The Ancient Black Knight Takes the Road to Belleville...Later Joined by Friends

In 2023, a group of alumni from the Black Knights Drum and Bugle Corps of Belleville, Illinois, was searching for repertoire to play at the annual corps reunion in August. The group learned that spring that three rope-tension drums, two snares and a bass, would be available. The music staff created an antiphonal version of Joe Fontana’s medley of "The Army 2/4," variations thereof, and "Crazy Army" to illustrate the contrast between a (relatively) contemporary drum and the rope-tensioned drums. Its title became "The Road to Belleville." That antiphonal version is the second half of this video, which was made on 25 August 2023. The personnel left to right are James Middleton, 79, from Snellville, Georgia, Black Knights 1958-1964; Dan Etling, 69, from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, 1970-1972; Randy Haege, 66, from Oxnard, California, 1971-1975; and Roger Willis, 77, from Pearland, Texas, 1962-1963. We of the Ancient and Honorable Drummers of the Black Knights were delighted to play music in the Ancient style. Our only training in our youth was in drum corps. Living in the insulated Midwest, we couldn’t understand how a seven-stroke roll could ever occupy only an eighth note (before the release note). It had to be a dotted eighth! Other drummers who have had only drum-corps training might be interested in learning about Ancient Rudimental Drumming from the web site at this link http://ancients.sudburymuster.org/mus... "The Army 2/4" was used to accompany “The Road to Boston,” a popular tune originating from the time of the Revolutionary War. Over time, "The Army 2/4" even came to be known as “The Road to Boston.” The melody of “The Road to Boston” also works for the variations and for "Crazy Army," which is yet another variation of "The Army 2/4." Roger Willis created a synthesized fife arrangement of “The Road to Boston” that would fit the arrangement from the 2023 Black Knight reunion. It is this version which is heard in the first half of this video. When the synthesized music ends, the drumming continues with quotations from the two best known street beats played by the Black Knights during the early 1960’s, followed by the roll-off used for many seasons. The complete street beats can be accessed elsewhere in this channel. The uniform is a replica of the one designed by the corps’ director, Forrest Creson, in 1957. The solo video was recorded on 3 June 2026 and made public on 2 July 2026. July 2, 2026 is the 86th anniversary of the birth of Daniel Kammler, drum instructor of the Belleville Black Knights in the late 1950's and early 1960's. The sheet music for the solo version is available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/17Nqr... Commentary on the ensemble version can be found in the original full video entitled "5 The Road to Belleville, August 25, 2023." A score to the ensemble version is available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xwbq...