1st Michigan Colonial Fife & Drum Corps and Friends - Love Forever - The Sweetness of Mary Review

Earlier this week when began closing in on that all important 400th review here at Viewpoints, I started thinking about the subject matter for this very important event.  This review will change my status on this site that I'm so happy and proud to be part of so I knew it must be about something very special and personal and only one thing fits that bill.  I apologize in advance as this one could get long, but the subject is close to my heart and soul and I must tell the full story.

This review is about the CD I had the honor and pleasure to record in November of 2005.  That CD is called Love Forever - The Sweetness of Mary.

A little background info: I spent the years between age 12 and 20 and a few years in between playing with a local Revolutionary War musical re-enactment group called the 1st Michigan Colonial Fife & Drum Corps.  During those years I spent countess hours and days dressed as a Colonial American soldier marching all around the state of Michigan, the east coast, and the UK playing my fife with my friends.  Really good times, incredible memories.

The 1st Michigan was like my second family.  In fact, I often turned down doing things with my real family because I loved the 1st Michigan so much.  The camaraderie and friendships were awesome, but it was the music that tugged at me.  It was always in my brain, in my blood, in my very soul and remains there to this day over 20 years after I first began playing.  It's part of me like my arm or my leg. 

But the 1st Michigan truly was a family for me and for most of its members.  The head of our corps family was our director, Mark Logsdon, and his beautiful wife, Mary.  They started the corps back in 1975 to accomplish Mark's dream.  Mark is still the director and driving force of the talented musicians who still play in the corps today more than 30 years later. 

Most of us had our biological moms, but Mary was like our second mom.  She was top mom on trips and the go-to lady for anything one of us kids needed whether it was a Band-Aid, a uniform part, a big warm hug, or a shoulder to cry on.  Even when members left the corps we kept in touch with our second mom and she always had time for us.  I don't know where she found the time or energy but she was always there, always the most caring woman I've ever known, always smiling and passing out the best hugs. 

But unfortunately Mary was not immortal.  In the late 90's she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  She fought the battle valiantly and her family, biological and otherwise, rallied around her.  When she was too ill to travel with the corps someone would hold call her on their cell phone and they'd hold it up in the air so she could hear the music at home and have that long distance connection with her "kids". 

She fought long and hard but in April 2002, just a day after her 53rd birthday, Mary succumbed to the illness.  We lost a great, great lady that day.  It was the most painful loss I've yet experienced in my life and there truly is not a day when I do not think about her.  

Which leads me, finally, to the subject of this review.  Yes, I do have a point and I thank you for indulging me by reading all of this. 

In November 2004 current members and alumni of the 1st Michigan collaborated with friends of the fife and drum community from across the nation to record Love Forever - The Sweetness of Mary.  We spent several hours one day at a beautiful old church in Detroit with amazing accoustics and played our hearts out in honor of our mom Mary.  We recorded 29 songs in total, most of which were Mary's favorites, but one or two she had never heard as they were written in her honor after her death. 

Although the corps plays only music known to be written in the 18th century there is one beautiful song titled The Sweetness of Mary that was so beautiful and haunting and became a tribute to Mary.  It was not written in the 18th century and is the one exception to the historically accurate rule.  And since it's a CD of Mary's favorite tunes, there are a few others like Dixie and Battle Hymn of the Republic.  A bagpiper joined us for a lovely and long rendition of Amazing Grace that gives me chills every time I hear it.  The other songs on the CD are awesome as well and range from fast to slow and everywhere in between. 

I know I'm biased as this CD is a part of me, but it truly is an excellent musical achievement from a collaborative standpoint as well as in capturing history for future generations.  The sound is fantastic.  The balance between the fifes and the drums is absolutely perfect and one of the best fife and drum recordings I've ever heard.  The corps made three previous recordings but I feel that this one is the best.  Not just because I actually played on this CD but because everything about it is absolutely perfect.  It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I'm immensely proud of this recording and everything it stands for.   

Although the CD was important to Mary's family and extended family from a grieving and healing perspective, it's special for an additional reason - proceeds from the sale of this CD are donated to the Gail Purtan Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit, Michigan. 

Love Forever - The Sweetness of Mary can be purchased from the 1st Michigan online store at 1stmichigan.com.