HISTORY

1970 – Summer 1976
Red Rose Cotillion (RRC) was born out of the friendship and vision of Jamie Thompson and David Young, who first met in 1970 in their seventh grade Spanish class at Carl Sandburg Jr. High School in Levittown, Pennsylvania, a northeast Philadelphia suburb. By the time they entered Neshaminy High School in nearby Langhorne, both Jamie and David were well grounded in live performance.

Jamie was already an accomplished lead guitarist, performing with bands at local clubs, parties, and school events. His major influences were Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Jerry Garcia, Peter Frampton, and Jimi Hendrix. David was a budding acoustic guitarist and songwriter performing at churches and coffeehouses. He also acted and sang in many theater productions at school, church, and in the community. David’s significant inspiration came from folk/rock artists including Neil Young, CSN, the Grateful Dead, and Joni Mitchell as well as progressive bands such as King Crimson and Yes. Both musicians were borderline Beatles fanatics.

Jamie’s earliest bands, Emerald City, Betsy’s Garage, and Black Rose played straight-ahead rock n’ roll cover songs. With his blazing lead guitar work, Jamie early on gained the reputation around the NE Philadelphia suburbs as an ace.

In the spring of 1976, David and Jamie formed their first folk/rock band, the Treetoads. The band featured David on acoustic guitar and vocals, Jamie on acoustic and electric guitar and vocals, Dan Kelly on bass and mandolin, Edna Shandelman on cello, Jeff Snyder on flute, and Ed Stanton on drums. David wrote a number of songs for the group, mostly in the progressive and folk/rock genre. The Treetoads played several events, including the high school’s arts festival and the coffeehouse at Bucks County Community College.

Fall 1976 – Spring 1977
After high school, David headed off to Penn State, while Jamie remained in Levittown, studied electronics at a local tech school, and formed a new incarnation of Black Rose with bassist Roger Schultz, drummer Ron Karp, and singer Jim Misina. In Jamie’s words, “The New Black Rose had a mission -We were going to write original music …”

Meanwhile, at Penn State David teamed up with a high school theater buddy named Jerry Getz and formed an acoustic duo, with David on guitar and vocals and Jerry on harmonica, recorder, percussion, and vocals. David and Jerry focused on songwriting and vocal excellence, writing originals and selecting cover material that enabled them to work out complex harmonies. After performing at numerous coffeehouses both on- and off-campus, they named themselves Red Rose Cotillion (RRC) and  began performing at local pubs and restaurants.

What's in a name? David Young came up with the name "Red Rose Cotillion." He said, "I liked the word "Cotillion." It thought it was a cool word and Jamie and I both grew up in the Red Rose Gate section of Levittown, PA."

During the 1977/78 summer breaks, David and Jerry returned home, and Jamie joined RRC on lead guitar. The trio performed at a number of venues, including a major outdoor public concert in Langhorne.

In the spring of 1980, David and Jerry’s senior year, Jamie moved to State College to join RRC as a full-time member. Soon the trio was performing at many of the town’s significant venues, including the Phyrst, Rego’s, and The Brewery. Then, in June high school buddy and ‘New Black Rose’ bassist Roger Schultz moved to State College to join RRC, and the foursome began playing more and more rock n’ roll songs. In July of 1980, RRC gave its first State College Festival of the Arts performance on the Nittany Ave stage.

Although the band continued to perform a number of acoustic-oriented songs, the addition of Ron Karp on drums in August of 1980 enabled RRC to complete the transition to a full-fledged rock n’ roll band. The group often began performances with a relatively mellow acoustic set, then followed up with two sets of driving rock n’ roll.

1981 - 1982
1981 was a highly successful, though tumultuous, year for Red Rose Cotillion. The band literally took State College by storm, playing five to six nights a week at nightclubs, pubs, fraternities, and campus events. RRC became the “house” band at the Phyrst, performing Monday, Tuesday, and Friday nights, as well as Friday happy hours; recorded its first demo, which experienced a fair amount of air play on college radio; and was the subject of several feature articles in the Centre Daily Times and the Daily Collegian.

In the spring of 1981, Jerry left the band and by the summer was replaced by keyboardist, vocalist, and composer Budd Kelly. Budd hails from Pittsburgh, where he was the creative force behind the progressive band, Arabesque. In the fall, Roger moved home to pursue other musical interests and was replaced by bassist Pat McGinnis.

In 1982, RRC began adding performances in other Pennsylvania towns and cities, including New Hope, Johnstown, and Altoona, won the State College Battle of the Bands competition, and played at a number of large venues, including Movin’ On, the Briarwood Bash, and the Sy Barash Regatta at Stone Valley. Despite the band’s growing success, however, internal pressures and Budd’s declining health led to the band’s demise, and Red Rose Cotillion gave its final live performance on Friday, May 21, 1982 – David’s 24th birthday.

Life After RRC
Even though Red Rose Cotillion broke up in 1982, all the band members have continued to write, record, and perform, sometimes together but mostly separately. For example, Jamie, David, and Budd created an incarnation of RRC in the summer of 1997 and played several venues, including the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. And, this summer the full band will convene in State College for a reunion tour, where they’ll perform at many of the venues where it all happened 24 years ago.

Read the bios for more information about the individual band members.

The Music
From the get-go, Red Rose Cotillion focused on writing and performing original songs. Jamie, David, Roger, Budd, and Pat are all prolific songwriters, and the band performed a healthy mix of originals and covers.

RRC’s original songs ranged from acoustic-guitar-based ballads to straight-ahead rock n’ roll to progressive keyboard-based songs. Many of the band’s original songs included three- and four-part vocal harmonies as well as complex guitar and keyboard work.

The band covered songs by a wide range of folk and rock artists, including the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, Genesis, the Moody Blues, the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, the Allman Brothers, the Outlaws, Cream, Derek & the Dominoes, etc. While the band always arranged cover songs so they remained true to the spirit of the original, one of the keys to RRC’s success was the band’s ability to “Cotillionize” cover songs. In other words, RRC worked hard to put their own stamp on songs so they sounded as if they were the band’s own.

The Sound … and the Engineers
No matter how good a band is, without an excellent sound system and a competent sound engineer, even the most talented musicians can sound mediocre. As far as the system is concerned, from beginning to end Red Rose Cotillion remained committed to securing top-notch equipment. In addition, RRC was blessed to have three creative sound engineers.

Jim Greene (1980 - 1981), Jack Carlson (1981), and Tom Hesketh (1981 - 1982) all were talented sound engineers who ran the sound board with integrity and insight. For Rose Cotillion, the sound engineer was always the sixth member of the band. Tom continues to work with RRC as well as the individual band members on solo projects.