Stories Of London

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In 1969 while Jackie was giving a Concert/Demonstration for Farfisa Organs (UK), he was approached by Messrs Miller and Bellord and offered a position with Southern Organs. They were very impressed with his playing and apparently made him an excellent offer to become The Musical Director of Southern Organs. Although he was very happy working with the team at Farfisa Organs, Jackie felt that he was not in a position to refuse this proposal.

Jackie’s daughters told me that their family was going through financial problems at this time due in part to his tax debts, which had built up from earlier years when he had made a considerable income from royalties for his composing work.  Jackie was also drinking more., which is a common practice among people in the Entertainment Business. Jackie was a gregarious and friendly person, and would think nothing of buying rounds of drinks for almost everyone in the bar or public house.

Taking this position would offer advantages for both Jackie and his family, as it would allow him to be based at one of the Company’s branches in Southwick and so drastically cut down his traveling and time spent away from home. In addition, he would not be mixing as often with old friends and so hopefully drink less.

Once Jackie accepted the position with Southern Organs, he and the family had to move to Sussex. Fortunately their house in Bromley, being large and having a good size garden and being situated with easy reach of Central London, easily sold. This help provide funds to alleviate some of the debt load.

The Bromley House

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Amanda, Julie and their mother moved down to join Jackie in July 1970 during the girls’ school summer holidays. They moved into a house in Shoreham that had been previously owned by the musician and record producer, Norrie Paramor (1914-1979. The house was a ten-minute drive from the Southern Organs branch in Southwick and the girls attended a local school in the following September.

The Shoreham House

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The Southern Organs Group opened showrooms to sell Organs at Southwick, Tunbridge Wells, Horsham, Littlehampton, Burgess Hilland Chichester. It is thought that some of these centres were perhaps franchises, but this is unclear.

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Once Southern Organs had opened showrooms at Southwick and Tunbridge Wells, they soon  followed it by opening one at Horsham.

Jackie with guests, Mr. & Mrs Robin Richmond at the opening of
a branch of Southern Organs at Horsham

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The Southwick Showroom held a wide variety of electronic organs of various brands, such as Farfisa, Hammond, Lowrey, Conn and Yamaha, some of which Jackie was not overly fond of! As a musician with many years of experience with top quality instruments, it was understandable that he would have his preferences.

View of the Southwick Showroom

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One of the cheapest electronic organs stocked by Southern Organs was the Savannah model by Conn. In 1971, this instrument was offered to the public for £274 (the average weekly wage in the UK at that time was £28). Organs were also available to buy on Hire Purchase, which was a very common method of pay while you play.

Publicity Leaflet

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Southern Organ’s Hire Purchase Plan & Rental Plan

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Amanda remembers: Customers would come in and try out the various models, with help and suggestions from Dad as to how to get the best sound out of each of the organs and many people who bought an instrument would later return for lessons with Dad, either privately or in the “laboratory”, the first of its kind.

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The Southwick Showroom also offered patrons a Studio where Jackie was able to give general and specailised tuition.

Jackie offering direction in The Studio

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A piece of music written by Jackie for his students to practice

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Amanda continues: Dad was very impressed with the young Andrew Gilbert, a regular visitor to the Showroom, who was able to make all of the organs “sound good”, even those that Dad didn’t like!

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Andrew Gilbert

Andrew Gilbert offers some of his memories of Jackie and of Southern Organs: I first heard Jackie Brown play at the second organ show I ever went to. It was at Brighton’s famous Dome Theatre in the Spring of 1970 and featured Thomas electronic organs. The artistes playing were Thomas’ own star player Harold Smart, Douglas Reeve (resident organist of the Dome Theatre) and Jackie. He didn’t play the big, top of the line model but instead made some beautiful sounds on a mid range organ called the ‘Bel Air’.

I knew that I wanted to start playing the organ, so got my parents to take me to as many organ shows as possible. Many of the local ones were put on by Southern Organs and that’s where I started to listen to Jackie’s lush stylings more closely.

I started visiting the Southern Organs store in Southwick, near Brighton, on a regular basis, with my parents at first and then on my own. Once they realised I could play a bit, they were quite happy to let me sit and make some music at an organ. I came to Jackie’s attention one day when sitting at a Conn Organ, attempting to play Rhapsody in Blue. He listened for a while and then gave me some very useful advice on playing it. On subsequent visits he’d sit me at this or that organ, and said that I had the happy knack of getting some good sounds out of whatever instrument I sat at – including all the ones he later told me he didn’t like.

Jackie never actually gave me lessons, he was more of a mentor. My Dad did ask him about lessons at one point but he declined. He didn’t say that I didn’t need them, of course, but instead said that I was already past where many of his students were and I was fast developing my own style. And he definitely didn’t want me to become a Jackie Brown ‘clone’, just playing his arrangements or in his style. So instead he ‘took me under his wing’ somewhat and would regularly give me some hints, tips, suggestions and encouragement when I visited the store.

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Andrew continues: Linda Bayfield (Parkes) was one of Jackie’s students at the same time as he was mentoring me. She was a super player, very much in Jackie’s style, and always seated at the wonderful 3-Manual Conn 580 organ. Linda played on the Organ Club Circuit for a while, but then moved on to work in the airline industry.

Linda Bayfield (Parkes) & Jackie – 19th May, 1974

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Jackie gave his last concert in the afternoon of the 19th May, 1974 at the residence of Mr. Tony Manning.  Mr. Manning had a 3-Manual, 9-Rank Christie Theatre Organ in a small theatre at the rear of his home in Farnborough, Hants.  It was in the afternoon on 19th May 1974, just 9 days before he died.

Linda Parkes (née Bayfield) remembers Jackie’s final concert: I was at this concert with my parents and was not expecting to play but, as quite often happened if I was in the audience, as his protégée Jackie called me up to play a couple of numbers.   After the concert the organisers took several photographs of us individually and together.

One thing I do recall vividly about that last concert was the start. Jackie had a great sense of humour, and just after they announced him prior to the tabs (curtains) opening, from behind those curtains Jackie called out: “hang on, I’m just doing me belt up!”  It was well received by the audience and everyone laughed.

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In the early 1970s, Southern Organs was granted the right to be the sole British agent for the sale of Electronic Organ Teaching Laboratories.  A laboratory could be purchased as a complete unit by schools, colleges or other institutions, for recreational instructional or therapeutic purposes.

The site for the Laboratory was adjacent to the Southwick Square Showroom and Jackie was to be the Head Instructor of a team of Demonstrators offering tuition to up to twenty-four students. Wurlitzer Electronic Organs were installed solely for the purpose of instruction and were electronically wired so that each student could receive either individual or group instruction.

The idea of the Laboratory was that anyone from complete beginners to accomplished performers, including customers of Southern Organs, could learn or improve their organ music.

Students in the Organ Laboratory being instructed by a Demonstrator

Classes were held morning, afternoon and evening and there were virtually no lower or upper age limits. Every type of music was taught, including pop, classics and church arrangements. In addition, anyone wanting individual tutoring, for example, for an examination or in a particular sphere of music, could be accommodated at the Organ Laboratory.

Seemingly, Southern Organs hoped to eventually expand their operations to include the installation of recording studios at its Southwick premises.

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In August 1973, Southern Organs began a Newsletter to advertise its products, which included in addition to the mention of the latest models by makers of Electronic Organs available for sale, to news of of their pianos, Hi-Fi (High Fidelity) equipment and televisions that were also available for sale at certain of their outlets.

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Southern Organs also held a regular Keyboard Club at the nearby Cricketers Pub-Hotel in Shoreham, where various members of the Southern Organs team would play concerts for the patrons of the Pub, as well as occasionally inviting a member of the public to join them and play. In this way, these events increased business for the Company, both in terms of sales of the instruments and the tuition from Jackie.

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On Friday, the 16th April, 1971 an amazing extravaganza of Organ music was presented at the Royal Albert Hall. The evening was present by by the organist Messrs Robin Richmond and Jim Miller of Southern Organs under the title of the Grand Centenary Organ Festival held on behalf of The Royal Albert Hall Centenary Appeal.

As stated in the programme, the event provided a unique opportunity to hear two of the world’s greatest organists: composer and Organist of L’Eglise saint Sulpice in Paris, M. Marcel Dupré (1886-1971), and Mr. Reginald Foort (1893-1980). In addition to these virtuosos, Messrs Nicholas Kynaston (1941; organist at Westminster Cathedral, 1961-1971) and George Blackmore F.R.C.O. 1821-1994; renown Theatre Organist) together with Jackie appeared.

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M. Marcel Dupré

The event at The Royal Albert Hall was one of the last public appearances of M. Dupré. On 30th May, 1971, he played the organ at the service at L’Eligise saint Sulpice and then returned to his home at Meudon, south-west of Paris. Later in the day, he sadly died after suffering a heart attack.

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I am told by Jackie’s daughter, Amanda, who was a member of the audience, that it was a magical evening.

From the Programme

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Mr. Keith Beckingham was present in the audience and following are some of his memories of the Concert:

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The demand for electronic organs was growing at this time and sales to the public were no doubt helped by the fact that many famous jazz and rock musicians and bands were featuring them in their concerts and recordings.

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Amanda continues: Mum began working in the Southwick shop as secretary shortly after we moved down to Shoreham. Julie regularly went in to play the organs after school while I preferred to hang out at the record shop next door! Dad had already given Julie lessons on the various Farfisa Organs (UK) that we’d had in our home in Bromley and Julie loved the chance to try out all the different models in the shop. Dad had endless patience with his pupils and they have all commented on what an excellent teacher he was, many of them going on to become professional organists, such as Andrew Gilbert and Linda Bayfield.

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Jackie’s drinking became more of a problem once he moved to Southern Organs; during his first six months at the Southwick shop, he was living alone as Beryl and their daughters were still living in Bromley. This contributed to his spending a great deal of time in the local pub, where he had made a number of friends. Unfortunately, his drinking did not stop once Beryl and the girls moved down to join him. Eventually this situation caused Beryl to leave him and the girls in September 1973. Beryl moved up to London and Amanda and Julie, in order to continue their education, continued to live with Jackie at the flat in Southwick until his death in May 1974.

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