S.K. Grundy

S.K. Grundy He directed the orchestra of a Baptist College in Springfield, Missouri. He wrote lots of barbershop arrangements, many of which were considered daring, audacious, and unstylistic. They contained many unusual twists. One of Grundy's masterpieces was "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square," which he arranged for the Confederates, and revived some twenty-five years later by the Vocal Majority. In hindsight, many feel that Grundy was ahead of his time. Those who heard his work didn't understand it and Grundy was written off as a "wild man." But he was a superb musician, and in the sixties he went to California to do vocal and instrumental arrangements for Lawrence Welk. Many of us recall quartets appearing on the show, usually featuring bass Larry Hooper and tenor Joe Feeney singing songs undoubtedly arranged by S. K. It seems that alcoholism cost him his job with Welk, at which time he returned to Springfield, where he continued to deteriorate from alcoholism until his death. Unfortunately it is hard to find original Grundy arrangments because Grundy would write out 2/3 of an arrangement on a bar napkin, bring it to quartet rehearsal, teach it by rote, and finish (and further refine!) the arrangement on the fly. This done, he felt no particular need to bother writing the entire arrangement down.