The Council Room

[Jim Culleton]

I thought that Pat, Mike and others would like a nice rendition of the Chad Mitchell Trio's version of "Golden Vanity" that we used to play in the Midget Chapel during the '63-'64 camp season! If it wasn't for your record player Pat & Mike I might have never heard this great tune! Mike I'm not sure if we played it on your trusty "battery powered" record player or not?? Enjoy, here is/are Three Together . . . . . . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPCTPQ-zb4M

Jim

P.S. Mike, I'm sure that your battery powered record player took "D" cell batteries? Those were the only ones available back then except for the heavy 9 Volt Eveready "Cat With Nine Lives" . . . . . . . but not quite the 9 lives promised!
_________________
'56 - J-9 J. Moulton
'57 - J-11 J. Moulton
'58 - J-4 E. Web Dann, S. Hood
'59 - S-6 P. Leavitt
'60 - S-2 F. Avantaggio
'61 - JA-1 RK Irons
'62 - C-9 JC with P. Freeland
'63 - C-1 JC with S. Borger
'64 - C-6 Councilor

[Jim Culleton]

Nice Chad Mitchell Trio version of "The Sinking Of The Reuben James"!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6g0no9S4cA&feature=related

Enjoy,

Jim
_________________
'56 - J-9 J. Moulton
'57 - J-11 J. Moulton
'58 - J-4 E. Web Dann, S. Hood
'59 - S-6 P. Leavitt
'60 - S-2 F. Avantaggio
'61 - JA-1 RK Irons
'62 - C-9 JC with P. Freeland
'63 - C-1 JC with S. Borger
'64 - C-6 Councilor

[Jim Graves]

Another song Mike and Pat sang was "Mrs. Murphy's Chowder. This link does not do Mike and Pat justice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z3lbSC1vMA&feature=related They also revamped the song and had a classical version in only the way Mike and Pat could do it.
_________________
Jim Graves
67 J-2 Jerry Hoyt
68 J-5 Todd Whittimore
69 J-9 Charlie Thomas
70 S-1 Bob Arnot
71 S-5 Russ Vaughn
72 J-2 Dan Mannis
74 J-? (The small cabin across road from J-2) Councilor
75 J-5 Councilor

[Jim Culleton]

Jim, what do you think the chances would be of Pat & Mike recording Mrs. Murphy's Chowder the next time they get together ? Then they could post it HERE so that we all could enjoy it again . . . . . . the way it should be done!
_________________
'56 - J-9 J. Moulton
'57 - J-11 J. Moulton
'58 - J-4 E. Web Dann, S. Hood
'59 - S-6 P. Leavitt
'60 - S-2 F. Avantaggio
'61 - JA-1 RK Irons
'62 - C-9 JC with P. Freeland
'63 - C-1 JC with S. Borger
'64 - C-6 Councilor

[Mike Freeland]

Hi guys, sorry I've been out of touch for a few days (weeks?)

Pat and I haven't done MMC for years, and my guitar fingers are not what they used to be, so I'm not sure we'll be able to pull it off. We did improvise a "Hallelujah" variation, which I took and scored for 8-part chorus back in my college days. I did it during unbelievably borintg American Lit classes. Anyway, I have a recording of our MMC somewhere around here. If I can find it I'll post it here. Just audio though.

I know Jim Culleton has seen this one (below), but I don't remember if I posted the link on this forum or just sent it to him. It's "The MHALL Variations", which I'm sure you'll remember from as long ago as 1962. I rearranged most of it, added a Renaissance-like (?) variation and scored the whole thing. Back in the day, we improvised it all, but these guys needed it to be written and rehearsed. There were some amazingly talented people at Wyanoke who could work up a piece like this in the 10 minutes between Parade and Campfire. Doug Wilkins, Bob Arnot, Ray Hillyard, Dan Witter, Peter Ellis, Ned Pepper, Goose Tatum, Dave Clemens, Bob Nickels, and more I can't think of, were all intuitive harmonizers. That's a rare breed, and even though BMB's musical prowess was a matter of national concern, he seemed to attract natural musicians (nature abhors a (musical) vacuum, right?).

We performed MHALL at our annual showcase and silent auction fundraiser last year (the Cherry Creek Chorale).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDfkqHqdiIo
_________________
'56-C-9 C. Mosher '57-C-9 Bill Feaster
'58-J-14 H. Peavy '59-J-11 G. Wood, C. Duncan
'60-S-8 R. Leavitt, D. Hemphill '61-S-1 E. Slocum
'62-JA-1 H. Dunbar '63-C-2 (JC)
'64-C-5, (JC) Councilor
'65-C-9 '66 - '72-J-8
'73-JA1 '75-J-6

[Jim Culleton]

Mike, I really enjoyed the MHALL clip which you had sent to me earlier. Great job! I believe that I posted a kudos on your YouTube site.

Refresh my memory as to whether we campers (and/or you, Pat, et.al.) ever sang Finnigan's Wake where we all were supposed to clap up until the music stopped. The camper/s caught clapping after the music stopped were obviously given special recognition . . . . . . . sort of like a "verbal" version of the infamous "Bamboo Dance" that Pete Sawin used to do !

If it wasn't Finnigan's Wake it must have been a similar Irish tune??
_________________
'56 - J-9 J. Moulton
'57 - J-11 J. Moulton
'58 - J-4 E. Web Dann, S. Hood
'59 - S-6 P. Leavitt
'60 - S-2 F. Avantaggio
'61 - JA-1 RK Irons
'62 - C-9 JC with P. Freeland
'63 - C-1 JC with S. Borger
'64 - C-6 Councilor

[Mike Freeland]

Nope. Finnegan's wake doesn't ring any bells for me. Nor does the device of clapping after the music was over.

We used to do a "Rock-a-my Soul" (a round) sing-along which included a spoken (shouted) part we came up with just for the BMBs in the audience - "Abraham, Abraham, Abraham YES! / Abraham, Abraham, Abraham NO! (repeat) OH ABRAHAM!" Anyone remember that one?

Was it Pete Sawin who introduced the Bamboo Dance? I remember doing that as a Midget! Didn't that evolve into a 2by4 dance? Whump whump CRACK! Whump Whump CRACK! Whump whump thump! YAHHHHHHHHH!

It really hurt if you missed your step. They told us that, in the original dance, there were knife blades in the bamboos (bambooze? Ahh yes. better). Seems to me the drivers of those 2x4s needed to keep their thumbs out from between the boards too. Hmmm. Somehow I'm reminded of a joke about a camel. You wanted to be damn sure that the guys with the bambooze had at least some sense of rhythm if you were the dancer.

Now I'm reminded of the "Helicopter" sketch. That was always fun. The kids loved it. Trouble was, it was a twice-at-the-most performance per summer (new-camper August kids could get duped, but that was it for the season.)

I digress. Yeah, Jim, you did leave a comment on the Youtube page with MHALL. I appreciate that too.
_________________
'56-C-9 C. Mosher '57-C-9 Bill Feaster
'58-J-14 H. Peavy '59-J-11 G. Wood, C. Duncan
'60-S-8 R. Leavitt, D. Hemphill '61-S-1 E. Slocum
'62-JA-1 H. Dunbar '63-C-2 (JC)
'64-C-5, (JC) Councilor
'65-C-9 '66 - '72-J-8
'73-JA1 '75-J-6

[DavidAyars]

Why, YES!, I do indeed remember, now that you mention it, the "Abraham-Abraham-Abraham YES!" etc. chant. In spite, no doubt, that I was still snickering at the time at the mention of Abraham's bosom.

And it was great to see and hear once again the It's Summertime variation of Mary Had A Little Lamb.

But I'm here to say that through the magic of video editing, we can recreate an MTV-style music video for Mrs. Murphy's Chowder from the soundtrack of Mike's camp video DVD, even if Mike's picking fingers aren't up to that one any more. We'll just dub it in.

I've storyboarded it all out. All you need to do is gather the following props:

One (1) Mike Freeland, with guitar
One (1) Pat Freeland, with furrowed brows
One (1) roaring campfire
One (1) old-timey fountain pen from Bea Stone's desk
One (1) old-fashioned antique car, doesn't really need to be an Austin, preferably not too valuable because it may not work too well after the shoot
Two (2) bakelite plastic cereal/soup style bowls of different pastel hue and One (1) toilet bowl preferably from the Jr-Sr. Pines
One (1) five-gallon tub of Hood's strawberry ice cream and Phil's scoop
Three (3) jars of cold cream, one (1) each from the night tables of Mrs. Bentley, Mrs. Vaughan, and Bea Stone
One (1) five-gallon jerrey can of camp kerosene from the hut by the bubbler outside
One (1) five-gallon jerrey can of gasoline siphoned from BMB's blue Chevy wagon
Eighteen (18 ) two-quart cans o' beans, nine (9) kidney, nine (9) green
Three (3) sheet cakes made following Mrs. Moran's recipe
Six (6) pounds of steak, thawed
Three (3) Stooges, costumed to represent mistakes
Three (3) each bottles of Pepto-Bismol and Haley's M-O and packages of Alka-Seltzer
One (1) tray of Six (6) dozen creampuffs from Kelly's Yum Yum Shop
Twelve (12) pairs of old-fashioned fuzzy, spring-loaded earmuffs, different colors
Twelve (12) silk hats, all different
Twelve (12) door mats of various types
Twelve (12) saggy cots from J-11
Twelve (12) Obama supporters
Twelve (12) cowbells, assorted
Twelve (12) doorbells, assorted
One gross (144) meatballs, hard as marbles
One gross (144) gefilte balls
Twelve hundred (1200) moth balls from the rummage tables at the Huggins Hospital Street Fair
Six (6) cannonballs of varying sizes
A mockup of the Jr-Sr wharf restaged in Winter Harbor with a containing pool filled with chowder into which all of the above shall be dropped from an overhead crane

I've budgeted $6,529,328--it's going to take some coin to get this stuff together now that it's been scattered far and wide--a production crew of eight people and eight days for the shoot and two weeks for professional postproduction. Wait until ice-out to shoot it but do it before June to keep buttinsky bystanders on boats out of it. Let me know when it's done and posted on YouTube. I'm just the idea guy.
_________________
Camper: J-8 1965 (Kevin Ryan), J-8 1966 (Mike Freeland), S-6 1967 (Russ Hatch), S-3 1968 (Jeremy Cripps), and JA-2 1969 (Dan Mannis).
JC: J-2 1970 (Bill Bettison) and J-3 1971 (Gene Comella). Councilor 1972, J-5 1973, and JA-1 1974 & 1975

[Steve Hood]

Dave Ayers just mentioned above about Hood Ice Cream (Strawberry.) Well, I guess enough years have passed that it is ok to tell this story and let the cat out of the bag.
Bailey's used to pride itself on its home-made ice cream. Indeed, it was exceptionally good ice cream. However, it was NOT home made. No, indeed--- It was HOOD ice cream. Bailey's had worked out arrangements so that either they sent trucks to some distant clandestine location, or, the ice cream was secretly smuggled in.
I am sure we all remember how much BMB liked to go to Bailey's for an ice cream soda, milk shake, frappe, etc. And, I remember several times when he told me that he thought Bailey's ice cream was about as good as Hood ice cream. So, as Paul Harvey might have said: "now you know the rest of the story."
_________________
1951: C-9. F. Whitemore, P. Durkee.
1952-53: J-11. E. Wilkins.
1957: S-7 D. Irons, JA
1958: J-4 W.Dann JC
1959: J-1 G.Engstrom JC
1960-61-63: J-6. Councillor
1964: JA-2. Councillor

[Jim Culleton]

Steve

Great post and follow up to Dave Ayars' post! I did not know that Baileys used Hoods ice cream as I always thought that they made their own. However Baileys did not offer a huge flavor selection which lends credence to the "home made" argument! But, then again, might I have seen a "featuring Hoods" sign posted on their take-out window at one point in time? Maybe it's my imagination playing tricks on me again ! Back in the day they also had great burgers and fried clams . . . . . . . . . and a decent juke box that played "Scotch & Soda" by the Kingston Trio!

Did not Wyanoke source its milk and ice cream products from the Wason MacDonald Dairy (Wasmacco) over in Franklin? Come to think of it two Wason boys attended Wyanoke. And here I thought they had the best ice cream!

Dave, you left out the 3 boxes of Kurly Kates we used to use to clean the pans after Thursday cookouts ! Mike will remember those handy dandy scrubbers which were no match for just plain ole Midget Beach sand!
_________________
'56 - J-9 J. Moulton
'57 - J-11 J. Moulton
'58 - J-4 E. Web Dann, S. Hood
'59 - S-6 P. Leavitt
'60 - S-2 F. Avantaggio
'61 - JA-1 RK Irons
'62 - C-9 JC with P. Freeland
'63 - C-1 JC with S. Borger
'64 - C-6 Councilor

[Mike Freeland]

Kurly Kates -- I do indeed remember them. They were excellent for scraping all that unsightly excess epidermis from your thumbs while you washed the pans too. Truly multi-purpose. The sand at Melansen's Beach was a coarse mixture of quartz, orthoclase, pitchblende and mica flakes, and to me it looked EXACTLY like the Ralston Purina hot cereal (Instant Ralston) we used to get from the kitchen. Even with all that soaking, it never got quite as soft as the Ralston though.

Those potatoes at cookout would have been a LOT better if 1) they hadn't been boiled ahead of time and 2) someone had suggested that we put the butter UNDER the potatoes before putting a pan of them over a fire. It's amazing how dumb we were.

I've mentioned milk in the old days before -- I used to love to watch the kitchen guys wham the top of the milk cans off with a shredded Louisville Slugger, then try to "pour" milk from them into 2-quart, light-as-a-feather pitchers (which scrambled away from the milk stream the instant they were touched by it). Some pitchers reaching the table were a quarter full, some so full you couldn't look at them without spilling. I guess there was a lot of waste.

I remember being really disappointed when I got to camp one summer and there was a red, two-quart carton of milk on my table. I loved that bat, and those battered old pitchers!

There were two Wasons I recall, Jonathan and (his brother's name escapes me). Wait. I forget that I have this database. Whoa, the Wasons who passed through camp were:

Earle,
Glen
Grant,
Jonathan and
Scott

Any sisters over at Winnemont?

Five Wasons and only two Hoods (Steve, was William (Junior, 1957 only) related to you?). No wonder they used Wasmacco. Is either Hood or Wasmacco still in existence?

Wasn't at least one of the Wasons a real whiz-bang tennis player? I remember Tommy Mott (Mott's Apple Juice), who was nearly as blonde, as many of the Wasons certainly was. Maybe I'm mistaking them.
_________________
'56-C-9 C. Mosher '57-C-9 Bill Feaster
'58-J-14 H. Peavy '59-J-11 G. Wood, C. Duncan
'60-S-8 R. Leavitt, D. Hemphill '61-S-1 E. Slocum
'62-JA-1 H. Dunbar '63-C-2 (JC)
'64-C-5, (JC) Councilor
'65-C-9 '66 - '72-J-8
'73-JA1 '75-J-6

[DavidAyars]

I'm thinking, "Now how does Steve know that Bailey's secretly used Hood ice cream?... Ooooooooooh..." I hadn't realized before that epiphany... Epiphany is Tiffany's twin sister, by the way... that Steve was from THE Hood family.

I'm not crushed that Mrs. Bailey wasn't out on her back porch cranking the ice cream container in brine day and night all summer, and I'm not surprised that BMB thought Bailey's was "about on a par" with Hood's ice cream. He may have kept making that remark because he wanted to see if Steve would spill the beans and confirm what BMB suspected. It was pretty hard to fool BMB on much of anything, let alone ice cream. I'm sure lots of restaurants and even ice cream shops secretly get their ice cream and other dessert foods from other suppliers.

I remember seeing the big tubs of Hood ice cream in the camp kitchen freezer or counter at least one summer, but I also remember a Wasmacco milk delivery truck parked outside the dining hall, so camp probably drew from both dairies over the years.

I picked Hood ice cream for Mrs. Murphy's Chowder mainly because that was what we always had growing up in the Boston area. I was recently looking at family home movie footage from the mid-60s and noticed a Hood milk home delivery truck stopped a few houses down our street. It would have stopped shortly thereafter to deliver a glass bottle of milk in the aluminum box by our side door. We got Hood ice cream at Stop and Shop.

Yes, the Hood dairy company is still around, and their products remain particularly popular in the Boston area.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Hood
_________________
Camper: J-8 1965 (Kevin Ryan), J-8 1966 (Mike Freeland), S-6 1967 (Russ Hatch), S-3 1968 (Jeremy Cripps), and JA-2 1969 (Dan Mannis).
JC: J-2 1970 (Bill Bettison) and J-3 1971 (Gene Comella). Councilor 1972, J-5 1973, and JA-1 1974 & 1975

[Jim Culleton]

Wow! As often as many of us listened to The Seekers during the 60's it's amazing to look back and say . . . . . . "I wished that I had appreciated them as much then as I do now!" And that is how I feel about the magnificent voice of Judith Durham the lead of The Seekers. If you were listening to the radio in the 60's their songs were being played all the time. Songs like "Georgie Girl"!

Being a folk music nut during the early 60's I loved the Chad Mitchell Trio, Kingston Trio, PP&M, Ian & Sylvia and so many more. We played their records often in the Midget Chapel in Cabintown with Pat & Mike Freeland, Stew Borger and Jeff Fincun among others. But little did we know of The Seekers at that time but they sure would have fit in well! Although The Seekers formed in 1962 it wasn't until '65 that they really made it big. . . . . just after the folk era and during the British Invasion . . .

Here's to The Seekers and Judith Durham who has just turned 74 . . . . . . I wanted to leave this song for all to enjoy! Reminds me a bit of the Chad Mitchell Trio! Thanks again Judith and The Seekers from Australia . . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iqNpAUV6jU

And perhaps one of their most famous from the mid-60's . . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSi_9rI6yNE

Had to include "The Golden Vanity" ~ Chad Mitchell Trio! '62 . . . . . but listened to this one endlessly in the Midget Chapel in '63!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpYUgv1pen4

Oh . . . . and just one more from the Trio . . . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6g0no9S4cA
_________________
'56 - J-9 J. Moulton
'57 - J-11 J. Moulton
'58 - J-4 E. Web Dann, S. Hood
'59 - S-6 P. Leavitt
'60 - S-2 F. Avantaggio
'61 - JA-1 RK Irons
'62 - C-9 JC with P. Freeland
'63 - C-1 JC with S. Borger
'64 - C-6 Councilor

[Jim Culleton]

Here it is 2019 and I never knew that Peter Paul & Mary did a version of "Golden Vanity"! Wow. I have always loved the Chad Mitchell Trio's version but this one is new to me. Love it!

I dedicate it to both Mike & Pat Freeland who first introduced me to this song in 1963 . . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mnTrFaYpF4
_________________
'56 - J-9 J. Moulton
'57 - J-11 J. Moulton
'58 - J-4 E. Web Dann, S. Hood
'59 - S-6 P. Leavitt
'60 - S-2 F. Avantaggio
'61 - JA-1 RK Irons
'62 - C-9 JC with P. Freeland
'63 - C-1 JC with S. Borger
'64 - C-6 Councilor

[DavidAyars]

That's a good 'un, Jim, though I still prefer the higher energy of the Chad Mitchell Trio. PP&M may have been puffing the magic dragon when they recorded their take, as it's a little dreamy. Still good though.

I did not realize until just now, reading up at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sweet_Trinity, that the song The Golden Vanity dates back to at least 1635. Back then it was about Sir Walter Raleigh's cabin boy wreaking havoc on a ship called The Sweet Trinity. The tune was different then, but the song about two ships and a cabin boy go back that far. Since that time there have been many versions of lyrics featuring ships of different nationalities and varying outcomes. Now that's a folk song! In some versions, both ships sink and everybody drowns, raising the question: How did people know what happened so they could write a song about it??

Every time I hear The Golden Vanity I picture not only Mike & Pat at campfire but also Walt Scheirer in the Chapel strummin' his autoharp.

Thanks to all for all the great music.
_________________
Camper: J-8 1965 (Kevin Ryan), J-8 1966 (Mike Freeland), S-6 1967 (Russ Hatch), S-3 1968 (Jeremy Cripps), and JA-2 1969 (Dan Mannis).
JC: J-2 1970 (Bill Bettison) and J-3 1971 (Gene Comella). Councilor 1972, J-5 1973, and JA-1 1974 & 1975