The Wurlitzer That Made Hi-Fi

Fred Hermes 5/34 Wurlitzer

The Wurlitzer Company built only three five-manual organs -- all of which are still playing today. The first was Opus 1351, a 5/28 organ installed in Detroit's Michigan Theatre in 1926. This organ was reinstalled in Fred Hermes home in Racine, Wisconsin in 1946.

A second five-manual organ, Opus 1587, with just 21 ranks, opened in Chicago's 3,980-seat Marbro Theatre in 1927. In the early '60s, it was reinstalled in Byron Carlson's Minneapolis, Minnesota home. It remained there until 1982, when he sold it to the Ocean State Performing Arts Center (formerly the Loew's State Theatre) in Providence, Rhode Island, where it now is played frequently.

The Marbro / Carlson Wurlitzer now in the Ocean State Performing Arts Center, Providence, Rhode Island

The third organ, Opus 1942, also a 5/21, was installed in 1929, only three blocks from the Marbro Theatre in Chicago's 3,600 seat Paradise Theatre. The theatre's name was taken from the adjacent Paradise Ballroom. The builders of the Marbro theatre (the Marks Brothers) had wanted to use the Paradise name for their theatre, but since the Paradise Ballroom owners had planned to build their own theatre (which was actually completed by the Balaban and Katz chain), the Marks Brothers simply condensed their name to Marbro. However, they went bankrupt a few years later so Balaban and Katz operated both theatres from 1932 until each one closed and was demolished. The Paradise went first in 1956, while the Marbro survived until 1963.

The rebirth of the theatre pipe organ movement began shortly after the end of World War II. Many organ buffs had begun removing unused organs from their original theatre homes. A Los Angeles man, Richard Vaughn, had become an organ buff after buying one of the then popular Hammond electric organs. But, craving a real pipe organ for his home, in 1946 he bought Opus 1732, a Style F with three

Richard Vaughn (former Paradise) 5/21 Wurlitzer

manuals and eight ranks, which had been used at the 1939-40 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. Even that didn't quench his thirst, so he began a nationwide search for an even larger organ. His bid for the near mint condition Paradise Theatre organ in Chicago was accepted and in the late '40s he began installing it in his home in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles.

Over the years, the original Paradise Theatre organ console shell had suffered some damage so Vaughn had the entire console redesigned with matched split grain Philippine mahogany. In his basement, he built two side-by-side chambers, each one measuring 14' x 14' x 14'. The organ spoke into a 4' wide, two-story tall mixing chamber, and sounded through two 6' x 9' wide grills in his 25' by 35' studio. Installation was completed in 1951.

One day, Richard Vaughn heard some organ transcriptions being played on KFAC radio. He called the station and, when he learned it was George Wright at the New York Paramount Theatre, he immediately called the theatre. He talked with Wright (who was already planning to return to California) and invited him to come by and try out the organ.

George Wright and Hi-Fi Records

In 1951, George Wright returned to California, liked the organ, and a recording contract was signed. About this time, Ampex (a leading manufacturer of recording equipment) developed a new tape recording system that utilized three microphones with three-track recording capability. Vaughn utilized this three-channel system before the advent of stereo LP records, and he started recording George Wright for his newly organized company, High Fidelity Recordings, Inc.

Although the interest in theatre organs certainly had tapered off in the late '30s and early '40s, it never disappeared completely. Jesse Crawford, Eddie Dunstedter, Gaylord Carter and others had kept the torch burning with personal appearances and recordings. With the advent of LPs in the late '40s many of their old 78-rpm records were converted to the new format. Around the country, some buffs revived the long-dormant instruments in theatres or removed them for installation in their homes. By the time Richard Vaughn was ready to release his first hi-fi recordings, the theatre organ revival was well under way...so much so that Richard Simonton sent out invitations to organists and organ fans everywhere to meet in his Toluca Lake home and establish an organization to coordinate and encourage the promotion of theatre organs and their music.

The American Theatre Organ Society Is Born

On February 8, 1955, they met and agreed to become the American Association of Theatre Organ Enthusiasts (later shortened to American Theatre Organ Enthusiasts, and still later modified to American Theatre Organ Society.) These people became the original charter members, electing the first officers and establishing an executive committee to write their bylaws and publish a journal. Richard Vaughn was elected to the executive committee, and later served two terms on the Board of Directors. Since installation of the organ in the "Bijou Theatre" of Simonton's home had not yet started, the entertainment for the evening consisted of listening to tapes of Vaughn's first two recordings.

The astounding growth of high fidelity audio equipment throughout the '50s is no doubt due, at least in part, to George Wright's remarkable series of recordings made on Richard Vaughn's 5/21 Wurlitzer. In fact, one could not attend a hi-fi show anywhere in the country and not experience virtually every manufacturer demonstrating the superiority of his equipment with these hi-fi recordings. Within a few years, Vaughn claimed the first two albums each sold more than a million copies. Before George Wright's contract with Hi-Fi expired in 1959, material for more than fourteen releases had been recorded.

George Wright was not the only artist to record the Vaughn 5/21 organ. Don Baker recorded the organ for his Capital album, Organ Moods For Listening. About the same time, Gordon Kibbee's Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ album came out on the Starlite label. His later album, South Pacific and Oklahoma, which showed the five-manual console on the cover, was actually recorded on the Lorin Whitney Robert Morton organ in Glendale.

On May 10, 1957, Vaughn and Hi-Fi Records sponsored a stunning promotional concert with George Wright playing the Shrine Auditorium Moller for a crowd of over 5,000. The Spring 1959, issue of Theatre Organ carried an article announcing that Richard Vaughn was going to enlarge his Wurlitzer by buying the Denver Civic Auditorium Wurlitzer (a 4/35 Special, Opus 0154, installed in 1918) to add to his 5/21 in a new, larger studio. That never materialized, and the Denver organ was broken up for parts. Its console now controls the beautiful Wurlitzer organ at San Sylmar's Nethercutt Collection. In 1962, Richard Vaughn sold his Wurlitzer to Bill Brown and it was moved to Phoenix. Now installed in Bill Brown's home, it was enlarged to 34 ranks.

Other Five-Manual Theatre Organs

In the interest of historical accuracy, it should be mentioned that there have been four other five-manual Wurlitzers built, but none of them came from the Wurlitzer Company in North Tonawanda. Since 1954, the Organ Loft Restaurant in Salt Lake City has had a five-manual Wurlitzer, which was built by the late Larry Bray from the twin-console Staten Island Paramount Wurlitzer (Opus 2129). The two consoles were combined into one five-manual console, with pipework from other organs added. Today it plays as a 5/32.

The Wurlitzer Company's showcase five-manual consoleat the De Kalb, Illinois factory

Another five-manual Wurlitzer was actually custom built by the Wurlitzer Company long after it had gone out of the pipe organ business. It was constructed to serve as a showcase, honoring nearly 75 years of organ building. It contained a sample of every rank (both theatre and classic) ever built in their North Tonawanda factory. This new five-manual organ debuted in 1978 at company headquarters in DeKalb, Illinois. Unfortunately, it survived for only five years because their business experienced financial problems. The organ was put up for sale in 1983, and is believed to have been broken up for parts shortly thereafter.

The Bruce Williams Zaccagnino Wurlitzer

In the early 1980s, Gorsuch Enterprises in San Diego, California built a five-manual console for organist Weldon Flanagan to install in his Plano, Texas residence. Unfortunately, lightning struck his home and Flanagan disposed of the organ. The console was obtained by Bruce Williams Zaccagnino, who installed it on his 5/37 Northlandz American Music Hall organ in Flemington, New Jersey, where it is playing today.

Replica of the Paradise Theatre Wurlitzer console in the Sanfilippo home, Barrington Hills, Illinois

The last five-manual Wurlitzer, with 80 ranks of pipes, was designed by the late Dave Junchen for the magnificent Sanfilippo Victorian Palace in Barrington Hills, Illinois. The inaugural concert on this, the world's largest theatre organ, was presented on July 10, 1993. Lyn Larsen and others have made a series of CD recordings on this unique instrument. This organ also boasts two important connections with the Paradise Theatre Wurlitzer. First is the colorful peacock scrim, which covers the organ's chambers. It is a near copy of the Paradise Theatre's magnificent main curtain. Even more impressive is the console built by Ken Crome. It is an exact duplicate of the ornate Paradise Theatre Wurlitzer organ console -- complete with cherub and the busts of Liszt and Tchaikovsky!

The Hi-Fi recordings that George Wright made in the '50s on the Richard Vaughn 5/21 Wurlitzer live on. Banda's Original Masters Series has included a digital version of Wright's first two albums from his famous Hi-Fi Records series on one compact disc: George Wright Plays The Mighty Wurlitzer Pipe Organ [CD #701], and George Wright Encores [CD #702]. When these albums were originally issued, George Wright remarked, "I signed up with High Fidelity instead of a major record label for two good reasons. I'm allowed to choose the selections I record, and they are perfectionists in the field of reproducing sound with startling realism. In short, I want to record things I like to play and I want them to sound right."

We are all deeply indebted to Richard Vaughn for having the foresight and skill to obtain one of the finest organs ever built by Wurlitzer, record it with state of the art equipment, showcase the artistry of George Wright, and attain nationwide distribution for his Hi-Fi albums. The theatre organ revival has now covered half a century -- far longer than the original "Theatre Organ Golden Age" of the teens and twenties. Without a doubt, the Richard Vaughn organ was the Wurlitzer that made Hi-Fi.

Thanks to Chris Gorsuch, Gordon Kibbee, Ron Mitchell, Stephen Ross, and various publications of the Theatre Historical Society for assistance in the preparation of this article.

Copyright © 2000 The American Theatre Organ Society, Inc. All rights reserved.