Encores Archive - This England 'The Mighty Wurlitzer'

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First Broadcast in 1978. Features Reginald Dixon, Robinson Cleaver and a rather young Nigel Ogden. Some early clips of Phil at the Tower, Kitchen Bros Grange in Diss and Thursford! Hope you enjoy!

[@KeithLyons-z4h]

I used to go to the Mecca theatre in Hurstville NSW Australia to listen to the Wurlitzer at interval time before they pulled down the cinema around 1985. I have no idea what happened to the wurlitzer. Probably landfill at the local tip.Such a shame.

[@briant3996]

Wonderful trip down Memory Lane. What a shame so many of these instruments have been lost.

[@strawberryjam3670]

Brian T Nothing can stay forever.

[@gilloselton824]

Many thanks for posting this wonderful treat for Theatre Organ Enthusiasts worldwide.

[@macartancaughey9993]

Wow I love the sound of that its great I love the sound of the Wurlitzer

[@wally3usafwr180]

This was great! Thanks for posting Damon!

[@johnferguson3801]

Fantastic video, long live Wurlitzer....Compton, Christie and all the other theatre organ makes.

[@angelsone-five7912]

I don`t play a note myself but I`d still love to own a cinema organ, someone else can have the pleasure of playing while entertaining me, I see nothing wrong with that.

[@gordoncrook7507]

An earful of music for sure RIP Robbie Gordon Exmouth

[@GeertVollema]

After watching the video i realized how much i have learned about Wurlitzer from your video so i like to thank you very much for sharing.

[@andrewc.2952]

At 8:15, we get to hear the first early movie sound effects just as they would've been heard in the 1920s before talkies were introduced. Incredible.

[@20Rocolo]

The Wurlitzer was the best theatre organ it is a shame a lot have gone for good, the one's that are left need preserving to hear this beautiful sound is great

[@paulj0557tonehead]

Oh' my! Yet another great Wurlitzer organ film:) Please preserve the Wurlitzer electrostatic reed organs as well. Wurlitzer manufactured these in the Tonawanda,NY as well directly following WWII. The first electrostatic reed organs played the reeds as the keys were played, and were called Keyed Reed (KR). They had a more pipe like attack and were very nice sounding for hymns and traditional classical playing. The 310 Vibrato cabinet had a mild tremulent rotor in the top so it although not in full blown Leslie tremulent territory the 310 cabinet hooked to a KR organ could be adequately suited to playing some popular tunes. The popularity of the Hammond organ in 1935 took off full speed and a big part of the Hammond sound is it's instant attack when playing the keys. Wurlitzer must have really been beside themselves by then, having already developed the KR organs and having to completely retool to make an all new Free Reed FR design with 'instant attack' to compete with Hammond in 1953. Only to have Hammond introduce key percussion in 1955 on the all new B3/C3/RT3 series. Perhaps luck would not always be on Wurlitzer's side when it came to R&D. Their main man, Robert Hope Jones passed from the world just as they began offering their first pipe organs. Farny Wurlitzer committed from that point on to stick to Hope Jone's last main design with few alterations and use the absolute finest materials possible. Wurlitzer endured and became the main theater organ manufacture of all time. Wurlitzer used the finest materials and electronic components in their electrostatic reed organs from 1945 to 1961 as well. Then with just one all-tube console, spinet, and chord organ model following the ES reed, Wurlitzer brought their famed theater organ into R&D and they modeled the first fully solid state theater organ in 1964- the model 4500 Console, and 4300 Spinet. Both shared identical controls. Although Wurlitzer being once bitten twice shy from previous experience decided to refrain from calling the organs 'theater organs' right away. To play a 4500 is enough to know it's a theater organ, but it's straight cabinet didn't look like a theater organ. Smart they were not to limit their buying public to purchasing a theater organ. The 4500 and 4300 organs were marketed as organs that could play five major types of organ music, including theater! In 1966 they offered the 4520- Wurlitzer's very first Electronic Theater Organ (ETO), essentially a 4500 in a horseshoe cabinet with a fancier toy counter. Having played every kind of Wurlitzer except a Wurlitzer pipe organ I can attest to the Wurlitzer being the finest organ in every way. And certainly no ETO sounds as biting and Wurlitzer like than a Wurlitzer 4500 series organ. They skipped over the tubes quick for a reason. And they stayed with fully discrete transistorized tone generators and amplifiers for 10 years for a reason! Paul J Columbus Ohio

[@paulj0557tonehead]

pax41 Thanks:) I must have had a little time on my hands that day [too...you'll see lol]. Last year...no 2 years ago now, I rescued an all-vacuum tube 1958' Conn Classic-815 organ which has a remarkably rich full sound for theater organ playing, as well as classical. Conn's first theater organs were the vacuum tube 640 and 645 deluxe ( 32 pedals is deluxe instead of 25 on the 640) which were both in horseshoe cabinets like the all transistor 66' Wurlitzer. These Conn tube theater organs were produced in from 63'-66'. For posterity's sake it's nice to have the tubes-versus-transistors from two great organ manufactures right in that 63'-66' period, but there is one organ that is considered the holy grail of electronic theater organs, and it arrived in 1961'! Three years before Wurlitzer's 1964' 4500 straight cabinet theater organ, and two years before Conn's first theater organ. This being the 1961 Gulbransen Rialto-K all-transistor electronic theater organ. Considering the big splash that the all-transistor Rialto K made in 1961 it might have some wondering why Conn didn't begin making solid state ( all transistor) theater organ in 63' instead of staying with vacuum tubes. Wurlitzer seemed to have caught on though, by switching to transistors in 64'. And this was just two years after introducing fully tube organs ( Wurlitzers were electrostatic reed until 61') in 62'-63'. That was an amazing feat that probably only Wurlitzer could handle. Wurlitzer mastered making vacuum tube based jukeboxes years earlier so most of the tooling and engineering staff was already there for the tube organs. It's my guess that they co-designed the transistor line-to-be for 64' even while they made those tube organs for those two years. It probably threw Conn for a loop though. Conn unveiled their first theater organ in 63' as an all-tube organ, and then bam! Wurlitzer puts out a fully solid state beast of a theater organ. I think Wurlitzer decided they would never be burned again after that Hammond situation with them dropping the great Hammond B3 on top of the very organ Wurlitzer redesigned to compete with Hammond just one year earlier. Ultimately, when it comes to the Vacuum tube theater organ versus the transistor theater organ, it's a matter of taste. I really love the theater organ abilities of my 58' Conn Classic. In fact before the 63' Conn theater organ introduction, this is what players used for playing theater organ on. For some comparisons here is a list of videos to listen to: ( sorry, too tired to post links, but will give accurate names to search) FOR A CONN 1957'-58' VACUUM TUBE CLASSIC-810 PLAYED AS A THEATER ORGAN listen to: GEORGE WRIGHT PLAYS THE CONN ELECTRONIC ORGAN FOR A CONN 1963' 640 ALL VACUUM TUBE THEATER ORGAN (their 1st theater model) listen to:DON BAKER CURTAIN TIME FOR A CONN 1966' 645 ALL VACUUM TUBE THEATER ORGAN (their 2nd theater model, a 32 pedal [640 has 25] 645 "THEATRE DELUXE" model) listen to: DON BAKER RISE N' SHINE , and another album- DON BAKER PLAYS ORIGINAL THEMES TO MOTION PICTURES FOR ANOTHER RECORD OF A 57'-58' CONN 810-CLASSIC listen to: [and don't let the title fool you, it's really a Conn 810 with the add-on key-percussion unit 58443 ,which is how the harp and piano effects are created] ORGAN MOODS JOHN WINTERS AT THE MIGHTY WURLITZER ORGAN FOR A WURLITZER 4500 all transistor organ of 64', and Wurlitzer's first theater organ, but disguised in a straight cabinet until the 4520 horseshoe cabinet model arrived in 66', but w/ identical insides and controls of the 64' 4500, listen to: JOHN LA DUCA WURLITZER 4500/4520/4300 [incedentally, the 4300 was the spinet version of the 4500, identical internally and controls same (rocker tabs instead of paddle switches), just less keys and pedals.] FOR A 1966 WURLITZER 4520 all transistor, horseshoe cabinet ( the first since the Wurlitzer theater pipe organs in the 1930's) played live by DICK SMITH ( one of Jesse Crawford's last and youngest students) listen to: WURLITZER 4520 DICK SMITH - INDIAN LOVE SONG [this was a video I'd downloaded before the person who had many of Dicks videos. KZbin acct was suspended for showing to many episodes of Are You Being Served. Just glad to have downloaded one video, I hope that some day the other videos of his playing get posted again.]

[@steinwaygrande3971]

Just remembered that in the 1960s/70s there was a wealthy gentleman who had the mighty Wurlitzer installed in his purpose built house in Johannesburg where he would play for hours. Dont know if the organ is still there or if its no longer

[@steinwaygrande3971]

There are currently three Wurlitzers in Perth and have been to as many Sunday afternoon concerts for a couple of hours as I possibly can.Still a few craftsmen who know how to sort them out. Brilliant Instrument

[@ElClásicodelos30s]

0:00 That's a Plenty 8:02 Orient Express 9:01 Tico-Tico 12:05 Liberty Bell 17:50 That's a Plenty (again) 20:13 Probably indiana state band march or libery bell i don't really know *[The songs i didn't put in here, is because i do not know the name on them]* Thanks SO much for us, the Theater organs enthusiasts.

[@UncleLouie867]

GREAT!!

[@fionahawksley2898]

I would love to see any recordings featuring my late father Mike Hawksley. He played many theatre organs around the country during the 1970's (and before and after that time.)

[@jrbs]

Wasn't Reginald Dixon the most charming chap!

[@MmpRail]

10:45 - The Christie, is it still there?

[@lindalawrence9351]

why does this remind me of skating rinks?

[@johnnyjames7139]

Iceland Rink in Paramount California has a WurliTzer. Frank Zamboni liked theatre organ. Yes, THAT Zamboni !

[@ChrisRichmond]

How many of these Norfolk organs are still in place today?

[@seanland]

Blackpool organ theatre Sean happy music

[@powerfarmer892]

Thanks for uploading, Awesome video, Could anyone tell me what the song at 15:01 is please? I've been going mad trying to remember which theme it is!!

[@mrpumfrey]

The Big Country

[@skibik3r]

The introduction song is amazing! Anyone know the tune?

[@EBCBroadcasting]

Its Called 'Thats A Plenty' and quite a few people I believe have recorded it over the years. Its a wartime hit I believe! hope that helps :D

[@steveashley7240]

'That's A Plenty' is a jazz number from 1914, composed by bandleader Lew Pollack and recorded countless times by most of the British and American big bands since.

[@billbickley5798]

Wizard Playing...By a Wizard Gent.................Bill Bickley uk Stay Safe All

[@macartancaughey9993]

The only thing there is to many keys for me to play 2 is just right even that is one to many

[@caseyjonesfan]

What is the first song?

[@OrganMusicYT]

That's a Plenty.

[@maironef]

この劇場オルガン、数千本の笛パイプに打楽器もアコースティック(生音)で演奏できるとは凄い楽器だ。日本国内には無いのでは？ さらに最新鋭の電子オルガンとて、これにはかなわない!?

[@matteozanon]

はい、東京の三越モールには1つあります。 Google翻訳者に翻訳

[@glenm5034]

What a show off. LOL