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Vernon Geyer (born around 1904 in Oklahoma) [1] was an American musician and composer, best remembered for his recordings as a swing organist during the late 1930s.
Early in his musical career, Geyer showcased his talent by writing the words and music for the song "Only You", which was copyrighted in 1924. [2] He gained recognition for his musical skills, and in 1931 Geyer secured the position of chief organist at the RKO Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas. [3]
He became an early proponent of the Hammond organ, which had been patented by Laurens Hammond in 1934. [4] Between 1936 and 1939, Geyer recorded for various record labels, including Bluebird, Regal Zonophone, Victor, and Montgomery Ward. [5] These recordings demonstrated his skills on the keyboard, and also served to promote the versatility of the Hammond organ.
In 1938, he took on the role of music supervisor for the film The Alamo: Shrine of Texas Liberty .
By 1940, Geyer had become a member of the American Federation of Musicians [6] and was being billed as "America's number one recording artist on the Hammond electric organ". [7] Throughout the 1940s, he performed for live audiences across the United States in nightclubs. [8] [9] In 1954, Geyer had the honor of playing the original musical score for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's screening of the 1916 film Intolerance by David Wark Griffith. [10]
Geyer's recording of "My Marie" [11] renewed interest in his work when it was featured in the soundtrack of the 2010 role-playing video game Space Funeral .
Mick Weaver is an English session musician, best known for his playing of the Hammond B3 organ.
Korla Pandit, born John Roland Redd, was an American exotica musician, composer, pianist, and organist. After moving to California in the late 1940s and getting involved in show business, Redd became known as "Korla Pandit", claimed as a French-Indian musician from New Delhi, India. However, Redd was actually a light-skinned African-American man from Missouri who passed as a native of India.
George Wright was an American musician, possibly the most famous virtuoso of the theatre organ of the modern era.
Ena Baga was a British pianist and theatre organist. She is best known for improvising accompaniments to silent films, both in the 1920s and during the revival of interest in silent films that began in the 1970s.
Jesse Crawford was an American pianist and organist. He was well known in the 1920s as a theatre organist for silent films and as a popular recording artist. In the 1930s, he switched to the Hammond organ and became a freelancer. In the 1940s, he authored instruction books on organ and taught organ lessons.
An organ trio is a form of jazz ensemble consisting of three musicians; a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player. In some cases the saxophonist will join a trio which consists of an organist, guitarist, and drummer, making it a quartet. Organ trios were a popular type of jazz ensemble for club and bar settings in the 1950s and 1960s, performing a blues-based style of jazz that incorporated elements of R&B. The organ trio format was characterized by long improvised solos and an exploration of different musical "moods".
Gaylord Carter was an American organist and the composer of many film scores that were added to silent movies released on video tape or disks. He died from Parkinson's disease.
Richard Ellsasser was an American concert organist, composer, and conductor who was primarily active during the 1940s to 1960s.
The Lowrey organ is an electronic organ, named after its developer, Frederick C. Lowrey (1871–1955), a Chicago-based industrialist and entrepreneur. Lowrey's first commercially successful full-sized electronic organ, the Model S Spinet or Berkshire, came to market in 1955, the year of his death. Lowrey had earlier developed an attachment for a piano, adding electronic organ stops on 60 notes while keeping the piano functionality, called the Organo, first marketed in 1949 as a very successful competitor to the Hammond Solovox.
Anthony W. Hammond is a British concert organist and author.
Graham Washington Jackson Sr. was an American theatre organist, pianist, accordionist, and choral conductor. He was the subject of a Life magazine photograph taken at the departure of Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral train.
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists. In addition, an organist may accompany congregational hymn-singing and play liturgical music.
Cherry Wainer was a South African-born musician, best known as a member of Lord Rockingham's XI and a soloist on the Hammond organ.
Benjamin Jackson Porter "Jackie" Davis was an American soul jazz singer, organist and bandleader. He is notable for his contributions in bringing the Hammond organ to the forefront of jazz and pop, preceding the better-known Jimmy Smith by several years.
Con Maffie was an American organist who was most successful on radio.
Dan Bellomy was an American organist who performed on pipe and electric organs. Bellomy's theater organ performances were acclaimed for their inclusion of the jazz idiom, and he was at times described as a pure jazz organist. He wrote scripts for and directed several local television shows.
Lee Orville Erwin was an American theatre organist who played an important part in a revival of interest in the silent film era. His career began as an organist accompanying first-run silent films in the 1920s. He received classical training in Cincinnati and France, and then began a career as organist and arranger for radio, significantly at WLW and CBS Radio, the latter in association with Arthur Godfrey, that lasted through the mid-1960s. When his radio career ended he was commissioned to provide complete new scores for silent films exceeding seventy in number, and in this capacity and as an organist for silent film tours and exhibitions he received widespread critical acclaim. Erwin was active into his early 90s.
Helen Searles Westbrook was an American composer and organist who appeared with Chicago Symphony.
Viola Frances KlaissSpotts was an American organist. She was a theatre organist in Philadelphia, and made several recordings in the 1920s. She was also "leader of an all-female orchestra".
Frederick Kinsley (1886–1960) was a theatre organist and early recording artist for Edison Records in the 1920s. He was one of the first organists to be recorded on acoustical record following the advent of the technology.