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History of The Chimes Returning home from the Pacific Theater after the end of World War II, now Cpt. Frank Jones planned to use his final year's football eligibility to play quarterback, finally, for Yale. While he was at war, Frank's dad petitioned Yale to award his degree, so he could return home and begin law school immediately after the war. However, on his return home Frank learned that Yale would not permit a grad student to play football. Frank still wanted to play, and understood Georgetown would permit it, so Frank headed to Georgetown. But, by the time Frank arrived, Georgetown had re-visited its football eligibility rules, and Frank's aim was dashed. He enrolled at Georgetown Law School nonetheless and instead of football, he joined Georgetown's Glee Club. The Chimes are forever in Yale's and Georgetown's debt for frustrating Frank's desire to play one more year of football. Frank sang with his father and four uncles before college, but he was too busy as an athlete at Yale to join one of Yale's a cappella harmony groups. Now, post-war, remembering the a cappella harmony tradition at Yale, Frank believed that he could create a barbershop singing group that emphasized brotherhood and friendship through harmony. He asked then-Glee Club director Edward P. "Doc" Donovan to name the best bass on campus. "No question about it, Chuck Laiosa," came the reply. Frank tracked down Chuck Laiosa, and together they began to recruit the best male voices at Georgetown for the Chimes. The Chimes quickly developed their own following as an independent performing group, but for its first 15 years the Chimes also was very much part of the Glee Club.
The "Georgetown Chimes" take their name from the original tower bells of Healy Hall. In 1946, Jones, Laiosa and several others were singing for themselves as the tower bell chimes struck in the South Tower of Georgetown University's Healy Hall. Jones named the group on the spot. "Alma Mater Tower Bells - The Georgetown Chimes" also is the name of a song the Chimes perform and have recorded, composed by Doc Donovan. Later, when those original tower bells fell into disrepair, the Chimes' appearance with the Glee Club on the Ed Sullivan Show led to a donation of carillons to replace the original "Georgetown Chimes." In the years since their founding, the Georgetown Chimes have grown from the original quartet into a group of 216 Chimes, from #1, Frank Jones, in 1946, to #216 Tommy Wiederhold, the "Baby Chime." From the original barbershop standards, the Chimes' repertoire has grown to include 50s' and 60s' classics, hymns, and show tunes. Beginning with the eponymous first record of 1946, the Chimes have recorded two dozen albums and established a massive repertoire of music. With singing in harmony as a foundation for lasting friendship, the Chimes have become a family that spans over three generations -- 18 year old college freshmen call themselves brother Chimes of the octogenerian founders, and of every member in between. The Chimes network reaches across time to connect men of several generations. Wives, children, grandchildren, all attend Chime events, as do their many Georgetown fans. In the late 1980s, the Chimes settled into the Chimes House, at 3611 Prospect St. one block from the campus of Georgetown University. The Chimes House functions as the headquarters for the Chimes, where practices and social gatherings are held. Several Chimes live in "The House." The first five Chimes are honored or remembered by their fellow Chimes with Orchestra seats dedicated in their names, in the Gonda Theatre at the Royden B. Davis, S.J. Performing Arts Center on Georgetown's campus. This is not a coincidence. When Father Royden Davis himself was a Georgetown student after returning from WW II and before joining the Jesuit Order, he roomed with Charles P. ("Chuck") Laiosa, the Second Chime. He used to complain that he knew when the Chimes were going to perform, because Jones would "borrow" his dress shirts.
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