Opus 1967

program cover web 1967SAHS Music Department: Opus 1967

Opus Goes South1

St. Albans High School, St. Albans, West Virginia — the “Red Dragons”

  • Vocal Music Director: Joseph R. Ervin
  • Instrumental Music Director: James R. Keadle

For each selection, the embedded player appears above the description. For best results when downloading, right-click (Windows) or Control + click (Macintosh) and select the option to Save link as … .

EDIT, 03/18/18: Many thanks to Mary Holderby, Class of 1968, for the audio tracks I was unable to recover from Dad’s unplayable LP #1. Her copy was skip-free and she generously gave of her time digitizing selections, as well as the others from 1967 and from 1968. I’ll incorporate Mary’s efforts into the Opus 1967 and 1968 pages over the next couple of weeks. It’s nice to hear these songs again. Thanks again, Mary!

LP 1, Side 1:

1. Grand Opening, I’m Alabammy Bound
Download file (01:27, 2.0 MB)

2. Summer Song, “Small Group”
Download file (03:02, 4.2 MB)

3. When the Saints Go Marching In, “Small Group,” Mac Grandon, narrator
Download file (03:49, 5.6 MB)

4. Holiday for Winds, Band
Download file (02:19, 3.19 MB)

5. Charlottown, Sophomore Mixed Chorus
Download file (01:44, 2.4 MB)

6. Cindy, Sophomore Mixed Chorus
Download file (01:59, 2.74 MB)

7. Basin Street Blues, Dixieland Band, Majorettes. Student teacher David M. Baber, vocals
Download file (04:34, 6.3 MB)

8. Jamaica Farewell, Sophomore Mixed Chorus
Download file (01:53, 2.6 MB)

9. Way Down Yonder in New Orleans, Dixieland Band
Download file (01:26, 2.0 MB)

LP 1 , Side 2

10. It’s a Good Day, Junior-Senior Girls Chorus
11. I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Junior-Senior Girls Chorus
12. Yellow Bird, Junior-Senior Girls Chorus
13. Change of Pace, Band
14. Voodoo, Band and Majorettes
15. Old Creole Days2
16. Lonely Bull, Jesters and Majorettes
17. Wonderland by Night, Jesters, Tom Phillips (trumpet)

LP 2 , Side 1

18. Sunday Morning – Jesters
Download file (01:59, 1.2 MB)

19. Hello, Dolly – Boys Chorus
Download file (01:44, 1.0 MB)

20. Shenandoah – Boys Chorus
Download file (02:42, 1.6 MB)

21. Hey, Look Me Over – Boys Chorus
Download file (01:53, 1.1 MB)

22. Caribbean Fantasy – Band
Download file (06:13, 3.7 MB)

23. Looks Like Spring Is Here – Mixed Chorus
Download file (02:45, 1.7 MB)

24. San Antonio Rose – Mixed Chorus
Download file (02:18, 1.4 MB)

LP 2 , Side 2

25. Dixie, Mixed Chorus
26. Green Leaves of Summer, Band
27. Do-Si-Do, Band and Majorettes
28. Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair, Mixed Chorus
29. You Better Mind, Mixed Chorus
30. Finale, Battle Hymn of the Republic, Band and Mixed Chorus
31. Final Notes (acknowledgments)

NOTES:
LP 1 files: 44,100 16-bit samples per second/stereo/192Kbps bit rate.
LP 2 files: 22,050 16-bit samples per second/stereo/80Kbps bit rate.
1 Some post-processing may have been applied by the recording engineers before the discs were manufactured. In particular, there is quite a lot of extra reverb evident on many selections. I don’t recall the acoustics in the SAHS gym being that “live.” In any event, apart from some adjustments to fix excessive brightness, I didn’t add any additional sweetening.
2 Old Creole Days was “interrupted” by senior Bert Bostic, portraying an irascible piano tuner. After some back-and-forth between him and band director James Keadle, the band accompanied him in a novelty tune (The Piano Tuner, I think). Unfortunately, the recording technicians may not have understood that this was an intentional “goof”. In any case, it didn’t make it onto the audio tape.