Drum Major: Steve Smith
St. Rita's Brassmen
Drum Major
’71 –‘73
Steve
Smith grew up in Oceanside, Long
Island, and his first exposure to Drum Corp happened when he was only 10. One of
his friends invited him down to an Oceanside Legionnaires rehearsal since he was
playing the trumpet in the elementary school band. It was a parade corp back
then, and he wound up playing third soprano. “Sort of the norm for a 10 year
old. A few years later, he wound up with braces in his mouth and that pretty
much killed his lip for playing
soprano ,” So he
switched to baritone which worked better. The Legionnaire went on to do M&M and
in 1967 at the ripe ago of 16 some of the older kids had moved on to the
Sunrisers Senior Corp (AKA
Risers) and enticed him to go along with them. Since he was playing, the tuba in
high school by then, he jumped at the chance to go to the
Sunriser's and play contra. Wow he was
in the big time now and have to say “ I think we were one of the best
contra sections in senior corp at the time ”. Steve went on to do 3
seasons with the Riser's winning the American Legion National Title in
1968, but there was one thing left in the drum corps world that he so
longed to do.
Be a Drum Major!
The remainder of this bio is in Steve’s own words…
About that time, one of my old friends in Oceanside, Howie Jensen, had joined St Rita's and his Dad was getting involved. Howie Sr. knew of my desire to be a drum major, so he talked to Carman and got me an invite to come on down. I rememberthe first night I walked into the St Rita's Youth Center. Here I was the white kid for Long Island let alone from the Sunriser's, entering the world of Hy and Carmen with their strong Skyliner heritage, meeting with Carmen to find out he'd like me to join the corp and share DM duties with Rick Bub, one of St Rita's own. Wow did I feel awkward. You know, it took a while, but looking back, all my friends in St Rita have made me feel at home. I did my part at Bingo and remember how the crowd loved it when you'd say "B1".
Sunday
afternoons at the freezing 59th Street Armory lead to
my first season,
Evening With the Corps
at Madison Garden, Felt Forum
in New York City and showing the world just what
Carman, Hy, Eric,
and all of us could do!!
We had our difficulties over my 3 years with the
Brassmen,
but some of my more memorable high point was at the US Open in Marion,
Ohio. We were on the field waiting to perform in the finals in front of
about 10-15,000 people. Dr.
Bernard Baggs, the esteemed judge, walked up to me and said,
"It's a great night",
which was his way of saying knock'um dead and we did. We did not
win, but I will never forget trooping the stands with the entire stadium
standing. Wow! My other high was the first time I have to be a DM at "The
Dream" in Jersey City, New Jersey. Thinking of the legendary drum majors
who had lead their corps into battle there. I was so honored to do it with
"The Brassmen". The biggest low I
can remember was losing to the Bridgemen at the World Open my last year
by less than a point. I like most of us just could not hold it. I remember
sitting in the bus just crying. It was too much to take. I know we all felt the
same, and that is what made
The Brassmen
such a tight group…we did it all together.
After the ‘73 season, I went back to Missouri to finish college, married
my girl, and moved on with life, eventually joined the
Air Force
and did 22 1/2 years serving my country. I left the
USAF
in late 1997 and settled here in Missouri. My wife passed in 1998, but we had a
beautiful daughter who is now 26years old and did her time in both her
high school and college bands, playing French horn and doing guard. She knows
and appreciates her fathers drum corp
experiences, and our life has reflected both our musically experiences.
Today I am remarried and between our 4 kids, we have 5 grand-kids. I work in
the transportation industry and still listen to the drum corps of old.
A few years back when
I first heard the recordings from the show "Blast", I was so excited to here a
passage from the famous Skyliner traffic jam pass through
one of their numbers. It made me instantly think of Hy Dreitzer.
Wow… what a fabulous person he was.
Hy, Carman, Eric, and all the St Rita's team will always be the best.
Congrat's to the
Alumni Corp.
Brassmen
forever!
Your
Friend in Drum Corp
Steve
Smith