MUSIC ON THE HILL
No picture of Bowling Green would be complete without including Western Kentucky University (WKU), which has acted as a regional lighthouse and incubator for musical talent. Students, faculty, and the campus itself have had profound effects on the music of Southcentral Kentucky.
Many students have attended Western with the sole purpose of developing their musical talents, while others have attended WKU for other careers yet developed their musical talents as members of WKU’s extracurricular programs. With accomplished student ensembles and beloved teachers, WKU has a rich musical legacy in its own right.
Billy Vaughn
THE HILLTOPPERS QUARTET
In 1952, Jimmy Sacca called up Donald McGuire and Seymour Speigleman to record a song that his friend Billy Vaughn had jotted down one cold morning. The quartet, calling themselves The Hilltoppers after the name of WKU’s sports teams, recorded “Trying” in Van Meter Auditorium. The album was shared around local radio stations, and within a year it had reached number 4 on the US charts. The group signed a record deal and made an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Hilltoppers had 18 hit songs between 1952 and 1957 and were known for wearing red and white beanies and collegiate sweaters emblazoned with the WKU “W.”
The Hilltoppers (Live) – Ed Sullivan Show
Billy Vaughn was an exemplary member of the Hilltoppers quartet who went on to have a robust musical career. The success of “Trying” was the catalyst for Vaughn’s 30-year solo career, during which he recorded more than 100 albums with gross sales surpassing 100 million copies. His success helped create a sense of musical professionalism in Bowling Green that had strong influences on people like Kenny Lee Smith and Chris Carmichael.
I felt like I owed a great debt to Billy Vaughn. Two big influences on my life were Billy Vaughn and Sam Bush. If I hadn’t met both of them and got to work with both of them, I’d probably been more like a guy who worked an occupation and enjoyed playing music at parties and stuff around. I got in contact with two people who were basically world renown, just totally world class. I got to interact with them and play at their level, so once you get on that level, it’s so much better. So that really got me into it and I became big supporters of them as best I could.
KENNY LEE SMITH - EXCERPT FROM KFP INTERVIEW
Doc Livingston
& Gemini
TOURING SUCCESSES
Dr. David “Doc” Livingston was born in Corbin, KY. His musical talent was apparent at an early age, and he received a full scholarship to study music at WKU. He went on to become one of the university’s most beloved music professors and is most remembered for leading the band Gemini, which existed in 3 different forms: Gemini 13, 14, and 15. From 1968 to 1979, Livingston and Gemini found great success completing major USO tours all over Europe, the Caribbean, and East Asia. Afterwards, Livingston joined the Billy Vaughn Orchestra and continued to tour around the world.
DAVID DORRIS
Howard & John Carpenter
HOWARD
Dr. Howard Carpenter began his tenure at WKU’s Department of Music in 1953 and became head of the department in 1965. Throughout his distinguished career, Howard was an active performer as both a conductor and an instrumentalist. He was an Army Band leader for four years and principal violinist for the Nashville Symphony for seven years. He worked as a studio instrumentalist in Nashville playing for musicians like Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Brenda Lee.
JOHN
Perhaps more famously known, Howard’s son, John, who grew up in Bowling Green and became a revered movie director and composer. He is best known for directing, writing, and scoring the music for Halloween, one of the most successful horror movie franchises of the last 60 years. The soundtrack for the original Halloween revolutionized the way that slasher films incorporated music. His filmography also includes classics such as The Thing, The Fog, Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China, and many others.
Betty Pease
VIOLIN TEACHER
Betty Pease was a professor of music at WKU from 1964 to 1989 and a great example of one of the many inspirations for regional students. A former student of Armenian-American violinist Ivan Galamian at Juilliard, Betty earned a Bachelor’s in Music from Willamette University (Oregon) and Master’s at Indiana University. While at IU, she studied under Urico Rossi and Fritz Magg of the Berkshire String Quartet. In 1958-59, she was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to the Freibrug Conservatory in Germany, where she undertook intensive study with Hungarian violinist Sandor Vegh, followed by studies under concertmaster Joseph Gingold of the Cleveland Symphony.
Betty served as professor for many of the musicians featured in this exhibition including Chris Carmichael and Sam Bush. Betty also conducted research on music for the violin, traveling internationally in-between the semesters to visit museums, schools, and art galleries. She also co-organized the Friends of New Music, an on-campus group that studied and performed contemporary music, and often performed in local symphonies alongside her husband, WKU professor and hornist Dr. Edward Pease.
Through her tutelage, Betty had great influence on musicians like Chris Carmichael and Sam Bush who went on to have illustrious music careers.
CHRIS CARMICHAEL
Mike Longo
JAZZ
Born in Cincinnati, Mike grew up surrounded by music: his father played bass and his mother played organ at church. He was inspired by them and his early exposure to music at age three or four, when he saw Sugar Chile Robinson playing boogie woogie piano. The family relocated to Florida, and by the age of 12, Mike was winning local talent contests. As a teenager, he was part of his father’s band. He was approached by Cannonball Adderley, who helped him secure gigs including playing piano at a local black church.
Mike returned to Kentucky to attend WKU, where he graduated with a degree in music in 1959. He declined a scholarship to the Berklee School of Music and soon became a full-time professional musician playing with the likes of Jazz luminaries such as Coleman Hawkins, Gene Krupa, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, and Roy Eldridge. In 1961, he began studying under Oscar Peterson in Toronto at the Advanced School of Contemporary Music. Beginning in 1966, Longo began a 9-year collaboration with Dizzy Gillespie, becoming musical director for the Dizzy Gillespie Quintent and, eventually, pianist for the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Band. The duo remained collaborators until Dizzy’s death in 1993, and Mike was by Dizzy’s side at the time of his death. In memory of his friend and collaborator, Mike held weekly jazz sessions at the Baháʼí Center in Dizzy’s honor, as they were both of the Baháʼí Faith.
A gifted performer and sought-after arranger, Mike also wrote several seminal Jazz textbooks that continue to be used at universities around the world. A lifelong musician’s musician, he remained dedicated to professing the importance of apprenticeships in the Jazz teaching process. He was inducted into the WKU Hall of Fame in 2002. Mike passed away in New York City in 2020 from complications of COVID-19.
Beegie Adair
PIANO VIRTUOSO
Originally from Cave City, piano virtuoso Beegie Adair began playing the piano at the age of 5. She earned a degree in Music Education from WKU in 1958, and worked as a children’s music teacher for three years before relocating to Nashville. While teaching, she worked professionally as a jazz pianist.
After moving to Nashville, worked as an accompanist for a host of well-known Country stars, including Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Peggy Lee, and Mama Cass Elliot. She became a member of a jazz band led by Hank Garland and, in 1982, co-established the Adair-Solee Quartet (which became the Be-Bop Co-Op). In 1998, she released her first solo album, which sparked the formation of the Beegie Adair Trio that sold more than 1.5 million albums.
Over the years, Adair has continued to be a prolific musician, initiating jazz projects and shaping future musicians as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music. She also served as a board member of the Nashville Jazz Workshop and, in 2002, was named a Steinway Artist. She is a member of the WKU Hall of Fame and Cave City’s Hall of Fame. Beegie passed away in January 2022.
Larnelle Harris
GOSPEL
A Danville native, Larnelle began singing and playing drums at the age of nine. He attended WKU, where he received his first formal vocal training and played drums in Doc Livingston’s Gemini band. He graduated in 1969 with a degree in Music Education.
After graduation, Larnelle became part of The Spurrlows, a popular gospel touring group for which he served as drummer. From 1984 to 1987, he was a member of the Gaither Vocal Band (founded by Bill Gaither). During this time, he became well-known for collaborations with Sandi Patty including “More than Wonderful” (1983) and “I’ve Just Seen Jesus” (1985). In 1993, Larnelle’s song, “Mighty Spirit”, was featured in the Points of Light Foundation television campaign headed by President George H.W. Bush; Larnelle also performed the song for President and Mrs. Bush at the White House.
Carrying his musical talent and his Christian faith with him, Larnelle has recorded more than twenty Gospel and Contemporary Christian albums and has received 5 Grammy Awards and 11 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. He was inducted into the WKU Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 1993 and the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2011.
Athena Cage
R&B
A native of Russellville and graduate of WKU, Rhythm & Blues singer Athena Cage began her music career as a background singer, working with a wide variety of musical artists including Country star Amy Grant and Rhythm & Blues giants like the Isley Brothers. She moved to Atlanta, GA, to pursue a music career, where she was immediately signed as lead singer of the girl group Kut Klose. The trio released its debut album, Surrender, in 1995, but only one single – “I Like” – made a significant impact, peaking at No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. While still active, the group has yet to release another full album.
Athena also has a successful solo career, with her single “All or Nothing” achieving double-platinum status. She performed for the GRAMMY Foundation on Broadway and has spent time as a mentor, visiting schools around the nation to promote music education as well as advocating on Capitol Hill for music and arts programs.
Cage has remained closely involved with the WKU and Southcentral Kentucky communities, including establishing The Athena Cage Scholarship Fund for students studying music at WKU in 2003. At the first concert Warren County Kentucky Judge Executive Mike Buchanon renamed Basil Griffin Park’s amphitheater “The Athena Cage Outdoor Amphitheater.” In 2004, ATHENA teamed with legendary music icon Dionne Warwick for a sellout second concert during which Warren Central High School’s Shakara Wynn was awarded the first scholarship. In 2005, in a tribute to America’s Armed Services, her special guest was renowned actor James McEachin, awarded a Silver Star.
Athena has also adopted the Delafield Community Center in Bowling Green, a community program for disadvantaged children where she takes them bowling, to movies, and co-hosts holiday dinners for families. Her work in the community has left a lasting mark on the region and led to her recognition as a “Kentucky Colonel,” Kentucky’s highest award.
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