In another thread, Bob Shreffler noted that instruction of drum lines also made an impact on corps performance.
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And the same points could be made about drum lines. Float's lines played lots of notes and flashy stick stuff, while Fred Sanford's were more musical but not nearly as rudimental. Phantom's timpani lines were always incredible. The mid-70s Cavalier lines played more notes than the rest of the top 12 combined, but not with the musicality, and because of the different, higher stick style, with a very different sound. In earlier times, Boston's drum lines played some really strange stuff, later continued by North Star.
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My reaction: Bob is right about Tom Float and Fred Sanford. Phantom was good in many respects and Cavies was be good in musicality with Dan Spalding. Boston did some crazy rhythmic stuff when Jerry Shellmer was there. North Star was often awesome.

Of course, the same is true of Norwood Park. In 1955, the cops hired Frank Aresnault (a famous eastern rudimental drummer) to teach the corps drum drum line. Their scores improved dramatically. Later, Dick Brown was the instructor and the scores (and musicality) improved.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

Yes Dave, I didn't mean to leave out the drummers or drum instructors. It's just that a corps could be easier identified by it's brass section for a variety of obvious reasons.

For the drum sections and instructors of note that had dramatic impacts on the activity, one many you must include is Larry McCormick. He revolutionized how the Cavaliers played percussion and the competition followed in their footsteps. He had a great writing style for his time.

Another you can't leave out under any circumstances is Al LeMert. He was instrumental in establishing the Kilts drum lines in 68 and 69, as well as many other corps including DP Vanguard, Troopers and many, many others. He was product development director at Ludwig Drums and during his 20 or so years there created many new configurations for marching percussion including, marching tympani, triple tenors, multiple bass drums (flap jacks), the floating snare bed, vistalite drums, cutaway tenors, and many improvements too numerous to mention, which he often tested with his Kilt lines of the late 60s. Later on, before his death, Al founded Silver Fox Inc. which produced some incredibly good sticks and mallets. Please don't forget his and Larry's contributions to the activity.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

Jerry, of course the main impact of a corps is the music as presented by the brass. No problem with that.

Also, you are very correct about the impact of Larry McCormick and Al LeMert. Two great contributors.
I knew them both.

Larry McCormick did have a great impact on the Cavaliers and also many other corps, especially with his writing and music sales.

Al Lemert was a great drum person .. instructor, judge, mentor (and to me) and innovator. Certainly miss him (and his humor)!

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

Yes, All designed and produced all of the Silver Fox sticks and mallets Bob. I too used his products with my band. I loved his snare sticks and tenor mallets. I learned a great deal about tuning drums from Al when he was director of Guardsmen. During drill practice he would teach me a great deal and show me how to individually tune each drum in the line so they were independently tonal. He was very much into tonal drumming. He taught me so much that I carried it into my band and taught the drum section, as I had originally started as a drummer before I mover over to brass. My drum section won the state drum title 4 out of 6 years until I finally farmed it out and just taught the winds. Much of that success can be traced to Al LeMert.

As for the vistalite drums, yeah they were a piece of work but they were a unique invention at the time and Al came up with quite a few unique inventions and improvements that the entire activity profited from.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

We might as well ask all the drummers .... WHICH drum line do you think was "the best"?

But, we probably have to divide this a bit ... (I don't really agree that rudimental proficiency means that you can't be musical, it does depend on the charts)

Best RUDIMENTAL lines
Best MUSICAL lines
Best lines with IMPACT

So, what do YOU think?

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

Here are some "first pass" thoughts:

Rudimental excellence:
. Blessed Sacrament 1960s
. Cavaliers 1960s
. Anaheim Kingsmen 1970-72
. Santa Clara 1970s
. Madison Scouts 1970s
. Blue Stars 1970s
. Blue Devils 1970s and 1980s

Music excellence:
. Santa Clara (Fred Sanford years)
. Cavaliers (1976 ff) with Dan Spalding & Gus Barbaro
. Phantom Regiment 1970s

Impact:
. Anaheim Kingsmen 1971-72
. Boston Crusaders 1960s
. Blue Devils - always
. Spirit of Atlanta, 1980s

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

God, I wish I could remember all of the drum lines that impressed me since I became involved in the activity. I think we need to look at stylistic interpretation with the musical drum lines. Some lines went into new territory and were more inventive throughout the decades but weren't necessarily the "cleanest" lines, so where do we draw the line. Same aspects as musicality in horn lines.

But as a first run at this I will try to throw together a few lines that many might agree with and some will disagree with.

Rudimental Drumming:
Cavaliers 60s
Blessed Sac 60s
Boston Crusaders 60s - early 70s
Anaheim Kingsmen 70s
Santa Clara Vanguard 70s
27th Lancers Late 70s
Blue Devils 80s
Oakland Crusaders Mid-late 70s with Tom Float


Musical/Stylistic Drumming
Bridgemen 70s and early 80s
Kilties late 60s w/Al Lemert 70s Scotch Style w/Tom Sorenson and Jerry Kerby
Santa Clara Vanguard 70s & 80s
Anaheim Kingsmen 70s
Blue Devils 80s - now
Star of Indiana late 80s
Garfield Cadets 80s & 90s
Phantom Regiment 70s & 80 & present
Cavaliers Jim Campbell years


Impact/Power Drumming
Boston Crusaders Jerry Selmer years
Santa Clara All the Sanford years They were THUNDER in Fanfare and Allegro!
Muchachos Late 70s
Blue Devils 80s - now
Cavaliers Jim Campbell Years
Des Plaines Vanguard 60s & early 70s
Spirit of Atlanta late 70s - early 80s
Bridgemen late 70s
27th Lancers 70s

This is my first list. I will dwell on the topic and reserve the right to add more and maybe subtract or reposition line in the categories.

What did you do in the Corps? Brass Instructor, Corps Manager

RUDIMENTAL
Cavaliers - 60s and into the 70s
Boston - just some crazy, impossibly tough stuff through the years, especially the 60s
Oakland Crusaders - another Tom Float line

MUSICAL
Santa Clara Vanguard, undoubtedly and always the best. Listen to their stuff from the early 70s, when everyone still carried their timpani, and it's amazing to think it was four guys splitting those things instead of one playing a concert set

POWER
Everyone on the Illinois Top 4 album. It might not have been musical, but it sure was fun! I have ALWAYS said I should have been born 10 years earlier for drum corps.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

I posted this on the "musical selections" thread (due to drum solos), but some of the comments belong here too.....

I LOVED that "Green Soul" Cavalier drum solo (1974-75)! That was creative and a good example of rudimental drumming which was also very musical.

BTW.. ALL of Boston's drum work in that time period (mid-to- late 1960s and even early 70s, with Jerry Shellmer) was amazing. Frequent use of unusual time signatures, intriguing rhythmic patterns, challenging inter-segmental stuff and extreme rudimental demands on the players. This was especially true in their drum solos. What is most amazing is that, even with this, they were usually the top scoring drum line.

This was usually the case with SAC as well. In their prime, they had extremely challenging stuff, mostly in the solos. They were ALWAYS at the top in drum execution.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63