Al Melgard
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Al Melgard (October 4, 1890 in
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
– July 8, 1977) was the best-known
organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...
for the
Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. ...
, from 1930 until retirement in 1974, at age 84.


Career

Melgard, who lost his left
index finger The index finger (also referred to as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger, digitus secundus, digitus II, and many other terms) is the second digit of a human hand. It is located between the thumb and the mid ...
in an accident as a child, was nonetheless a highly acclaimed musician and played the Stadium's world-famous Barton theater organ masterfully. He played at nearly two thousand
Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...
hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...
games and over four hundred
Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
games, as well as hundreds of
professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse bid, purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regula ...
matches and countless other
Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. ...
events. He was arguably the first sports arena organist to match songs to events during games and his favorite target was the
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
. When National Hockey League Hall of Fame defenceman and later referee Francis "King" Clancy called a penalty, Melgard would play "
Clancy Lowered the Boom "Clancy Lowered the Boom" is a song written by Hy Heath and Johnny Lange in 1947, made famous by Dennis Day on Jack Benny's radio program (''The Jack Benny Program''). The song follows the adventures of an Irish-American stereotype as he "lowers ...
". Sometime in the late 1950s, he decided to greet the referee and linesmen when they came onto the ice before the start of the game with "
Three Blind Mice "Three Blind Mice" is an English-language nursery rhyme and musical round.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 306. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number o ...
". This practice ended quickly after a tersely worded order from NHL president
Clarence Campbell Clarence Sutherland Campbell, (July 9, 1905 – June 24, 1984) was a Canadian ice hockey executive, referee, and soldier. He refereed in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1930s, served in the Canadian Army during World War II, then s ...
. Melgard's most notable performance came during a boxing match at Chicago Stadium during the 1940s. As the story (fact mixed with some fiction) goes, the fight ended with an extremely unpopular decision. The capacity crowd became unruly and a riot on the floor broke out with folding chairs flying. Melgard supposedly tried to calm the uproar with a religious song and then "
The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...
". When that didn't work, Melgard opened up most of the 800-plus stops on the huge Barton organ, floored the volume pedal and laid his hands flat on the middle keyboards. The resulting sound blew out many of the lights over the arena floor. Stunned, the fans stopped fighting, picked up their hats and coats, and exited the building.


Albums

Melgard made four
record album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...
s with the Stadium organ under the Audio Fidelity label ( bong wrong - 6 plus 5 78's )
Stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
was new technology in the late 1950s, and several labels went looking for creative ways to demonstrate the lifelike stereo sound. Using several strategically placed
microphone A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...
s, Audio Fidelity was able to capture both the strength and nuances of the massive organ, as well as highlight Melgard's talents. The producers thought they had failed miserably when they heard a significant hiss throughout all of the tapes during editing, but the noise turned out to be the twin 100-horsepower blowers, manufactured by Spencer Turbine Co., that powered the organ. The resulting sound was high quality, the albums did well commercially, and they are now collectors' items. Prior to the Audio Fidelity recordings, Al Melgard recorded four albums on two smaller, lesser known local labels, Replica and Halifax. One of the Replica albums,"This Is Melgard" was recorded on a studio Wurlitzer organ. Volume 1 of the Replica recordings contains the selection "My Vision", Al's own composition, which was the last song played after every Chicago Blackhawk game at the Stadium. It was speculated this selection was composed by Al for Sojna Henie who performed at the Stadium as part of Arthur Wirtz's "Hollywood Ice Revue"


Personal life

Melgard was born in
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
, but his family moved to
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
when he was six months of age. He grew up in the city and attended Hyde Park High School there. After retiring, Melgard moved to
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
and died in 1977 at the age of 87.


References

1890 births 1977 deaths Stadium organists American male organists 20th-century organists 20th-century American male musicians{{Stadium_organists