................................................................................................................................... 39 Chris Tellefsen ...................................................................................................................................... 40 Bill Ellsworth ........................................................................................................................................ 41 Bob Desky ............................................................................................................................................ 42 Rose Bowls ........................................................................................................................................... 45 Early Uniforms ..................................................................................................................................... 47 Jokes ..................................................................................................................................................... 48 Marching Up to the Stadium ................................................................................................................ 50 Post-Game ............................................................................................................................................ 53 USC Band ............................................................................................................................................. 54 John Achey, Student Director ............................................................................................................... 54 “Roll ‘um down” .................................................................................................................................. 55 John Copren .......................................................................................................................................... 55 Alumni Band ........................................................................................................................................ 56 Assistant Drum Majors ......................................................................................................................... 57 Reunions and Bar-hopping ................................................................................................................... 57 Lawrence Livermore Lab Career .......................................................................................................... 59 Other Recollections .............................................................................................................................. 62 Bruce Browning .................................................................................................................................... 63 Huntley Johnson ................................................................................................................................... 64 Chilli Barlow ........................................................................................................................................ 64 Appendix 1: Notes ....................................................................................................................... 66 Appendix 2: Referenced Readings ............................................................................................ 67 Appendix 3: Obituary ................................................................................................................. 68 INTERVIEW WITH BUD BARLOW, Part 1 Version 3.0 December 2014 Interviewee: Bud Barlow, Drum Major, 1949 Interviewer: Dan Cheatham, Drum Major, 1957 Date of Interview: June 11, 1993 Place: Bud's Home: 6723 Alisal St. Pleasanton, CA 94566 Transcriber: Barbara Gabler [Cheatham edited his own remarks for clarity and grammar. Barlow edited his own remarks for clarity and grammar on April 29, 1994. Cheatham inserted them in July 1994. Barlow edited his own remarks for clarity and grammar and added a little starting Feb 2001. Fleeman completed final edits in December 2014. Barlow passed away in 2009. Unanswered clarification questions remain in the text. They are bracketed and italicized. Editorial notes are attributed thus: Norden H. (Dan) Cheatham – NHC; Katherine Fleeman – KF] Cheatham: My name is Dan Cheatham. I was a water boy in 1946 when Bud Barlow was a marching member of the Band. Barlow: My real name is Oran M. Barlow (Jr.) but all through college and up to the present, I'm known as Bud. I grew up in Berkeley, went through Berkeley High School and UC Berkeley. I learned to play the clarinet in grammar school. Anybody that went through Berkeley schools in the 30s, 40s & 50s knew Mr. Minsyk, the music teacher at Garfield Junior High (now Martin Luther King Jr.) and Mr. Earl Morton, who was the music director at Berkeley High. After high school in 1943 and a stint in the service, I went through Cal – Electronic Engineering – and I was Drum Major in 1949. My class was 1950 but I was recalled into Service and literally did not get a degree until ‘53. Cheatham: How did it happen that you wound up going to Cal as opposed to some other University? Barlow: I really hadn’t planned to go to Cal, as a matter of fact. My father went to Stanford and therefore I was more interested in going there. However, having spent 2½ years away from home, I did not particularly want to go away to school and with the GI Bill plus the luxury of living at home, I decided to go to nearby UC Berkeley. Cal Games Before Being a Cal Student Cheatham: How did you first become aware of the Cal Band? Barlow: My introduction to the Cal Band was much earlier, at least junior high school. We lived on Cragmont Avenue in Berkeley. I had a neighbor across the street whose name was Bob Duttle. He was probably seven years older than I and he played in the Cal Band. He also played clarinet and saxophone. I used to go down to the football games with Don Griffith, an old elementary school chum, and later a Cal Bandsmen too.1 I sold programs at the Cal football games and I observed the Cal Band and marched in and out stadium’s north tunnel with them as well, since I had an interest in music. Due to my association with neighbor Duttle and knowledge of him playing in the Band, it enhanced my musical appreciation. Cheatham: During those childhood days, what are your memories of the Cal Band at that time? Barlow: Some of the things I remember about the Band, this would have been the late ‘30s... they wore military type uniforms, blue with white crossed