The Big Brown Music Machine's sound reverberates through CSULB history
The scene: A sunny morning on New Year’s Day, 1977 with 1 million-plus spectators crowding Pasadena for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
The sights: A throng of Cal State Long Beach student musicians bedecked in ivory white uniforms, accented with rich brown elements.
The sounds: Pure sonic energy. Brass, woodwind and percussion instruments forming the notes of “Rhapsody in Blue,” a wordless declaration that the marching band – known to those in the know as the “Big Brown Music Machine” – deserved the national spotlight.
The Big Brown Music Machine – the name refers to the campus’ original colors of brown and gold – was part of campus life for more than three decades. Established for football games and other events, the ensemble performed several major events over its existence and is part of The Beach’s history of musical excellence.
“The Big Brown Music Machine was around at the earliest stages on campus,” said Jermie Arnold, director of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music. “They were at the time one of the largest, if not the largest, collegiate bands in Southern California.”
The limelight
Long Beach State’s football team debuted in 1955 and claimed its first victory – a “romp” in The Forty-Niner's phrasing – in its second game. Students and fans would have to wait, however, for a bona fide marching band to accompany game revelries.
Indeed, an April 30, 1958, column in the student newspaper headlined "Who is to blame?" lamented the lack of a uniformed band. The campus of some 9,100 students had money for band garb, but administrators were hesitant to buy uniforms amid doubts that there would be enough student musicians to wear them.
History, as recorded by The Forty-Niner, shows there was no need to worry. The band outfitted 65 members in “smart new uniforms” in time for its October 1958 debut. The Big Brown Music Machine had more than 100 members in its ranks within two years and in 1965, played for audiences watching the NFL Pro Bowl at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. A year later, Hollywood composer Jerry Goldsmith served as guest conductor during the homecoming game.
The band’s growth continued. The 1970 edition of the campus yearbook, “The Prospector,” declared the “49ers boast largest band on West Coast” in an item recounting the 170-member band’s performances at a pair of NFL games that may have earned an audience of some 30 million viewers.
The Big Brown Music Machine had, according to the Daily Forty-Niner, a reported membership of 300 musicians in 1977, the year that began at the Rose Parade. Moving on to 1978, the band performed at Dodger Stadium for the National League Championship Series and World Series.
"I was a freshman trumpet player in the BBMM in 1978 and had the opportunity to play for those games," Kurt Curtis '83 said. "The experience was absolutely exhilarating. Performing the pregame on the field for a packed stadium of fans was a memory none of the band members will ever forget."
Simply put, the Big Brown Music Machine was in demand.
“It really gave a great deal of respect to the university,” Curtis said. “I think everywhere we went, people responded well.”
Curtis attended The Beach while his father, Larry Curtis, served as band director. The younger Curtis played with dozens of trumpet players, two of whom were his roommates. The younger Curtis said he received no favoritism from his father and for himself, he wanted to play well as “one cog in the machine.”
“Because the band was so good, I think we all felt it was part of something special,” Curtis said.
Reverberations
Long Beach State’s football team played through the 1991 season. More than 30 football players and coaches are enshrined in the Athletics’ Hall of Fame and among them, linebacker Dan Bunz, punter Mike Horan, wide receiver Mark Seay and defensive back Jeff Severson all made it to the Super Bowl after going pro.
Seay enrolled after surviving a shooting that left a bullet lodged near his heart and having a go at a professional baseball career in the Texas Rangers farm system. Deciding that football was his true athletic calling, a friend’s invitation led him to Long Beach.
"It was great,” said Seay, who played in the 1994 Super Bowl with the San Diego Chargers. “The fans you're playing for are in the Cal State Long Beach community. You're talking about the student body."
During his years at Long Beach State, Seay played with head coaches George Allen, now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his coaching achievements, and Willie Brown, enshrined before coming to The Beach for his playing feats with the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders.
Seay was also teammates with running back Terrell Davis, who went on to finish his collegiate career with the University of Georgia. Davis won two Super Bowls with the Broncos and is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Big Brown Music Machine alumni also continued to play music after their college years. Curtis, for example, went on to work as a conductor at Disneyland and he said several band members have served as music educators at schools around Southern California.
Today, The Beach enrolls nearly 500 music majors, and almost 200 of them are involved in campus bands, one of which is Beach Band. Also known as the “pep band,” this ensemble performs at Walter Pyramid when the men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball teams are on the court.
For the past two years, Beach Band has operated in a partnership between Athletics, the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music and Associated Students, Inc. The arrangement enables student musicians who dedicate themselves to energizing Beach athletes and fans to receive scholarships.
“I hope it reinforces that they’re learning in their music classes,” Arnold said. “I hope they’re seeing how music can positively influence a lot of things in life.”
Beach Band’s setlist spans from classic rock tunes like Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4” to pop hits like Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” or Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” The ensemble’s nearly 30 musicians include Nick Ortiz, a fourth-year music major who plays an instrument similar to the French horn called the mellophone.
“When we have close games and everyone’s on their feet, that’s when Walter Pyramid really comes alive,” said Nick Ortiz, a fourth-year music major and member of the Beach Band.
