Barbershoppers: Have you sung with the Dapper Dans?

[iX.]

Background: The Dapper Dans are WDW's resident barbershop quartet. Consisting actually of 12 men, they assemble quartets daily to sing four part harmony to guests in formal and informal functions around Main Street USA.


My first WDW trip my ambition was to sing with the Dapper Dans. Alas our trip was cut short and I never made the connection.

Our second trip in October 2010... I saw them singing their way down the street and made a beeline for them. Sure enough -- they let me sing with them!

First we sang "Down Our Way"... They asked if I could lead it, and I agreed to -- even though I've never sung lead for that song in my life. But I figured I'd heard it enough times. It came off ok.

Then they asked me what I liked to sing. From Youtube I knew that they sang "Coney Island Baby" so I suggested that and they agreed immediately. The bass stepped out and next thing I know, without a tuneup or a warmup, we're off singing a rolicking pace. What a blast! My wife caught up to us just in time to get most of it on video... I posted it on Youtube. Check it out! See if you can tell which one is me, LOL. That song I've sung enough to get through even at that speed -- and with nerves jangling, there wasn't much support under my tone. But it sure was fun.

The thing I wasn't expecting is how many people were watching and how much they seemed to enjoy the spectacle of a random guy getting up and singing with the quartet. Really warm reception from them.

After that, I put Grim Grinning Ghosts on my iPhone and learned it over the next day or so, but never got to meet up with them to sing it. Next time!


So... have YOU sang with them? How did you track them down, where did you sing, what did you sing? How did it go? Tell us some stories...

 

[Lillian Gracey]

I'd sing Grim Grinning Ghosts with them! Love that song! <3

It sounds like you had a lot of fun! I'd sing if I weren't so nervous, but I would love to actually hear them sing in person. Definitely gonna watch the video too.

 

[iX.]

I'd sing Grim Grinning Ghosts with them! Love that song! <3

It sounds like you had a lot of fun! I'd sing if I weren't so nervous, but I would love to actually hear them sing in person. Definitely gonna watch the video too.

I love singing the bass part to that song, which really leads the song. Kind of tricky to learn all the verses down pat but I was ready after a day or two. But we were never at MK again during the right time frames. The Dans are done at latest at the flag retreat ceremony (which they do participate in sometimes at least) and sometimes earlier I think.

 

[Lillian Gracey]

I guess it could be difficult. I wish I could learn how to sing different octaves (I think that's the right word?), i.e. bass, tenor, alto, soprano, etc., but I lack the talent and the ability to sing. I will have to keep an eye out for them on my trip in May!

I saw the video and you did a great job! It looks like you had such a fun time and they seemed to enjoy singing with you. It's a shame you never got to sing with them again. If you do, be sure to tape Grim Grinning Ghosts and put it up on youtube! I'd love to see that!

 

[cbg1027]

That is really neat! I had no idea they just let people join them!

 

[goofyernmost]

Great job...no pressure I'm sure. I, in my extreme youth, was a member of the barbershoppers. Went through puberty with it. Started out a tenor, aged to lead, crackled to baritone and occasionally did some bass. (my favorite)

Unfortunately I was blessed with just enough talent to entertain myself and make others flee in terror. The Dapper Dan's are one street show that I will always stop and watch.

My Fathers quartet had Coney Island Baby as one of there novelty songs. The bass in his quartet had a wonderful personality and spontaneous sense of humor. Certain phrases he could never get through without thunderous laughter on his part. (Just like leading lambs to slaughter) was one of the audience favorites. He would get to that part, get partially through it and just come down with spontaneous, uncontrollable and contagious laughter. Everybody thought it was part of the act, but it wasn't, he couldn't stop himself if he wanted too.

I remember his wife once said to him..."Sam, are you ever going to stop making a fool of yourself up there"? His response..."Listen lady...you go to your church, I'll go to mine"!

Back on topic...I hope you continue to enjoy those encounters in future visits and remember there are no bigger hams then barbershop hams. Enjoy!

 

[iX.]

That is really neat! I had no idea they just let people join them!

The Dapper Dans are members of the Barbershop Harmony Society which is 30,000 members strong. They are probably one of the only professional full-time barbershop quartets in existence.

So they generally know the same dozen songs (Called "Polecats") that all barbershoppers know, but after that it gets a little trickier. For example, they sing Daddy's Little Girl (on one of their albums) which I know, but by listening to a sample of theirs I found out it's a different arrangement. However I found a youtube of Coney Island and it's the traditional one which is what I've learned.

So that's part of the challenge, that any barbershopper that wants to sing with them has to figure out:

a) what songs do they do?
b) when they do the same ones I know, are they the same arrangement I know?

I answered a) with youtube and researching titles from albums they've put out. But only ones for which I could find samples or youtubes could I be sure of b).

By my research these were the songs they do, that I have performed in a quartet or chorus previously:

zip a dee doo dah
by the beautiful sea
carry me back to old virginny
daddy's little girl
coney island baby
in the good old summer time
shine on me (poolecat)
wait till the sun shines nellie (polecat)
sweet adeline (polecat)
down our way (polecat)

As mentioned, Daddy's Little Girl was a different arrangement, 3 or four notes at the end of Zip A Dee Doo Dah were different, but most of the rest I believe were the same as what I had learned.

I couldn't find anywhere online to buy their albums except mail order, but I might purchase some in advance of my next visit and *really* learn their repertoire.

So, surely I'm not the only barbershop geek to visit Disneyworld... I see other youtubes of people joining them...

They were incredibly friendly and accessible though. This was truly one of the highlights of my trip. I put the video up that night from CBR and sent it to everybody in my chapter.

 

[iX.]

I guess it could be difficult. I wish I could learn how to sing different octaves (I think that's the right word?), i.e. bass, tenor, alto, soprano, etc., but I lack the talent and the ability to sing. I will have to keep an eye out for them on my trip in May!
!

There are four different voice parts. Bass is the lowest, the straightforward low harmony. Lead is the melody you're used to. Tenor floats around up very high, falsetto for many men, and Baritone fills in the chords, he crosses from bass territory all the way up to tenor land at times. You don't need to sing three octaves to barbershop, you pick a part in your range and stick to it. In fact that's the beauty of barbershop music -- it's not supremely gifted virtuosos at all. It's ordinary voices blended together in a specific way to create something that is literally (if you analyze the physics of the sound of a barbershop chord) more than the sum of the parts.

Great job...no pressure I'm sure. I, in my extreme youth, was a member of the barbershoppers. Went through puberty with it. Started out a tenor, aged to lead, crackled to baritone and occasionally did some bass. (my favorite)

Unfortunately I was blessed with just enough talent to entertain myself and make others flee in terror. The Dapper Dan's are one street show that I will always stop and watch.

My Fathers quartet had Coney Island Baby as one of there novelty songs. The bass in his quartet had a wonderful personality and spontaneous sense of humor. Certain phrases he could never get through without thunderous laughter on his part. (Just like leading lambs to slaughter) was one of the audience favorites. He would get to that part, get partially through it and just come down with spontaneous, uncontrollable and contagious laughter. Everybody thought it was part of the act, but it wasn't, he couldn't stop himself if he wanted too.

I remember his wife once said to him..."Sam, are you ever going to stop making a fool of yourself up there"? His response..."Listen lady...you go to your church, I'll go to mine"!

Back on topic...I hope you continue to enjoy those encounters in future visits and remember there are no bigger hams then barbershop hams. Enjoy!

Great story. You know you can't escape barbershop, you'll end up doing it again some time, LOL. I love Sam's quote, that's priceless. It's very hard to sing when you're laughing, I've done it enough times.

And yes, Bass is the most fun. Baritone is the most challenging and that's what I sing now, but for most of the polecats I can do bass, baritone, and lead by memory. Tenor... not so much, unless I'm *really* warmed up first. And not for very long.

 

[amyb1120]

What a great video! I smiled through the entire thing.

It reminded me of when my HS band went to WDW (a loooooong time ago!), and since most of the band geeks were also choir geeks, we would walk through the world singing. A few times people would just stop and watch us. I wish I had video of it, but it was waaaaay before the time video cameras weighed less than 25 lb....

Anyway, what a fantastic memory and the video was just wonderful!

 

[erincon23]

My DS18 has been singing with a barbershop group (on and off, when he can) for about a year, and has expressed interest in trying to catch up with the Dapper Dans. I'll have to show this thread to him! I have NO idea when we'll next get there, but he should be ready!

 

[rndmr2]

My brother in law is in a barbershop chorus and a quartet. He got the chance to sing with them when he was on his Honeymoon. He and my SIL were just watching their performance and after they were done he was talking to one of them and telling him that he sang Barbershop and they asked him if he knew a particular sone (can't remember the name of it now) and he did so they asked him to join them. They have pictures but I don't think any video, I'll have to ask them.

 

[iX.]

What a great video! I smiled through the entire thing.

It reminded me of when my HS band went to WDW (a loooooong time ago!), and since most of the band geeks were also choir geeks, we would walk through the world singing. A few times people would just stop and watch us. I wish I had video of it, but it was waaaaay before the time video cameras weighed less than 25 lb....

Anyway, what a fantastic memory and the video was just wonderful!

Hey now that would be fun... take my quartet to Disney world LOL. Lots of disney stuff has been arranged for Barbershop. We could put on our own little Disney show until the Dans showed up and then form an octet.



Glad you enjoyed my video. I sure enjoyed making it.

 

[curlybop]

That made me smile this morning. What a great experience! You did a great job, thanks for sharing!!

 

[quest4dl]

How cool! I am a female barbershopper (I sing lead with the 5-time international gold medal chorus The Melodeers) so I haven't sung with them but sure have enjoyed their performances. The Voices of Liberty in Epcot has several well-known barbershop members as well.

Once you get hooked on the 'lock and ring' of barbershop harmony all other harmony singing seems lacking. It's one of the few truly American art forms - we are always looking for young people to learn and continue this craft. Check us out at www.melodeers.org and also take a look at the Westminister chorus http://www.westminsterchorus.org/westminsterchorus/ which is comprised mainly of young men - they are fantastic!

 

[iX.]

How cool! I am a female barbershopper (I sing lead with the 5-time international gold medal chorus The Melodeers) so I haven't sung with them but sure have enjoyed their performances. The Voices of Liberty in Epcot has several well-known barbershop members as well.

Once you get hooked on the 'lock and ring' of barbershop harmony all other harmony singing seems lacking. It's one of the few truly American art forms - we are always looking for young people to learn and continue this craft. Check us out at www.melodeers.org and also take a look at the Westminister chorus http://www.westminsterchorus.org/westminsterchorus/ which is comprised mainly of young men - they are fantastic!

I'd love to go to westminster, LOL. Those guys are insanely good.

TNL is near here (5-time international silver medal chorus) but it's 2 hours + drive so not very practical.

My quartet's Tenor's wife is in last year's Harmony Inc gold medal chorus, they are about 1.5 hours from here. Are you a Sweet Ad or HI?

You could still sing with them, just learn lead in one of the disney songs and I'm sure it would work out fine.. A female lead can be very nice in an otherwise male quartet. Of course you can always sing tenor. "Can you feel the love tonight" would probably be awesome with a female lead and three male harmonizers, I wonder if the Dans do the barbershop version of that.

You're right though, the ring is like nothing else on earth. All music people should experience it. I ran a workshop where we graphed it all on a big screen and ringing chords look amazing, overtones upon overtones stacked up into space...

 

[PoohsFan1]

I absolutely love the Dapper Dans and I loved your video too, thanks for sharing . I never got to sing with them, I did however get sung to by them. We were in the Confectionery one morning and they were coming out, which I was able to get a picture with them. Then when I was coming out of the Confectionery, they pulled me over and started singing a song to me, there was another Main Street Character that had come along (he had a "PRESS" hat on) and was singing with them too. It was so awesome and everyone who was walking down Main Street stopped to listen to them. My DH did get it all on tape, so that memory will last forever

 

[iX.]

I absolutely love the Dapper Dans and I loved your video too, thanks for sharing . I never got to sing with them, I did however get sung to by them. We were in the Confectionery one morning and they were coming out, which I was able to get a picture with them. Then when I was coming out of the Confectionery, they pulled me over and started singing a song to me, there was another Main Street Character that had come along (he had a "PRESS" hat on) and was singing with them too. It was so awesome and everyone who was walking down Main Street stopped to listen to them. My DH did get it all on tape, so that memory will last forever

Glad you liked it. Singing to people is such fun, I always do singing valentines every year and it's always amazing.

Now I just have to learn how to play those Deagan Organ Chimes for my next trip, LOL.

 

[MrsBlovesDisney]

Then they asked me what I liked to sing. From Youtube I knew that they sang "Coney Island Baby" so I suggested that and they agreed immediately. The bass stepped out and next thing I know, without a tuneup or a warmup, we're off singing a rolicking pace. What a blast! My wife caught up to us just in time to get most of it on video... I posted it on Youtube. Check it out!

BRAVO!!!! What a fantastic job! And you didn't even look nervous!!
I LOVE barbershop quartets!!! Thank you so much for sharing !!!!

 

[iX.]

BRAVO!!!! What a fantastic job! And you didn't even look nervous!!
I LOVE barbershop quartets!!! Thank you so much for sharing !!!!

Thanks!

Actually I was incredibly nervous, luckily I had another song in front of it to get a few of the jitters out. One without so much exposure.

 

[quest4dl]

iX. - I am a Sweet Adeline.