Jack Staulcup Orchestra - 1955-1973

1955-1973

With the advent of Rock Music in the mid-1950's, Staulcup found business for the orchestra more limited. During this period, many big bands of the genre disbanded. Staulcup resolved to keep going, and reinvented his business model. He revised his territory, to that of a 150 mile radius of Paducah. A main focus venue in this region, was The Casa-Loma Ballroom in St. Louis. The orchestra played the Casa-Loma regularly. Usually on three night, weekend stands. However, many of the nightclubs in the defined region had closed, or had switched exclusively to Rock or Country Music. Staulcup decided to concentrate on higher end private clubs. In the past he had relied on agents to book the band. Now he decided to book the band himself. In the process, he developed a good working relationship with many private club managers, that ensured a continuous flow of bookings. These were most often country clubs where the membership consisted of the upper crust of a given community. The members were resistant to the popular music of the day, and welcomed the Staulcup band's appearances.

Besides the private clubs, the orchestra also played many high school proms. The formality of a prom was a concern, and many school administrators of the era, were reluctant to allow Rock groups to perform at these events. Staulcup had a large library of music, mostly custom arrangements written specifically for the orchestra. The majority of the library consisted of jazz standards, with some contemporary Broadway show tunes added as their popularity demanded. As the 1960's progressed, this choice of music began to produce friction between Staulcup and the teenage prom crowds. At the urging of his teenage son, Staulcup began acquiring arrangements of popular, rock oriented songs. Mainly, the ballads of The Beatles, Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb. The extreme examples of this foray, were the additions of Three Dog Night's, Joy to The World, and Jim Croce's, Bad, Bad, LeRoy Brown.

The orchestra also benefited in later years by playing as the house band at The Purple Crackle Club near Cape Girardeau, Missouri. This was nearby to the home base of Paducah, and provided a relief from the extensive road travel.

In the early years Staulcup relied on full time professional musicians. In later years the positions were filled with a mix of high school band teachers, and music students from both nearby Murray State University and Southeast Missouri State University. Many of these were musicians trained in the jazz idiom, who regularly spiced up the staid Staulcup arrangements.

Arguably, the 1960's was the most successful decade for the orchestra. Even though the genre of music, had largely fallen out of favor in popular culture. Key to this success, is that the band held a virtual monopoly on big band music between St. Louis and Nashville during this timeframe.