JACKIE BROWN
NOT JUST A THEATRE ORGANIST
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MEMORIES OF JACKIE BROWN – III
The Way We Were (version 2)
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LINDA BAYFIELD (PARKES) – student, protégée, friend & fellow artist – remembers Jackie Brown:
I first met Jackie in 1970 when my parents visited Southern Organs in Horsham and my father purchased a Hammond Cadette. Three free lessons were given with each purchase, but we were busy with a new smallholding at the time, and he lacked the time to take lessons. By October of that same year, I asked my parents if I could be the one to take the lessons, as I had a very basic keyboard knowledge from a few piano lessons taken in my early years, and so they agreed.
Jackie’s style of teaching relied on his belief that if one could play a melody and use chord symbols for accompaniment and bass, this would enable many people to enjoy learning to play a musical instrument and also create a very decent sound that others might well enjoy listening to.
Thus, I was introduced to Jackie who was the resident teacher at that time. After my first lesson he left me with the homework of mastering the oom-pah rhythm with left hand and feet using the Anchor Book 1 tune, Long, Long Ago. I duly went home, practised like crazy for the entire week and finally mastered it.
And so, on my second lesson, Jackie sent me upstairs in the shop to set up while he was busy with something else, so I just started playing the tune using hands and feet in perfect coordination. At that point I recall him running up the stairs telling me he could not believe I had actually done the homework and mastered it as so many others just didn’t bother. This seemed to capture his interest in my ability and a few lessons later he told me that he wanted to enter me for the Organ section of the Brighton Music Festival due to take place in March 1971. I was terrified, but agreed to do it, and so it came to be that I won first place in both light and classical sections three years running.
When the site of my lessons was moved from Horsham to the Southwick shop of Southern Organs, I met and played alongside some really good players. One such player was Andrew Gilbert who has since had an excellent career as a professional organist. I also remember young players Chris George, Paul Brandon, and of course, Michael Wooldridge who is another organist with a great career to his credit. Jackie was an extremely patient and caring teacher, and it was solely down to his persistence, expert guidance, and his sheer faith in my ability that I was able to progress to a professional level.
In 1972 Jackie was asked to do a spot on Jerry Allen’s new television programme, Women Today Get Organised, to be screened by ATV (Associated Television). The programme was to feature not only professional organists, but also upcoming students. Jackie invited me to be his featured protegee, and so my mum, Jackie and I set off to ATV’s Birmingham Studios to record the show. It was a one-off programme, and a somewhat terrifying experience, but one that I treasure and will never forget. The show aired in September of that same year, but unfortunately the VTR has since been destroyed by the studio and as a result I was never able to have a keepsake copy.
Whenever I attended a concert given by Jackie, he would almost always call me up to do a spot, which introduced me to being on stage and playing in front of audiences and enabled me to become known in the organ world. I even played a spot during his final concert on 19th May 1974 at Tony Manning’s Residence in Farnborough who housed a Theatre Organ in a building in his garden – now sadly gone.
I am seated here with Jackie at his final concert
Jackie’s vision, alongside his patience, managed to take me from being a complete novice to becoming a professional organist in a mere four years. Jackie’s renowned lush theatre style of playing using block chords for the melody was something he also instilled in his teaching and was the backbone of creating that full orchestral sound that his playing was noted for.–
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Jackie was a fun character recounting in his soft Scottish lilt the many tales from his time with the Billy Cotton Band, playing for the Michael Miles’ television quiz show, Take Your Pick, and the very many other professional engagements that he had been part of and the famous faces he had worked with. I remember one particular tale where he had received a call from a young girl who said My daddy’s gonna make me a big star! and wanted him to be her arranger. Thinking she was just another wannabe, he rejected the offer. Later that girl turned out to be Alma Cogan (1932-1966) who became a big singing star in the UK who became known as The girl with a laugh in her voice. Jackie always said it was the one that got away!
After Jackie died in 1974, I started to receive my own concert bookings from organ societies all over the country and this became my sole career. I was invited to broadcast on Radio 2’s Organist Entertains, Radio Brighton and several other Local Radio Stations. I also recorded an album in 1978 (see later) and continued my career as a Professional Organist until 1984 when I finally decided to change direction and focus on my airline career full-time.
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Over the years my family became very firm friends with not only Jackie, but with his entire family: Beryl, Amanda and Julie, and I continue to be in touch with them and have visited them in Australia several times.
I will be eternally grateful to Jackie for pushing me forward to do something that I never would have thought I could achieve. I am happy to admit that I owe a lot of my style to Jackie, as it reflects his own.
I look back with great pleasure on those times and I still enjoy playing today, but it is purely for pleasure and private now.
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In 1978, I went to the Morgan Studios in London and recorded a series of tunes on the Conn 580 electronic organ, which were released on the album entitled, What’s New.
The Album Cover
What’s New
The organist, Jerry Allen (1925-1985), wrote the liner notes to this album:
Linda Bayfield began playing the organ in 1970 under the expert guidance of the late Jackie Brown whose influence can be heard in her theatre style of playing, which is admirably suited to the lush tibia sounds of the Conn organ. After Jackie’s untimely death in 1974, Linda studied for a year with the Berklee College of Music USA, studying harmony and arranging. In 1975 she became a professional player and now tours the country giving concerts as an artist. As a result of many requests from concert audiences, it was decided to make this record. The first number, “What’s New”, which Linda uses as a signature tune, was written by Bob Haggar and recorded by Frank Sinatra. The beauty and effectiveness of a simple arrangement and registration is demonstrated in “Charade” and “Send in the Clowns.” This contrasts with the rich sounds of the “Masquerade Waltz” at the end of side one. Side two begins with a tribute to the late Jackie Brown with “The Song is You”, which of course was his signature tune. Also, on this side are two of Linda’s personal favourites, Cole Porter’s immortal “So In Love” and Marvin Hamlisch’s “What I Did For Love.” Her record ends with Jackie’s rousing arrangement of “The Dambusters March” which he did for the Billy Cotton Band.
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Charade
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Send in the Clowns
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Masquerade Waltz
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So in love
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What I did for love
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Elizabethan Serenade
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The Song is You
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Others pieces included on this album are: I’ll remember April; At last; Les Bicyclettes de Belsize; I’m old fashioned; and The Breeze and I.
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FIONA LAKE HAYWARD – daughter of Brian Lake who was an organist and also worked at Southern Organs – remembers:
My father began working with Jackie at Southern Organs shortly before he died and remembered enjoying his employment there very much. He told us this story of Jackie. He remembered hearing him play an arrangement of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, which he said was played with such emotion that caused Jackie to cry as he played. After hearing this rendition, my father often played this tune in memory of him, and when he did, we, the whole family, all used to cry too! My father passed away in 2013 and remained a great admirer of Jackie Brown.
Jackie playing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
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Mr. Andrew Gilbert says that Brian was a lovely man, always helpful. He was known as Mr Lowrey in the days when they were imported by Selmer in the UK. After Southern Organs went under, Brian moved to Panasonic/Technics Organs and was pretty much responsible for putting them on the map in the UK. He then opened up his own organ dealership in Hampshire.
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LIONEL LEIGHTON – was a neighbour and organist and remembers:
I lived in the same road as Jackie and his family at one time (Sutton common Road) and used to stand outside his home and listen to his playing. I also heard him playing at the Granada Theatre North Cheam where he was the resident organist at that time.
Later, I knew Jackie Brown personally, as he became my mentor. I saw him the day before he died in the Southern Organs branch in Southwick Square, Southwick. We sometimes played duets together in the store. I still have the newspaper cuttings about his tragic death caused by him tripping over whilst moving a heavy organ from a church.
I remember his working with Hughie Green and also as the organist on the Eddie Calvert recording of Oh! Mien Papa, as well as on many of Vera Lynn recordings during the war.
Today, I have a weekly radio broadcast in Worthing (found at worthingsunshineradio.co.uk) and called Sounds Of The Fifties. This week, I will be playing Jackie Brown & His Music as backing for Anthony Steel in the film West Of Zanzibar.
Mr. Lionel Leighton playing Coronation Scott.
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CHRIS WHITELAW – worked at Southern Organs with Jackie and remembers him here:
I worked with Jackie Brown at Southern Organs. He was an immensely talented person and used to talk passionately about the Theatre Organ Circuit and had a long-standing relationship with Farfisa Organs (UK). He was also an amazing driver! I had many late night trips with him, which were always at high speed. Well, Jack – Rest in Peace.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Mrs Linda Bayfield (Parkes) and to all others for their contributions to the writing of this page.
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