Caption Crayon's Secret Squadron

Blue and Experimental

 

 

Very few people know this was the original title of the classic swing era tune we know as "Blue and Sentimental.

 

Legend has it that in early 1936 West Point Senior Benjamin O. Davis was shown a picture of a Curtis XP-36 Hawk decked out in a brilliant blue paint scheme for some reason. So the story goes, Davis, thunderstruck by the lines of the sleek new plane, composed a song in commemoration.

 

This tune was then passed by the West Point Chorus Director (who was a secret, but avid swing fan)to Count Basie collaborator Mac David. He, in turn, showed the rough chart to his pals Basie and Jerry Livingston, and the rest is history...or myth... or fantasy...or something. Anyway, General Roy G. Biv of Captain Crayon's Air Squadron so loved the song -- and the story -- that he named his personal Douglas X-3C after it.