[2] It was named after "The Castle", a roadhouse tavern south of Portland (although at the time the group worked there they were simply called "Monte Ballou and his Orchestra").
He assembled a five-piece band with Bill Pavia on clarinet, George Phillips on trombone, Al Puderbaugh on piano, and Axel Tyle on drums.
[1] The most famous lineup was formed in 1948, and played at the Jantzen Beach Amusement Park in Portland, dressed in various costumes.
[5] Trumpet player Don Kinch claimed one of these records, Floating Down the Old Green River, sold more than a million copies.
[5][6] Ballou sold the club in 1954 and disbanded in order to briefly join forces with Doc Evans.
[5] After his time with Evans Ballou reformed the group and continued to work various venues in the Portland area in addition to private engagements.
Members of the 1949–50 band were reassembled in the late 1950s to make two LPs for the Good Time Jazz Records label (reissued on CD).
[3][9] It was composed of top-notch musicians who considered themselves neo-traditionalists; as such they rejected big band music as over-arranged and bebop as the domain of "drug-addicted crackpots".
[10] Of importance to the band's success was the "rhythm and enthusiasm" of Ballou, and Kinch's trumpet which could evoke Bix Beiderbecke.