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Date Posted:12:08:10 02/12/05 Sat Author: Paul Hagglund Subject: Re: FF+2, Clara Ward In reply to:
David M. Currie
's message, "FF+2, Clara Ward" on 13:27:18 12/02/04 Thu
>Working at Disneyland in the late 60s was a treat.
>Each Friday night during the summer, the Golden
>Horseshoe would rotate guest performers. One weekend
>it would be the Firehouse Five plus Two, the following
>weekend it would be the Clara Ward Gospel Singers. If
>I was working on the Jungle Cruise that night, I'd
>have to slip over during a break to listen. If I
>wasn't working, I stayed at the park after my shift to
>listen to great dixieland and gospel music.
>
>There is a DVD from Swing Era that contains some FF+2
>videos recorded in the early 50s. The title is
>'Dixielanders: Firehouse Five Plus Two, Red Nichols'
>(IDVD 1056). I purchased mine through Worlds Records.
>The DVD is the closest I've come to reliving the
>Friday evenings.
That is a good disc, I have it, but there is most definately one thing missing from that program that you would have experienced while working at Disneyland. That DVD has Clarke Mallery on clarinet, but when you worked ther, the incomperable George Probert was with the band.
He is still alive and playing with various groups in the greater LA area. He sent me a copy of a program that he recorded in 1966 at Disneyland in the New Orleans Square bandshell, and it is fascinating to hear what they actually sounded like in person. Their records are very good, but there is definately something different about how they played live.
The tuba player from that era is also still living. I purchased his horn last year, which a fascinating piece of Disneyland history. If you have any questions regarding the band, please post them and I will ask the people who are still around from the band.
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