The Legendary Reginald Dixon M.B.E at the Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ
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- Опубліковано 17 бер 2013
- Rare video footage of the most popular theatre organist of all time, the legendary Reginald Dixon M.B.E at the Mighty Wurlitzer theatre organ of the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester (ex Empress Ballroom, Blackpool) as well as the Free Trade Hall Wurlitzer in Manchester (Ex Paramount/ODEON Manchester) in his later years.
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When people ask me where I'd visit if I had a time machine...Blackpool in its heyday and just watch in awe at this maestro
Absolutely. I'd love to visit the early days when he was just starting to hear how he played for dancing back in the 30s. And of course a great chance to hear the other 4 theatre organs in Blackpool at the time in action.
Wow. Thanks for posting. I didn't know there were any films of Reg playing.
A legend in his time.
Wonderful days! Bring 'em back please.
Thanks for posting : a great man, but so humble
Couldn't agree more!
there will only ever be one 'Mr Blackpool'
Wonderful organist!
35 years ago yesterday we lost the greatest organist of all time Mr Blackpool Reg Dixon
I met him in the late 50s. A real gentleman!
Several shots at the Odeon Manchester Wurlitzer now in Stockport town hall.
Love Blackpool tower organ/church and fairground organ music.very fond memories of the merry go round at steeple bumpstead.with Mr & Mrs Thompson and that basic organ with cardboard cut out music and powered by a diesel LORRY. In the 70's those was the days love it...
Your comment makes no sense. Could you clarify what you mean?
on BBC Radio 2 you quite often hear Reg being played on 'The Organist Entertains' and other classic programs.
Oh lovely 😊 saw him in Blackpool Tower and remember the caged animals. Gosh a long time ago
I have finished watching this video completely.
(我看完這部影片了)
I am a Taiwanese who cares about the global affairs.
(我是一個關心全球事務的台灣人)
And, sadly, most of my fellow Taiwanese don't really care about the world.
(但是，很不幸地，我大部分的台灣同胞不那麼在意世界。)
Hopefully Taiwan can become increasingly globally-aware and globally-competitive.
(希望台灣可以越來越有全球意識與全球競爭力。)
God bless Taiwan.
(天佑台灣。)
I was 4 when I saw this great man, and the animals too, do you remeber the sea world aquarium, it makes me feel old but you cant beat it.
Remember seeing Reginald in the 60s playing at Blackpool
I remember my mother taking me to hear Mr Dixon at the Kingston Regal Cinema in the early 60s.
Lucky you!
The late Reg....knew him well back in the day. RIP bossman.
Love it.
He played in Blackpool from March 1930 until March 1970. I remember him in the 1950s. After dancing we walked home, both males and females, with no fear of being attacked and robbed. The "good old days"
Full of junkies there now.
I just purchased 6 LP records for just over £6. Its a great shame how almost no one remembers his name anymore
une légende !
Super excellent with very good interesting video
THE MAESTRO..GREAT MEMORIES ..5 stars
THE KING OF THE WURLITZER!!!!
when I was a child my late Grandad gave me a pile of acetates and LPs one of them was Reg Dixon. I slowly worked my way through the records until I reached REGINALD DIXON AT THE BLACKPOOL TOWER ORGAN!! I had never heard anything like it!!! I played that record over and over until sadly it got damaged and wouldnt play anymore, I guess the grooves got too deep?? . I took to the organ so much my father bought me a small portable reed organ and I was on my way! I have played keyboards (badly )since then, at one time having a large Hammond in my bedroom!!. Now arthritis has overcome my hands and the pain stops me playing much now, I ALWAYS wanted to be allowed to play a WURLITZER, but that dream was never realised. Thank you Reg Dixon you should have been KNIGHTED!!!!
Yes, repeated playing does wear out the grooves unfortunately. I'm pleased to hear that Reg's recordings inspired you to take up playing. I'm sorry to hear you have arthritis, it's such a debilitating thing to have. It must be so frustrating not being able to play as much as you like. There are quite a few Wurlitzers up and down the UK which can be booked out for a few hours of playing time. If you are interested, I can point you in the right direction :)
Yes it was my late Grandad. And granny who introduced me to Blackpool it was magical I had never seen anything like it . Loooooved it an still do . And went regularly thro my life . I did see Reg in the Tower ballroom wonderful memories 💃🕺😍😍😍😍😍😍
I was at a charity shop and found a vinyl for one pound, didnt think much about it, but flash forward a couple of months I have 6 Dixon vinyls and starting to learn to play the pipe organ!
What a guy!
Smoke me a kipper.......
Miss him
Great channel this...pure gold!
Aww cheers! Nice to see people enjoy these little snips of our cultural heritage.
un grand maitre, toute ma jeunesse ! "salut Reg"
lots of history there...interesting video!
the main man,respex
It was called 'Toccata at the Plaza' and was made by the BBC to celebrate Robin Richmond's 50 years in showbusiness, sometime in the mid 1970's. I don't know if it is available on DVD, it would be great if it is as I seem to recall that there is some great stuff on it!
Great
agreed, well said
As far as we know this is as far as both interviews go. They were filmed as part of a documentary.
Blackpool used to be a lovely place to live. I was educated there back in the late 70s. It’s such a shame Blackpool is not the same now. Too many walks of life have moved there and too many changes. Gynn Square was my favourite place I spent my childhood. Wonderful happy memories. People were nice and friendly. I used to spend a lot of my childhood days at Gynn Gardens and the Lyngarth Hotel over the Road.
It's still a lovely place, just rather tired but the council and local businesses are working hard to improve it. I first visited it when I was 14 and thought it was horrible. I thought at the time, Im never going back. Over the past 10 years I have been there countless times and I've seen such a turn around in how the town looks with new venues opening and some of the historic ones being restored.
OrganMusicYT Needs the old trams back instead of the new trams and ridding of all the dossers and druggies who moved there. Hotels need to be back to up to standard and excellent service. Gynn gardens shut down crazy golf etc. Broken walls at the Gynn. Needs a new Council and even then you can’t go back to the past. People do not respect things anymore. Blackpool is riddled with dossers now. It wasn’t like that back in 1980.
@@paulaclifton9627 The old trams are still there and run as a heritage experience. The new trams were brought in because they were more reliable, and up to modern standards with regards to health & safety and accessibility. I'm quite sure people would have grumbled and complained when the now iconic green and cream balloon trams came into use in the 1930s.
The hotels do need to be brought up to standard, that said, I have never stayed in a bad one. New hotels are in the midst of construction, and the new Hilton hotel on the prom opened just a couple of years ago.
Maybe it does need a new council, however, no council is perfect. Over the past ten years, Blackpool council have gone out of their way to save the towns most iconic structures and invested in them heavily to bring them up to standard and respect the history and fabric of them at the same time.
The best
You will find the same version on Nigel Ogdens dvd 'The organist entertains'
Robert Wolfe inspiration.
Indeed, and the inspiration for many organists and organ enthusiasts around the World. We in the UK would have little left theatre organ wise if it hadn't been for his influence.
i have a box set called organ memories with 4 lps and the 1st record is dixon at the tower ballroom organ
+djpaulywood A U.S Release only, from Readers Digest. Those recordings we're the best recordings of the Tower Ballroom Wurlitzer, they capture the organ and the acoustic of the ballroom perfectly.
Whoever said Reg' lost in later years must have been referring to years later than this!
They don't like his later stuff? Not even "pop goes Delius" or "funking up wagner"?
Is there a surviving complete copy of it as it ends rather quickly
WHAT SONG DOES HE START WITH? IM SORRY IM TO YOUNG TO KNOW BUT HELP ME OUT THANKS.
Was this only a part of what was actually recorded? If so, did the rest survive?
Connie Foster Obviously they must have filmed more than shown in the final cut that went out on air. Probably none of it survives. There is very little, if any footage of Reg Dixon in the BBC archives, or anywhere. It's a great shame that the Tower Company were so strict about the organists at their venues being filmed.
Is the Manchester organ the actual one from Blackpool or just the same type?
marcel-nine-one-one This organ was originally installed in the Tower Ballroom in 1929, it was 2 manual, ten rank instrument. In 1934 it was decided to replace that organ with a 3 manual 13 rank organ (which remains in the tower ballroom to this day). The original 2 manual ten rank instrument was moved to the much larger Empress ballroom. It was enlarged to match the specification of the Tower Ballrooms new Wurlitzer.
In 1970, changes made to the stage of the Empress Ballroom lead to the decision to sell it. It was purchased by the BBC and moved to their studios in Hulme. Where it remained till the mid to late 1980s when it was decided to sell the instrument. It was purchased and the new owner broke it up for parts and now forms part of the Worthing Wurlitzer. A very sad loss of a very historic instrument!
When was this filmed? Was it filmed when he was the organist there?
Daniel Murphy It was filmed in the 1970s as part of a documentary. the organ is the Ex Empress Ballroom Wurlitzer which was installed in the BBC's studio's on the Playhouse theatre in Manchester.
So is this the one thats simliler to the tower?
Daniel Murphy yes, it was identical in specification originally. Do a search for Horace Finch at the Empress Ballroom and you'll get quite a few results.
I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside.
A brilliant man and organist, but does the new wurlitzer sound the same as the old one, I am agreat wurlitzer fan and I will never knock the wurlitzer, but the old 78 recordings have something that is no longer there, it takes an enthusiast I think to understand what I am trying to explain.
Which organ are you talking about, the Tower or the Empress?
@@OrganMusicYT As a child I never went to the Empress I am going on me seeing Reginald at Tower in 1949, but some old films I have seen, the sound was different and his legs were moving back and forth, watching Nigel at the new Wurlitzer he does not move his legs as much as I remember,, I know they are the base pedals or are they you educate me, either way I am now 75 , and for me it is pure nostalgia, just like the old trams,
@@OrganMusicYT Thank you I did not know but the music is brilliant, do you have any CD records for sale.
When you could go walking down the promenade without some beggar nicking your wife's handbag.
He was from Sheffield why does he speak like that
+marcnews75 Listen to every radio broadcaster on the BBC from the 1930s, 40s, 50s and into the 60s and 70s - They all spoke in a similar fashion regardless of where they were from - the "BBC Voice".
I'm an American and it's that way here, too. Almost all big-city radio announcers have a certain neutral accent that might be described among ourselves as mid-western, but the British wouldn't understand -- as I don't know what it means to sound like Sheffield.
Music programs might have presenters with accents and adverts might be delivered by people who sound local, but let the news program come on and Seattle sounds like Dallas, sounds like Miami, sounds like New York City ... on and on.
@@bloggerccc We would understand any US accent to be fair, we see enough American TV for it to be no problem. We're used to decyphering our own regional accents as well.
Long sustained chords on a Wurlitzer theater organ??’s You’ve got to be kidding me. LOL LOL
As Reg said, he wouldn't have lasted very long playing in long sustained chords haha