Birth of the Band
(Excerpted from "Play the Music, Play!" by Brindley Boon)
The respectable citizens of Salisbury had had enough. For six months the quiet atmosphere of that West England City had been disturbed by a group of 'hooligans' who, 'under the cloak of religion' had dared to sing and preach in the market-place...
One Sunday evening the crowd gathered in the market-place received a shock. With the Salvationists stood four men, each playing a brass instrument - two cornets, a valve trombone and euphonium. The onlookers could not believe their eyes or ears. Those who imagined that this innovation would drive but another nail in the coffin of The Salvation Army spoke without knowledge, for from that quartet of musicians grew the world-wide fraternity which now numbers tens of thousands.
The instrumentalists were Charles Fry and his three sons, Fred, Ernest and Bert. Their appearance was not a part of a preconceived plan of William Booth. They had not been sent from the London Headquarters; there had been no order that brass bands should be formed. The first Salvation Army band came into being because the Fry family responded to the need for a bodyguard to defend the pioneers from tough handling by the supposedly respectable citizens. That the father and his sons played musical instruments was not of paramount importance. The fact that they were militant Christians was of far greater consequence.
Thus the pattern and priority of Army banding were established.
The respectable citizens of Salisbury had had enough. For six months the quiet atmosphere of that West England City had been disturbed by a group of 'hooligans' who, 'under the cloak of religion' had dared to sing and preach in the market-place...
One Sunday evening the crowd gathered in the market-place received a shock. With the Salvationists stood four men, each playing a brass instrument - two cornets, a valve trombone and euphonium. The onlookers could not believe their eyes or ears. Those who imagined that this innovation would drive but another nail in the coffin of The Salvation Army spoke without knowledge, for from that quartet of musicians grew the world-wide fraternity which now numbers tens of thousands.
The instrumentalists were Charles Fry and his three sons, Fred, Ernest and Bert. Their appearance was not a part of a preconceived plan of William Booth. They had not been sent from the London Headquarters; there had been no order that brass bands should be formed. The first Salvation Army band came into being because the Fry family responded to the need for a bodyguard to defend the pioneers from tough handling by the supposedly respectable citizens. That the father and his sons played musical instruments was not of paramount importance. The fact that they were militant Christians was of far greater consequence.Thus the pattern and priority of Army banding were established.
