I learned last evening that Fred Crosier, North Adams, MA, had passed away at age 104. Thanks to and accompanied by Kirk Bauer, I met and talked with Fred last spring. Fred Crosier was a member of the Drury High School band that in 1924 made a monumental trip to New York City. While some of the band toured the SS Leviathan, largest passenger ship in the world, a much smaller contingent recorded an Edison Diamond Disc, 300 of which were pressed. The entire band gave live concerts and broadcast over two radio stations during the three day trip. They were feted by the mayor of NY, quite an achievement for what was then the largest high school band in the country, probably even greater than when Sousa conducted the band a year earlier. Although Fred could not recall for sure if he'd been part of the recording ensemble, he noted that he held the first clarinet chair so it is quite likely that he was there and so we may have lost not only the last surviving member of that historic Drury High School Band but also probably the last person to record acoustically for Edison.
With sadness, Ron L'Herault _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list http://phono-l.org
