Comments on: 3rd Mess Formations

By: Keith Hooper

Keith Hooper — Fri, 12 Sep 2025 00:55:17 +0000

Bill Gower and I visited my brother Ken in Austin TX about a week and a half ago. We pulled up the 3rd Mess Formation to enjoy with some other recordings. Thank you Bruce for beating the heck out of that bass drum. Now if we can only find some records when I was in the band for 1967/68 and 1968/69. I had them years ago and have no clue what I did with them.

By: Bruce Daggett

Bruce Daggett — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 22:24:51 +0000

You’re welcome Tim. Although I must say the kudos need to go to Steve Rice and Bill Gower. Steve had surgery that required him to not play on the march for a period of time. So without his foresight, we never would have had these “fun” recordings that he captured from barracks. Later, I learned that Bill Gower had the tape and he was kind enough to lend it to me so I could digitize it. I say “fun” recordings because it was the only time some of us decided to “embellish” a selection of the marches representing way we felt they should have been written. (Big Smile). A few octaves here, a trill there, …good times. Certainly, we never could have gotten away with that on Parade!
I’m sure Duke regretted the day he asked me to take the bass drum on the march. Bill Gower was always egging me on to take some musical license–with me only too happy to oblige with some creative interpretation adding triplets and some syncopation, etc. Heck, one night I think we almost got the Corps out of step!
Unfortunately, the bass drum would carry over the hill to Duke’s house in the evening and the next morning he would be visiting me saying: “Another bass drum concerto again last night Mr. Daggett?”
While it was our lot to play the Corps to 3rd mess in the evening, in a way it was always fun as we enjoyed the thing we loved the most–playing and learning under his Baton.
Bruce Daggett

By: Tim Erdman

Tim Erdman — Fri, 15 Dec 2023 02:17:10 +0000

Bruce,
I can’t thank you enough for the work you’ve put into this website. Hearing the 3rd mess formation story that Bill Gower recounted earlier today with Steve Rice’s audio-taping expertise, and the subsequent work you’ve done converting tape to digital was exciting enough. And then to hear some of this going back over 50 years! History coming across my speakers of the richest era in any military school’s musical annals!
Just an aside: I thought of you the other day when I started reading Barbra Streisand’s interview of her memoir in the NY Times. As a plebe in earshot while waxing or otherwise, Streisand’s voice seemed to be always coming out of your room. If you were her press agent, she’d be twice as famous!
Thank you again, my friend. This is an early Christmas present, and one to be treasured to the grave.
Tim Erdman