Hammond Organs

Rosemary Bailey was ten years old when she was hired by Hammond as a concert artist. Over the years, she took part in the growth of the organ market in the 1970s and had first-hand experiences bringing music to millions. Her interview was filled with remarkable stories of being in the industry when trends and popularity for musical instruments changed, such as the Hammond Piper all the way to the early days of MIDI. Rosemary is currently working with the Roland Corporation. 

Lyle Bird grew up in a musical family with his mother playing the piano daily. As a teenager he played trumpet in several swing bands during the big band era including with such leaders as Henry Busse. He played in a band during his navy service during World War II and again played in several small bands after the war before being hired by the Sherman Clay Company. Lyle sold saxophones for a short time, long enough he would say in order to realize he wanted to sell pianos. He managed a Sherman Clay location in Walnut Creek, CA and trained on selling organs direct to the customers in their homes and was the first to bring stand-up organ players to the front of mall stores as a drive for customers.

Richard Bridgeman was the Director of Product Management of Hammond beginning in the mid 1960s. Dick came to the company as the original B-3 organ production was coming to an end. He oversaw the introduction of the new semi-conductor organs. With his warm personality and detailed understanding of the inner workings of the products; Dick became a well respected member of the Hammond team. During our interview, his insight proved to be rather intriguing as he described products, such as the Hammond Condor Product Line, which did not become as successful.   

Kenny Chilton was deeply passionate about the electric organ. While working at a piano and organ retail store in the Los Angeles area in the late 1960s, Kenny was approached by a research team working with the Mattel Toy Company. After answering a series of questions over several days he was asked if he would be interested in helping the toy company design and produce a low end organ instrument. Kenny headed the sales efforts for the Optigan, which was produced between 1971 and 1976.

Hal Cowan studied business administration while playing music all through school. He loved playing organ and found himself in the company of fellow organ buffs as well as employees of organ stores and manufacturers. Hal worked for the Jenkins Hammond Organ Studios as president under Paul Jenkins who was a family member of the Jenkins Music Company. Hal took over the Hammond Studios as owner when Paul Jenkins left in 1977 and changed the name of the store to Jenkins Music Company (he licensed the name from J. W. Jenkins, Paul's brother).  Hal owned the store along with his wife and offered some of the most innovative products during the great home organ boom of the 1960s and 70s.
 

Joey DeFrancesco has single handedly brought back the popularity of the Hammond B-3, beginning in the 1990s. Joey’s soulful approach echoes his heroes of the past such as Jimmy Smith, whom he recorded with in 2005. Joey has also brought the organ style up-to-date to be played smoothly in jazz. Under Suzuki the B-3 was put back in production in 2004 and with Joey’s promotion both as an endorsee and performer the instrument is once again playing a role in modern music.

Steven Eaklor is a walking encyclopedia of the history of the electronic organ –especially the Hammond organ. Since he was a child he has loved the Hammond and ironically enough grew up to become one of the company’s product engineers. Within the industry, Steven has played a vital role as the leading Hammond expert for the Museum of Making Music and countless publications. He worked to promote the instrument and even helped with some designs and electronic improvements over the years.

John Felice likes to say he was in the right place at the right time when he opened a Hammond Organ dealership in the 1960s. As the home organ market began to take off John had the staff and inventory in place to meet customer’s needs. His creative marketing led to many special promotions within the store as well as sales at events such as county fairs. John was proud to have been one of the first dealers in the United States to introduce such new programs as the Hammond Piper in the late 1960s. As a musician, John enjoyed a career that included gigs with Frank Sinatra and Patti Page, among others, before he opened his retail store.
 

C. Darby Fulton’s father opened a music store, which seemed the perfect place for Darby growing up. He enjoyed the business and worked with his father as the company grew into 26 locations during the boom of the home organ craze in the 1960s. Having been a music retailer for years Darby became a grand promoter showcasing the Hammond products at county fairs, mall openings and tractor-pulls. During the height of the organ boom, 1973, twenty five percent of all musical products sold were organs. This fact presented challenges of supply for Darby. At one point his sales of trade in organs surpassed the sales of new organs.

Jimmy Gibbs opened the very first crate containing a Hammond B-3 in the United Kingdom in the 1950s. Several years later, at the height of the Cold War, Jimmy brought the famous organ to Moscow, the first person to do so in history. He found that “music can speak every language and that no one ever needs to interpret a smile on the face of those playing music. We all know what that smile means!” Jimmy was also an important leader in establishing Hammond Dealers throughout Europe.