The
seventh annual KEN
GRIFFIN Celebration
7 20 08
Eric Larson, Don Sansom, organists for the event
The seventh
annual Ken Griffin Celebration took place on Sunday, July 20th as the
highlight of our July meeting. As before we featured a video of one episode
of Ken Griffin's TV Show, 67 melody Lane. This was a wonderful
opportunity to see Ken Griffin playing, and it is also a wonderful look
at a typical variety entertainment show from the 1950s.
For this program, we used our club's X66 Hammond
Organ in conjunction with a MIDI keyboard for playing the piano parts
and other overdub effects that Ken used in some of his selections. At
this event, we were also fortunate to have an original 1956 Wurlitzer
model 4600 electrostatic organ, exactly like the 4600 instruments that
Ken Griffin used on his TV show and also for some of his radio programs
and other recordings.
For some of his arrangements, Ken resorted
to overdubbing, where he would play and record a song, and then after
rewinding the tape, he would listen to the first part and add a second
part, and then the final version on his record would include both parts
playing simultaneously. Don and Eric reproduced these special Ken Griffin
arrangements by playing them as duets, with each musician playing one
part of the composite.
Attending these annual Ken Griffin Celebrations
is as close as you can get to sitting in on an actual Ken Griffin recording
session, and as you watch the musicians at work, you will not only hear
the authentic Griffin sound, but also see how it is done. We hope you
will attend next year's Griffin event, date and location to be announced.
