Rutgers Glee Club - 100 Years of Football
*special thanks once again to KL from NYC for this gem
KL said that his cover was too ugly or worn out to include so I have chosen the group photo of Rutgers Glee Club to use as the "cover".
This LP was released in 1969 to celebrate the centennial of college football. Rutgers and Princeton are reported to have played the first official tackle football game among institutions of higher education on November 8, 1869 which apparently is why Rutgers is celebrating 100 years of football.
The Rutgers Glee Club is renowned worldwide and yes even better, it has its own page on Wikipedia so you know Rutgers Glee Club is big time if it's on Wikipedia. Rutgers Glee Club was founded in 1872, 3 years after it played the first college football game. It is the 8th oldest glee club in America.
Rutgers Glee Club's repertoire mostly consisted of songs that celebrated school spirit. All of side 2 of this LP has those songs. The first side has renditions of other schools' songs for some reason along with some drinking songs. At the time when this LP was recorded and released, F. Austin "Soup" Walter was the director of Rutgers Glee Club. "Soup" made Rutgers Glee Club a glee club powerhouse and he directed it for 52 years. I have not found out how he got his nickname. I did find a website about Soup that is informative except for the story of his nickname. The drinking songs are a blast and I enjoy those the most. Steven M. Wolf says in the liner notes that "the music embodies the competitive energy and spirit of a sport that, perhaps stronger than ever, celebrates its one hundredth birthday." Who am I to argue?
Rutgers Glee Club is still active in the present. Like this blog, Rutgers Glee Club displays excellence except that it has displayed excellence a lot longer than this blog. Please enjoy this piece of lighthearted entertainment celebrating the school spirit and the top activity of collegiate life.
Tracklisting: (link will be back soon)
Side 1
ALMA MATERS
1. Old Nassau [Princeton] {0:42}
2. San Souci [Columbia] {1:19}
3. High Above Cayugas Waters [Cornell] {1:43}
4. Navy Blue and Gold [Navy] {1:23}
5. Army Blue [Army] {1:40}
DRINKING SONGS
6. Gaudeamus Igitur {1:24}
Old German Melody
7. Landlord, Fill the Flowing Bowl {1:44}
Traditional Drinking Song
8. Eastern Drinking Song {2:06}
F. Mendelssohn
9. Drinking Song from "The Student Prince" {1:30}
S. Romberg
10. Down Among the Dead Men {1:34}
English Student Song
11. I Know a Tavern from the "Peasant Cantata" {1:56}
J. S. Bach
Side 2
SONGS OF RUTGERS
1. A Rutgers Toast {1:45}
2. Hail Mother {1:52}
3. Loyal Sons {2:33}
4. Down Where the Raritan Flows {2:31}
5. The Old Queens Bell {1:59}
6. The Rutgers History Lesson {2:24}
7. We Sing Thy Praise, Old Rutgers {2:47}
8. A Hymn to Queens {2:30}
9. On the Banks of the Old Raritan {1:38}
10. Vive Les Rutgers' Sons {0:34}
