Morse had the habit of improvising at the piano while making up words at the same time. In order to keep up with the demands of their popularity, Morse encouraged Glee Club members to write original compositions his own contributions include “The Sons of California” and “Hail to California.” Morse’s group made twelve trips under his guidance to such places as Europe, Alaska, Canada, and Asia. He organized a glee club in 1893 known as the “De Koven Club,” which became very popular, eventually rivaling the Eastern Glee Clubs. Morse was not only an outstanding athlete, earning a big “C” for every major sport, but also a talented singer. No history of Cal Songs could be complete without mentioning Clinton R. “Big C” is traditionally the first song of the pregame to which the Band marches its signature Flying Wedge formation. Ironically, the nation at large recognizes “Sons of Westwood” as UCLA’s fight song rather than Berkeley’s as a result of their successful sports programs and extensive exposure on televised games, but that may be changing with the success of Cal Sports in the 21st century! Some regents and UCLA administrators thought it quite reasonable that this “little sister” of Cal maintain “Sons of Westwood” as a “reaffirmation solidarity.” However, ardent students and alumni at Cal were never happy with the situation, especially Berdahl, who continued to fight for the abolition of “Sons of Westwood” through the remainder of his tenure as director. Public Domain status meant that only adaptations and arrangements of the song could be copyrighted, so UCLA had every legal right to “steal” the song. The matter came to a head in February 18, 1969, when Irwin Coster, working on behalf of the UCLA cause, received official word from the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress that “Big C” had never been copyrighted, and thus it was in the Public Domain. A bitter exchange ensued between Berdahl and James for the next several years concerning the legal and ethical grounds under which “Big C” was appropriated. James Berdahl, then director of the Cal Band, was incensed over what he felt was a violation of the sanctity of Cal songs. Afterwards, UCLA continued using his arrangement of “Big C,” adding its own lyrics and renaming it “Sons of Westwood.” The UCLA Band began playing it regularly as their new fight song. Kelley James, then Associate Director of the UCLA Band and alumnus of the Cal Band wrote an arrangement of “Big C” for the combined half-time show. Bands from all four of the schools would perform together in one giant, combined half-time show. The games were played alternately in Berkeley one year and in Los Angeles the next year. This event was a double header football game that pitted Cal against UCLA and UC Davis against UC Santa Barbara. The controversy surrounding the song has its roots in the “All University Weekend,” an annual event which began around 1948 and lasted into the 1960’s. In the Fall of 1913, the competition was stiff, but the Rally Committee managed to narrow the field down to two songs, “Big C” and “Stanford Jonah.” “Big C” took the prize with “Jonah” winning the next year. It was written to commemorate the creation of the large cement “C” built on the “rugged Eastern foothills” of the Berkeley campus in 1905, and the song was later entered in the Daily Californian’s then annual school song competition. Williams, with words by Norman Loyall McLaren.
“Big C” was composed in 1913 by Harold P. “Big C” is unquestionably the most famous and controversial Cal song. Here you can find the lyrics and MP3 files of many of our fight songs.
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