George Wright (organist)
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George Wright (August 28, 1920 in
Orland, California Orland is a city in Glenn County, California. The population was 7,291 at the 2010 census, up from 6,281 at the 2000 census, making Orland the most populous and fastest growing city in Glenn County. Orland is located north of Willows, at an ele ...
– May 10, 1998 in
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) was an American musician, possibly the most famous
virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...
of the
theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements o ...
of the modern era. Wright was best known for his virtuoso performances on the huge
Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
theater pipe organs at the famed Fox Theater on Market Street in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and the ornate Paramount Theaters in both
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and
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. In the early1940s he was an active performer on radio, first on the west coast; in 1944 he was transferred to New York City by NBC, and played numerous radio shows from 1944-1951. In 1948 he was hired as solo organist at the Paramount Theatre in Times Square. He left New York in 1951. The early 50s brought fame via his iconic recordings on HIFI Records, using the 5-manual Wurlitzer originally from the Paradise Theatre, Chicago, installed in the home of HIFI owner Richard Vaughn. The 60s brought more fame through his recordings (primarily on the DOT label) on the organ sponsored by Leslie organ speaker inventor Don Leslie and installed in his warehouse on S. Fair Oaks Blvd. in South Pasadena. In the 70s, he installed a theatre pipe organ in his home in the Hollywood Hills, and recorded numerous CDs on the BANDA label. He concertized widely across the United States. He also played two concerts in the UK (one on a Conn electronic organ, as a Conn promotional event, the other on the Wurlitzer organ in the Gaumont State Theatre, Kilburn, London).


Early years

George Wright learned to play the piano at an early age from his aunt who was a private music teacher. His mother was a movie accompanist on the piano for silent movies played at the Orland Theatre. He grew up in Stockton and
Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, where he graduated from Grant Union High School in 1938. One of his first projects was installing a theater organ there, where it still remains and plays.


Career

In 1938, he had his first playing job at a Chinese night club in Oakland, called the New Shanghai Cafe and Terrace Bowl, which boasted a 2-manual, 6-rank
Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
; the show was broadcast nightly by an Oakland radio station. In 1941, he joined
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
radio station KFRC and on the Blue Network by 1942. In December, 1942 he started performing at the San Francisco Fox Theater on Saturday nights. In late 1944, he relocated to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to work as organist for NBC radio. He began recording at this time, first cutting 78 RPM records for
Syd Nathan Sydney Nathan (April 27, 1904 – March 5, 1968) was an American music business executive who founded King Records, a leading independent record label, in 1943. He contributed to the development of country & western music, rhythm and blues a ...
's King Records and Regent Records, in addition to securing contracts for transcription disks on the Thesaurus, Associated, and Muzak labels. In New York, he was a guest on the
Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, ...
"Stairway to the Stars" radio program (May 21, 1946) and
Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listenin ...
, as well as on the network shows of
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and
Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...
. He also conducted his own orchestra on the
Robert Q. Lewis Robert Q. Lewis (born Robert Goldberg; April 25, 1921 – December 11, 1991) was an American radio and television personality, comedian, game show host, and actor. Lewis added the middle initial "Q" to his name accidentally on the air in 1942, ...
show and began a seven-year stint playing in a trio with
Charles Magnante Charles Magnante (December 7, 1905 – December 30, 1986) was an American piano-accordionist, arranger, composer, author and educator. His artistry helped raise the image of the accordion from an instrument considered suitable only for folk ...
, accordionist, and
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, guitarist, for Jack Berch's NBC show sponsored by the Prudential Insurance Company. The trio, with added bassist Bobby Haggart, recorded five "Soundies," as well. In 1948, he signed on as house organist for the Paramount Theater in New York. There, he played with many of the great
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
and pop artists of the time, including
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,
Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American Singing, singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to hi ...
and
Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...
. During his time in New York he made several recordings on both the organ in the New York Paramount's theatre and on the organ in the studio above the theatre - the organ on which
Jesse Crawford Jesse Crawford (December 2, 1895 – May 28, 1962) 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 b ...
made many of his most famous recordings. These recordings were first released as 78rpm single and later compiled into LP releases on the King (organ in the theatre) and Regent (organ in the studio with the addition of
Cozy Cole William Randolph "Cozy" Cole (October 17, 1909 – January 9, 1981) was an American jazz drummer who worked with Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong among others and led his own groups. Life and career William Randolph Cole was born in East Ora ...
on drums) labels. He moved to
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in 1951 and in the mid 50's began making a series of recordings for Richard Vaughn's
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label on a 5-manual, 21 rank Wurlitzer organ which Vaughn had acquired from the Paradise Theatre in Chicago (he was the first act signed to the label after its founding). Vaughn claimed that Wright's first seven albums for HIFI Records sold 1,000,000 copies in their first two years of release. He went on to record 20 albums for the HiFi label. By the late 1950s, Wright developed an avid, if cult-sized, following for his solo organ concerts during this time and was able to fill big variety-era theaters long after their main audiences had shriveled. Wright became renowned among theater organists for his pyrotechnic virtuosity, devising novel effects and pulling off lightning fast stop changes. In 1963 he became
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
's musical director for the West Coast, including becoming the studio organist (and eventual musical director) for the soap opera ''
General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...
''. Wright remained with the show even after it switched from live broadcasts to video tape in the 1970s, and as musical cues modernized, he even began composing piano arrangements for ''GHs underscore. In his next-to-last year with the soap, Wright was asked to compose new theme music for ''GH'', a piano-dominated tune which debuted on the program in April 1975. Over a year later, in July 1976, then-executive producer Tom Donovan chose to replace Wright's music with the style of another director. Wright, his scores, and his ''GH'' theme song were history (with the latter being replaced by the piece that will forever be the closest association of ''GH'' in history, "Autumn Breeze" by Jack Urbont). During his long career, George Wright played a key role in reviving interest in theater organ music. He recorded more than 60 albums. Wright was the first act signed to Richard Vaughn's HIFI Records and recorded 20 albums as their featured organist in the late 1950s before switching to
Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...
in 1963. On his HIFI albums, Wright is a perfect complement to the label's star,
Arthur Lyman Arthur Lyman (February 2, 1932 – February 24, 2002) was an Hawaiian jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His group popularized a style of faux-Polynesian music during the 1950s and 1960s which later became known as exotica. His albums became ...
. His Dot albums are somewhat less showy, though he continues to work with a considerable range of material, from old standards to
Dave Brubeck David Warren Brubeck (; December 6, 1920 – December 5, 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz, Brubeck's work is characterized by unusual time signatures and superimposing contrasti ...
's "It's a Raggy Waltz." In August 1970, however, the studio/warehouse (owned by organ speaker inventory Don Leslie) where he kept his personal pipe organ burned and he stopped recording for over 10 years. Wright bought a house in the Hollywood Hills less for its location than for its capacity to accommodate his own mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ. He worked on it constantly, swapping out pieces he collected in his travels around the U.S. In 1980, his friend Bob Power founded BANDA Records for the purpose of recording Wright, and many of his albums were available from BANDA. In 1995, he was presented with the first Lifetime Achievement Award by the
American Theatre Organ Society The American Theatre Organ Society (ATOS) is an American non-profit organization, dedicated to preserving and promoting the theatre pipe organ and its musical art form. ATOS consists of regional member-chapters, and is led by democratically el ...
. He continued to play at concerts and make recordings to the end, and many unreleased tapes have been digitized after the acquisition of BANDA. He finished his last album, ''Salon'', just 60 days before his death. BANDA has released almost nothing since the early 2000s however, but the new owner of BANDA (George Wright biographer William L. Coale, Ph.D.) has issued numerous new offerings, including ''Back to School'' and an all-piano offering ''Gin & Tonic'' viewable at https://www.geniusofgeorgewright.com/store/c2/George_Wright_CDs_.htmlhhttps://www.geniusofgeorgewright.com/store/c2/George_Wright_CDs_.html Wright's organ recordings were distributed on the Associated Program Service Transcriptions, Muzak, Thesaurus Transcription Service, Armed Forces Radio Service, RCA Custom (under the pseudonym Jocelyn McNeil), RCA Camden (under the pseudonym Guy Melendy), Malar, King, Regent, Lurite, Doric, Century, Hamilton, Reader's Digest, Essential, BANDA, HiFi, SOLO, and DOT labels. Wright died of
heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
on May 10, 1998, in Los Angeles. His remains were cremated by the
Neptune Society The Neptune Society, Inc. is a US provider of cremation services. Its was founded in Plantation, Florida. History The Neptune Society was established in 1973 and was incorporated in 1985. In 1999, the Neptune Society announced its completion ...
and scattered in the organization's Rose Garden.


References


External links


George Wright Biography and CDsAmerican Theatre Organ SocietyThe Theatre Organ Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, George 1920 births 1998 deaths American keyboardists Theatre organists Musicians from Sacramento, California RCA Victor artists Dot Records artists 20th-century American musicians People from Orland, California Musicians from Stockton, California 20th-century organists