| Golden Memories | SWD International Quartet Champions |
| the society began teaching it. The Confederates
also helped them with this skill, being masters of it themselves. Many
ever-glows were spent with the Lads and other quartetters working the finer
points of expanded sound in hotel rooms till dawn.
In their very first contest they attempted to qualif~ for the 1955 International by having to drive 1500 miles round-trip from Albuquerque to the San Antonio prelims. They drove all night through heavy storms to arrive and check in about 1:30 in the morning before the contest. The Regional contests were not kind to the Lads and it was indeed tough competition at the Southwestern District prelims. They did well but were named as alternates behind the Deseriaires (who placed 7th at International that summer) and the Four Hearsemen (who won the 1955 International). It was a long drive home. They must have been doing something right because they won the district championship on November 5th, 1955 on the stage of El Paso's historic Liberty Hall in only their second contest. They won despite a partially collapsed lung suffered by tenor Don Pitts the morning of the contest. It was appropriate that they sang whoop-Tee-Do as their acceptance song. Still fighting that regional contest jinx, The Lads |
qualified but came in second to the Desertaires.
That summer (1956) they leaped over them and placed 3rd (in their very
first International) while the Desertaires placed 9th. The next year the
Gaynotes beat them in the Prelims but the Lads qualified by placing second.
That summer of '57 in Los Angeles Danny Aycock remembered the three days of competition as pure work mixed with some confusion and chaos. Their hotel reservation got messed up and the Lads' entourage of family and friends ended up having to stay at a litfie, off-the-beaten path hotel called the Gates (also referred to as a "dump"). Aside from being scattered on separate floors and a bell boy who couldn't comprehend the idea of "clean shirts", the Lads braved it all and focused on the job at hand. The Lads were innovative in their song selection and introduced several new songs to the society. In the quarter-finals they sang two unique numbers: Ro-Ro-Rollin' Along, borrowed from the Sweet Adelines Big Four quartet and rearranged by Floyd Connett, and Hal Staab's arrangement o~ere's a Rose on Your Cheek. In the semi-finals they sang My Indiana Home, and Love Me and The World Is Mine which became a hit and was repeated by many of those who were in |
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How It All Began Chapters Chapter Histories International Quartet Champions Choruses Administration
Contests and Conventions Registered Quartets Publications Recognitions In Conclusion