Reginald Dixon MBE - The 78rpms

[carrick]

I thought this may be of interest to some. I am already partway through my project to upload my collection of Reginald Dixon 78rpm records and thought it would be of interest here on the group to post them when I post them elsewhere. Friday is the current day for uploads. 

Here is the most recent upload to get the ball rolling. It's Part Two of his "Hit Parade Medley No.1" from November 1950. 
 

 

[Colin Pykett]

Yes, these recordings are interesting.  Thank you.  I have a considerable number of them on the Sterndale 'Dixonland' CD compilations from the 1930s where they have been rather heavily CEDAR-processed,  so it will be interesting to compare the sound quality of those with yours.  1950 is quite late for a 78 rpm recording, so this one is pretty good in terms of noise level compared to earlier ones as one might expect.  Have you processed them in any way before uploading them?  Audio issues apart, his technique was fabulous when he really got going, and so was the Wurli organ action in being able to articulate it so precisely.

[carrick]

5 hours ago, Colin Pykett said:

Yes, these recordings are interesting.  Thank you.  I have a considerable number of them on the Sterndale 'Dixonland' CD compilations from the 1930s where they have been rather heavily CEDAR-processed,  so it will be interesting to compare the sound quality of those with yours.  1950 is quite late for a 78 rpm recording, so this one is pretty good in terms of noise level compared to earlier ones as one might expect.  Have you processed them in any way before uploading them?  Audio issues apart, his technique was fabulous when he really got going, and so was the Wurli organ action in being able to articulate it so precisely.

I physically clean the records first, and it would amaze you just how much dirt comes out of the grooves of a 78rpm, dust, worn down shellac, probably coal dust, and nicotine in there as well. Once they go through that process I copy them in and digitally clean them, and then do some work on the equalization to get them sounding at least decent, and somewhat resembling how these things sound in the flesh. The only downside to 78rpm records is that many of them do have that horrible inner groove distortion which you just can't do anything about. It's the best they had at the time and we just have to live with it. I have found that the best quality records from his 78rpm output are those on Regal Zonophone, the shellac quality is outstanding, and the organ is picked up nice and clear which is just what you want on a 78rpm. 

Re- Reg's technique, it was absolutely fantastic, particularly when he got some swing into it, cymbal taps on the backbeat on 2nd touch, and fingers flying, you can't help but tap your toes, and if it doesn't put a smile on your face... Though in all of his 300 78rpm records, I don't think any of them ever truly capture him, there is always some restraint, listening to live broadcasts from the 30s, 40s and 50s is where you get to hear the "raw" Reg and it's electrifying, especially when he's backed up 5000 people in the ballroom whistling and shouting for more. 

[Colin Pykett]

Many thanks for this fascinating info about (literally) cleaning up old records.  Re worn down shellac, I once calculated that the pressure on the groove created by a typical massive 1930s pickup head playing via a steel needle at a tracking weight of around 8 ounces (getting on for 230 gm) was about 30 tons psi!  No wonder playing a new record just once physically ruined it thereafter in those days.  Terrible pity really.

57 minutes ago, carrick said:

... listening to live broadcasts from the 30s, 40s and 50s is where you get to hear the "raw" Reg and it's electrifying, especially when he's backed up 5000 people in the ballroom whistling and shouting for more. 

Those were the days!  But I think we're still fortunate to have a goodly number of players who can help recapture the spirit of those times with their breathtaking technique.  I find this one still raises the hairs on the back of my neck every time I play it:

Just unbelievable!

I also love to listen to Reg Dixon playing the same piece in one of his several arrangements I have in my CD collection.

 

[carrick]

43 minutes ago, Colin Pykett said:

Many thanks for this fascinating info about (literally) cleaning up old records.  Re worn down shellac, I once calculated that the pressure on the groove created by a typical massive 1930s pickup head playing via a steel needle at a tracking weight of around 8 ounces (getting on for 230 gm) was about 30 tons psi!  No wonder playing a new record just once physically ruined it thereafter in those days.  Terrible pity really.

Those were the days!  But I think we're still fortunate to have a goodly number of players who can help recapture the spirit of those times with their breathtaking technique.  I find this one still raises the hairs on the back of my neck every time I play it:

Just unbelievable!

I also love to listen to Reg Dixon playing the same piece in one of his several arrangements I have in my CD collection.

 

The amazing thing is, Richard here, in his "Blackpool" version of Tiger Rag, is playing some of the very same pipes Reg played, as a chunk of the original 2/10 Wurlitzer from the Tower Ballroom (Later 3/13 from the Empress Ballroom and BBC Manchester Studios organ) is incorporated in the organ at Worthing. 

Back to those old needles... they were brutal, and people didn't bother to replace the needle after each play either, so they were attacked with blunt needles. A couple of my records are in so poor a condition, they have been played to death, they're just not worth copying in, there's not much left to copy in them!

 

[pwhodges]

Yesterday I found that YouTube also has Richard Hills playing Tiger Rag in New York on the Paramount Wurlitzer.  Near the end he slips in a bar or two of Widor's Toccata (yes, that one)!  I've timed the video to that:

Paul

[carrick]

Today's upload is the very first recording of Reg's famous improvisation on a theme of a storm, recorded on the original 2/10 Wurlitzer of the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool. This record was released in March 1933 - over 90 years ago. 
 

 

[carrick]

When the Poppies Bloom Again; I Dream of San Marino and I'm in a Dancing Mood - Dixon Hit's No.11 - One of Reg's snappy Rex recordings from the 1935-1940 period, recorded on the 3/13 Wurlitzer of the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool and released in March 1937.
 

 

[carrick]

Following up from last Friday, side two of Dixon Hits No.11, released in March 1937. Reg plays "In the Chapel in the Moonlight"; "The Way You Look Tonight" and "When a Lady Meets a Gentleman Down South" on the 3/13 Wurlitzer at the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool.
 

 

[peter ellis]

On 23/09/2023 at 00:34, carrick said:

Today's upload is the very first recording of Reg's famous improvisation on a theme of a storm, recorded on the original 2/10 Wurlitzer of the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool. This record was released in March 1933 - over 90 years ago. 
 

 

Extraordinary organist - He was a young organist at Methodist chapels in Yorkshire, I often wonder what he was like at getting a non-conformist chapel roaring away. 

[carrick]

9 hours ago, peter ellis said:

Extraordinary organist - He was a young organist at Methodist chapels in Yorkshire, I often wonder what he was like at getting a non-conformist chapel roaring away. 

He had quite the luxury (as some might see it) of having lessons on the Cavaille Coll at Sheffield's Albert Hall, as well as the organs at Birley Carr Methodist Church, Hillsborough Methodist Church, and the Victoria Hall in Sheffield, as well as holding positions of organist at Birley Carr and Hillsborough. I've heard a recording of him playing the Royal Albert Hall, though in "cinema" mode as the audience would expect, and before the acoustic baffles were in place so there's plenty of "room" in the recording. There are also several photos of him playing classical organs in private, so he never lost his love for the instrument, with or without the wobbly bits. 

[carrick]

Reginald Dixon recorded five of these request 78's which take in some of his most requested pieces. This is side one of the first of those records (Released in May 1936) that starts off, naturally, with his signature tune.

 

 

[carrick]

The 16th of October marks what would be the 119th Birthday of Reginald Dixon. This isn't one of his 78rpms, but it is a tribute to Reg, played on Hammond organ by Nicholas Martin who was, like so many, inspired to play by Reg. 
 

 

[carrick]

Following up from last Friday, here is side two of Reg's first request medley. Teddy Bears Picnic, Dinah, Down at the Old Bull and Bush, Just a Wee Deoch and Dorris, She's a Lassie from Lancashire and of course, I do Like to be Beside the Seaside. This side was a little rough, but that's sadly part and parcel of transferring 78rpm records, it's all down to your Donald duck!
 

 

[carrick]

Today's upload is a recording made by Bertini and his dance band, accompanied by Reginald Dixon at the 2/10 Wurlitzer. The side was recorded in the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool on the 26th of February 1933.
 

 

[carrick]

It's Friday once more, and as promised, here is another slice of Blackpools musical history from Bertini and the Blackpool Tower Dance Band featuring Reginald Dixon at the 2/10 Wurlitzer in the Tower Ballroom. This was recorded on the 26th of February 1933.
 

 

[carrick]

Something a little different from Reg this week. A step away from his typical upbeat toe-tapping music with this selection of Tchaikovsky's compositions recorded on the EMI studios 3/8 + Melotone Compton in 1943, deep into WWII.
 

 

[Colin Pykett]

On 10/11/2023 at 16:29, carrick said:

... deep into WWII.

It  reminds me of the panic at the BBC when WWII broke out due to the need not to reveal the whereabouts of the studio being used for any given programme, to avoid giving away information that might indicate whether bombing raids had been successful or not.  This resulted in several phenomena, including that for the first few months of the war much prearranged programming was scrapped, to be replaced by an almost endless diet of nothing but hour after hour of cinema organ broadcasts, announced as coming "from somewhere in England".  My mother said that the sheer unrelieved monotony of it drove people to distraction.  (I can't really understand why this happened - it wasn't as though the war wasn't widely anticipated, it being more of a question of when rather than if it happened).  Then there were other aspects, such as sudden and un-announced wavelength changes, requiring people to tune to unfamiliar frequencies to get their programmes.  This was because the frequencies of many transmitters were changed so that they could be phase-locked to confuse bombers trying to use them as homing beacons.  (So if the BBC had anticipated and laid plans for this major engineering exercise, why were they apparently caught on the hop re their programming?).

But was it possible that a cinema organ enthusiast with a keen ear might have known which instrument was being broadcast anyway, and hence where it was?

[john carter]

Reginald Foort was BBC staff organist from the mid 1930s.  His Möller touring organ could have been anywhere.  According to Wikipedia it was set up 167 times at 118 different locations!

[Rowland Wateridge]

Quite by chance, as happens when looking for something else, I found this entry recently in my 1922 ‘Dictionary’ of organs and organists:

Reginald J Foort, FRCO, … … born 1893 at Daventry.  Trained RCM.  Org. Rugby Lower School 1907-9; Par. Ch, Newbold  Rugby, 1908-9; St Mary’s Bryanstone Sq., London, W since 1910.

Even his birthplace has a BBC connection.  I think it’s generally known that he was an FRCO.  

The same source indicates that his church organ at St Mary’s Bryanston Square was built in 1921 by Harrison, 3 manuals, 24 speaking stops and 8 couplers with pneumatic action (NPOR N17370, with the slightly different address spelling, and date 1922).

[Colin Pykett]

As many will probably be aware, he wrote a most readable book entitled 'The Cinema Organ' while he was organist at the Regal, Marble Arch.  My copy is dated 1932.  It is still widely available, though prices seem to fluctuate wildly from seller to seller.  It is dedicated 'to Mac, whom we all admire'.  At first I thought this was Sandy MacPherson who succeeded him at the BBC, until I came across a photo of Quentin Maclean later in the book where it is confirmed that he was the dedicatee.  I think he had preceded Foort at the Regal.  Interestingly, Foort himself comments in his book on the fortuitous coincidence of his birthplace being at Daventry, also referred to above by Rowland (where a long-wave 'wireless' transmitter was built subsequently, initially broadcasting what was called the National Programme but renamed the Home Service when war was declared).  There's also a fascinating autobiographical chapter inserted at the end of the book which is full of interesting, witty and amusing anecdotes about his life thus far.  And the last page is an ad for Compton Organs entitled 'Reginald Foort's Eulogy'.  If ever there was an ambiguous phrase that has to be it!  It actually relates to the Compton organ at the New Victoria Theatre in London where he was employed in 1930.

Thoroughly recommended as bedtime reading for those who haven't seen it!

[carrick]

Following up on last week's side one of Reg Dixon's recording of Tchaikovsky's greatest hits, here's side two, recorded on the EMI Abbey Road Studios 3/8 Compton whilst Reg was serving as an officer in the Royal Air Force during WWII.
 

 

[carrick]

Today's upload of Reg Dixon features the Tower Lounge Trio in this selection of music played for a Slow Foxtrot back in November 1951. Lovely dreamy stuff. 

 

[carrick]

Sorry I forgot to post this here on Friday, anyway, time for another Reg Dixon record with the Tower Lounge Trio. This side is from November 1951. "My Truly, Truly Fair"; "Shanghai" and "There's no Boat like a Row Boat" all played for a Quickstep! 
 

 

[peter ellis]

On 11/11/2023 at 03:29, carrick said:

Something a little different from Reg this week. A step away from his typical upbeat toe-tapping music with this selection of Tchaikovsky's compositions recorded on the EMI studios 3/8 + Melotone Compton in 1943, deep into WWII.
 

 

He was a wonderful musician - incredible sense of rubato whilst maintaining a phrase.