[Dixielandjazz] Origin of "Taps"

[Jim O'Briant]

Ken Gates wrote:

> Jim correctly points out that the story of the origin of "Taps" 
> that accompanied the link to the beautiful trumpet solo by a 
> 13 year old young lady is not accurate.  

The first clue is that the spurious story says that General Daniel Butterfield wrote the alleged original version of "Taps" in 1801. In fact, Butterfield wasn't born until 1831.

> It is more likely that the origin came about as shown below 
> by a military historian.

Jari Villanueva (USAF, Ret.) is one of the leading, if not THE leading authority on "Taps" and other bugle calls. His website is:

http://tapsbugler.com/

In the menu on the left, click on [History of Taps] for the correct history of this 24-note Bugle call.

For yet another fake story about "Taps," click on [The Taps Myth] in the same menu.

> I passed the link on because of the breath taking beauty 
> of the embellishment of the three notes of a major triad 
> that is familiar to us all.  

There's no doubt that this modern extension and arrangement is beautiful.

> That, not the origin of the note sequence, is what I consider 
> the focus of hearing the solo.

That's fine, but PLEASE don’t help the Internet spread fake history.

Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA
Tuba & Leader, The Zinfandel Stompers