Mr. Barberpole Cat— Floyd Connett

During the Society’s first two decades our members had no common repertoire—different choruses and quartets sang different songs, or the same songs in different arrangements. Many men could sing common arrangements of “Coney Island Baby” or “Shine on Me” or “After Dark,” but that was about it. Connett’s first collection of songs intended for every barbershopper, Just Plain Barbershop, provided a common repertoire for the first time, in the late 1950s. But more was to come. In 1971, Connett, with two other Society leaders, the legendary Mac Huff and then-president Ralph Ribble, formulated the first Barberpole Cat program, originally six songs. Currently there are 12 songs in the Barberpole Cat collection. Five of them are Floyd Connett arrangements, all in the key of B-flat: “My Wild Irish Rose,” “Down Our Way,” “Honey/Little ‘Lize Medley,” “Sweet, Sweet Roses Of Morn,” and “Shine On Me.” The legacy of one of our Society’s greatest figures, Floyd Connett, lives on every time barbershoppers harmonize these songs and feel the close fellowship they bring.

—Tom Pearce, Richmond, Virginia, Chapter, adapted from Heritage of Harmony Songbook, Burt Szabo, Editor.

Big D Bulletin, October 1998, Grant Carson, Editor

HR

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