The University of Georgia & its Lost Fight Song, the "Red and Black March"

It turns that the fight song of the University of Georgia, "Glory, Glory to Old Georgia," was not the original tune played by the University's marching band at school events. After being lost for 100 years, the newly re-discovered fight song "Red and Black March" will now be back on the play list at football games and other sporting events (1). Where was the song found? On eBay for $12.50. How did it get there? It was posted by a woman who ran a music store in North Dakota. When asked how she acquired the piece, she said she wasn't sure, and guessed that she had bought while traveling in the South (2). The song, "Red and Black March," was written in 1908 (3) by R. E. Haughey for the military band that was the precursor to today's Redcoat Marching Band (1.) In fact, Haughey helped start the Redcoats, and directed the band for five years as a volunteer, before retiring (4).

In a history of the Redcoat Band, written in 1962, the author, Andrew Davidson, said that he asked Haughey about what had happened to the song. Haughey said that he did not have a copy, and that any other copies that had existed were lost.

Georgia owes a lot to Davidson for his work in documenting this information. If not for Davidson's attempt at finding where the music went, and the fact that he recorded his failure to do so in his book, there would be no recorded history of this piece of music (2). Without Davidson's history of the band, there would be no way to know the significance of this discovery (3). What makes this interview even luckier is that Haughey passed away in 1963, only one year later (4).

Lloyd Winstead, a former member of the Redcoats and a member of the UGA staff, made the lucky find (3). He came across the eBay listing while searching for old college songbooks that might aid him in writing his dissertation (2). He bought the sheet music, and promptly donated it to the University's library (3).

The sheet music comes along with a cover that features a photograph of the band, a drawing of the UGA arch, and a drawing of a young woman. This priceless document will be safely stored in the University's Hargrett Rare Book & Manuscript library (4).

However, there are some obstacles that must be overcome before the Redcoat Marching Band can play the piece at a UGA football game. The music is written for piano, so it will have to be written so it is suitable for a band to play (2). The orchestra is so big, that, according to band director John Lynch, not only will parts need to be written for each of the 10 instruments represented in the band, but multiple parts will need to be written for each type of instrument (1).

The march itself is sprightly and bouncy. It is not the rigid, militaristic march that one might expect given the band that it was written for and the time when it was written. Music professor Martha Thomas tried the piece out on piano. The video recording of her rendition of the lost fight song can be found here, on UGA's Public Affairs webpage.

So, alongside "Glory, Glory to Old Georgia" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," Georgia fans will be cheering to a new fight song this football season. Several of Thomas' colleagues in the music school have commented on how they like the music. Hopefully the "Red and Black March" will be a new crowd favorite.

Sources:

(1) Shearer, Lee. "Old UGA fight song on the 'March' again." Athens Banner-Herald 27 June 2008.

(2) Stancil, Miranda. "Old march recovered from eBay." Red and Black 12 June 2008.

(3) Toondawg."The long-lost "Red & Black March" performed on piano."The Anti-Orange Page 19 June 2008.

(4) Starrs, Chris. "UGA band once marched to a different tune." Athens Banner-Herald 4 June 2008.