It is Saturday night in Death Valley and Tiger Band director Craig Davis goes onto the field met with a rush of electrifying energy. Fighting to keep his composure, he looks left, then right and blows the whistle.
As he marches onto the field he mutters phrases such as “Don’t look at the camera,” “stay in a straight line” and “Don’t drop the mace.”
“I had 92,000 fans screaming in my general direction and 325 more behind me playing their hearts out,” Davis said.
Davis said he has learned to not get lost in the energy of the crowd.
But that night in Death Valley, he was actually caught off-guard.
“I lost myself for a moment,” he said. “And it was fun.”
A Long Legacy
More than 100 years of Golden Band history, makes the band one of the most important elements of LSU tradition.
According to the LSU Tiger Band Web site, the Golden Band
debuted in 1893, when the LSU Tigers played their first football game.
In a 2002 Public Broadcasting Station documentary titled “The Golden Band from Tigerland,” Charlie Roberts, president of the LSU Alumni Association, said the Tiger Band’s first performance was a disaster.
“They probably didn’t have much training. They all got together to play and it really just fell apart at their first performance,” Roberts said to PBS. “Apparently, they hadn’t rehearsed enough and they did not feel secure enough. And when they all started playing at the same time it went in all different directions, and they had to stop their performance.”
According to the Web site, the 11-member band was organized by Ruffin G. Pleasant and Wylie M. Barrow. Barrow was captain of the band and Pleasant,who later became governor of Louisiana, was named director.
W.B. Clarke, a blind musician, became Tiger Band’s first faculty director and crafted the military image of the 13-member band.
The band became a marching unit in the early 1900s.
As the popularity of the Cadet Band grew, tours of the state and appearances at Mardi Gras parades became early traditions.
According to the PBS documentary, when the University moved from Alexandria, La. to its current site, the band became an important aspect to the campus.
The first band on the new campus had all military roles, according to the Web site.
It said the Golden Band had little to do with LSU football, until they played their first half-time show in 1924.
The documentary said the era of Huey P. Long ushered in major changes for the Tiger Band.
According to the documentary, Long’s personal interest dictated the style and composition of the band. Long made many decisions ranging from the size of the band to the costumes they would wear.
According to Roberts’ 2002 PBS interview, Long appreciated the musical styling of Castro Carazo, an orchestra leader at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans. He approached Carazo and told him that he would be the new Tiger Band director.
The Web site said Long got rid of the military image Clarke established for the band, and traded it in for a “showy stadium look.” He also changed the band’s colors to purple and gold.
In his interview, Roberts said Long was determined to have the biggest and best band in the south. Long would not be satisfied until his band had more than 225 members.
Musical ability was not considered when choosing band members, Roberts said.
“They would merely march around holding the instrument,” he said. “They couldn’t play a note.”
Besides making decisions about the style of the band, Long also co-wrote some of the bands music, the documentary said. Long co-wrote the LSU Cadet March and Darling of LSU. He also wrote Touchdown for LSU, which the band still plays before every game.
Roberts said Long would call Carazo and whistle the songs to him.
According to the documentary, the 1935 assassination of Long ended his control of the Tiger Band.
University administrators fired Carazo as Tiger Band director the evening of the assassination, Roberts said. It is believed that Carazo was fired because the University wanted to cut all ties with anything and anyone associated with Long.
However, the Web site said Carazo remained with the school until 1940.
Despite the loss of Long and Carazo the band managed to expand and improve.
All Ladies are Welcomed
The ’40s and World War II ushered in a new era for the Tiger Band.
Linda Moorhouse, associate director of bands and co-director of Tiger Band, said girls were added as musicians to the band at the start of the war.
She said the girls were added to fill positions vacated by male band members who went to Europe to fight in the war.
The Web site said during the early years Carazo was director, females only appeared as drum majorette. Girls were not officially added to the band as musicians until 1943.
When L. Bruce Jones became director in 1945, the band continued its “showy” performances in the ’50s, adding the L-S-U formation march.
Thomas Tyra, Jones’ assistant, added an all-female dance line known as the Ballet Corps, the Web site said. Later, they were renamed the Golden Girls.
The University’s “L book,” a student guide to LSU, credits the appeal of the original Golden Girls to their golden- sequenced spandex outfits.
The “L Book” said in 1980, Sarah Mims and Paula Jackson became the first black Golden Girls.
Moorhouse said the Golden Girls have evolved since their beginning.
The Golden Girls concentrate less on military style and more on dance elements than the earlier groups did, Moorhouse said.
She also said some of the current Golden Girls were trained in studios.
Jaclyn Dixon, a 2003 Golden Girl, said even though being a Golden Girl is hard work, it is an honor to be one.
“People just see a fantastic half-time show every game but most people don’t know how much work goes into the whole process,” she said.
Moorhouse said the girls have at least one evening to learn their routine for half-time performances.
The Golden Girls are dedicated, Dixon said. “Everyone works so hard to make this organization great.”
The “L book” said the ’70s introduced the Colorguard, a unit of flag twirlers, to the University.
For a short period the Colorguard was co-ed, Moorhouse said. There were 15 males between 1985 and 1987.
She said the Band Department decided to make Colorguard all-female because less males were trying out to be on the Colorguard.
Moorhouse said the Colorguard has evolved as much as the Golden Girls.
The Colorguard was originally used as a reference point on the field for the Tiger Band, Moorhouse said.
She said the Colorguard poles were originally 8 feet. Now they are 5 1/2 to 6 feet long.
Charlie Butler became the first black male to become a member, she said.
The Legacy Continues
Moorhouse said the size and instrumentation of the band has changed since she joined the band in 1984.
The Tiger Band continues to carry on the showy performances style established by Long, Moorhouse said. Yet they have managed to hold onto its military heritage.
The band will play Nov. 1 at the military salutes on the Parade Ground, she said. They also will play patriotic music.
Moorhouse said she does choreograph many of the band’s formations.
The peak step is used during the pregame show, Tiger Band Director Craig Davis said. This classic marching style involves the arch of the foot raising to the mid-calf region and lowering back down on the beat. The upper part of the foot hits the ground first.
The band uses the glide step during both the pregame and halftime shows, he said. This step involves placing each foot in front of the other “grazing as closely to the ground as possible.” The toes are pointed in the air and the heel hits the ground first.
She said she has changed certain movements of some of the marching formation. The L-S-U Formation, was designed to face the west, but Moorhouse changed it so that it flips from the west side of the stadium to the east side.
While there are few recognized traditions, she said in 1996 the Tiger Band established its newest tradition of singing the school’s Alma Mater after every game and after every Saturday rehersal.
Davis said the 325 members make the band special.
“The students that are in Tiger Band have a will and a drive to be a part of something not only special, but incredible,” Davis said.
He said the band also is responsible for getting the crowd ready for the game, keeping them going during the game, and helping them celebrate after the game.
Moorhouse said the University’s admission standards has attracted students who can fully commit to the band.
Davis said he is frightened by the direction, in which the band is going.
He said the band members are being pushed to work even harder.
“This is frightening simply because the band is at such a high level now, it is difficult to comprehend the 2004 Tiger Band working harder,” he said.
Every year the musical abilities and the marching get better year after year, Davis said. “The alumni never imagined the band would be at the level it is now. They are pleasantly surprised.”