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Col. Earl D. Irons



 
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A. Keith Amstutz
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2019 7:53 am    Post subject: Col. Earl D. Irons Reply with quote

Col. Earl Irons died on May 19th, 1967. Noted cornetist, pedagog, composer, and clinician, Col. Irons had a major role in the careers of many cornet and trumpet artists. His 27 Groups of Exercises is still a major book on lip flexibility and multiple tonguing. I was his last student. RIP, Col.
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Irving
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2019 8:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

" He played in theaters and toured the country with bands and orchestras. During World War I, he served in an Army band and studied in the U.S. Army Band School."

Colonel is a pretty high rank for being a musician in the army. He must have been proud to have attained Colonel as he kept using his title throughout his life. Apparently he got hit in the mouth with a golf ball, and had to start from scratch. Maybe his book was a result of that challenge.
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A. Keith Amstutz
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2019 3:27 pm    Post subject: Col.Earl D. Irons Reply with quote

Col. Irons wrote his flexibility book many years before his tragic accident which all but ended his ability to perform. He was close friends with both Herbert L Clarke and Frank Simon who used his method and book in their studios. Two of my teachers, Byron Autrey and John Haynie were students of Col. Irons and they always had a copy of “27 Groups of Exercises” close at hand. I was hired to replace Col. Irons at Arlington State College (Univ. Of Texas, Arlington) when he retired in 1964.
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2019 3:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unless I am wrong, it is virtually impossible for a performing musician in the military to become a colonel, much less an officer.

The officer ranks are only available to band leaders, which he may have been. Still, even then in his era, even a commissioned bandleader to be a colonel was rare.

As an alternative, unless he was a band leader, the term "colonel" is honorific in some cultures, particularly southern.
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coraltrpt
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2019 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Found this:

"Earl Irons attained the title, "Colonel," when he was made Lt. Colonel on the staff of Governor of Texas by Governor James V. Allred. "Colonel" was presented with an honorary Doctor of Music degree in February 1942 by the Zoellner Conservatory of Music, Hollywood, California. He became a member of the American Bandmasters Associatiosn in 1936, and from 1940 through 1948 he was a member of the ABA Board of Directors. He was elected Vice-President in February 1950 and President in 1951. Colonel was made an honorary member of the Delta Chapter, Kappa Kappa Psi, in 1938, and of the Delta Sigma Chapter in 1954."

Source: https://www.pbmalpha.org/pbmhalloffamebio.php?HOF_Number=003
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TrumpetMD
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PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2019 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for sharing, Keith.

Mike
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A. Keith Amstutz
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PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2019 12:38 pm    Post subject: Col. Earl D Irons Reply with quote

Col. Irons was also an avoid semi-professional golfer. (I have a photo of him sitting with Arnold Palmer after playing a round—he had great golf stories.) He was playing a round of golf in 1946 when he was hit in the mouth by a errant drive. This ended the playing career of an amazing cornetist.
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mcstock
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PostPosted: Tue May 21, 2019 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gary Barrow did his dissertation on Col. Irons. The story of his injury and recovery begins on page 104. It's available here: https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc798248/m2/1/high_res_d/1002782536-Barrow.pdf

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trumpetteacher1
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PostPosted: Wed May 22, 2019 7:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Awesome Matt, thanks for posting that link!

Jeff
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OldSchoolEuph
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PostPosted: Wed May 22, 2019 8:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kehaulani wrote:
Unless I am wrong, it is virtually impossible for a performing musician in the military to become a colonel, much less an officer.

The officer ranks are only available to band leaders, which he may have been. Still, even then in his era, even a commissioned bandleader to be a colonel was rare.

As an alternative, unless he was a band leader, the term "colonel" is honorific in some cultures, particularly southern.


Col. Arnald Gabriel (USAF) started out enlisted (as a machine gunner with the 29th Infantry in WWII). He holds a CIB & 2 bronze stars (in addition to the usual bandsman's collection) Not just the most brilliant military conductor I ever was lucky enough to play for, but one of the top 4 or 5 conductors period in musicality and leadership.

A. Keith Amstutz wrote:
Col. Irons wrote his flexibility book many years before his tragic accident which all but ended his ability to perform. He was close friends with both Herbert L Clarke and Frank Simon who used his method and book in their studios. Two of my teachers, Byron Autrey and John Haynie were students of Col. Irons and they always had a copy of “27 Groups of Exercises” close at hand. I was hired to replace Col. Irons at Arlington State College (Univ. Of Texas, Arlington) when he retired in 1964.


Some of those Irons exercises passed on down through the years, alongside Clarke's, and factor into the jumbled stack of exercises Byron had marked as daily warm-ups that I found in his basement. His warm-ups in his 90s were enough to finish me for the day at 53!
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picctpt33
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you for sharing!
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