MIKE HALL - That Old Hammond Sound CD [NEW] Hammond A-100 / Leslie 145

Released: 2011.

Running Time: 63.51.

Code: OK24.

Coming from a musical family had an early influence on Mike Hall. Tuition as a youngster soon led him into the world of organs and where better to start than at the Granada Theatre in his home town of Grantham, where at the age of twelve he was holding down a position as resident organist.

The next six years were a mix of pipe organ and electronic as playing engagements at organ clubs and societies took him to many places around the Midlands. It was during these formative years that Mike developed his love of the Hammond organ and as the Swinging Sixties came to an end, he was to have tuition from that doyen of the electronic organ, Jerry Allen. Even today Mike holds his name in high esteem, whose lessons were to provide the cornerstone for a young versatile organist to build upon and whose influence is still evident forty years later.

It was during these early years on Hammond organs that led Mike into his first job as a demonstrator, following a meeting with the designer of the Sharma speaker cabinet. His playing venues now took him around Britain with the odd trip into Europe thrown in for good measure. But other expanding organ manufacturers with exciting sounds to offer sought his skills and by the time he linked up with Elka in 1978, he had already represented Lowrey, Roland and the Dutch based company Riha. Home organ sales were booming at this time, not only in Britain, but in America too, where Mike toured coast to coast and frequently appeared on radio and television.

Back home in Britain, Mike first featured on the BBC’s ‘Organist Entertains’ in 1975 with tapes submitted by himself, hardly surprising with his involvement in tape recording from an early age. Over the years he has created his own archive, including some rare recordings of himself at the organs in the Granada cinemas at Tooting, Mansfield and Grantham. He has also recorded each concert performance since the early days of high quality portable cassette recorders, now of course superseded by the ultra high quality digital recorder.

With the arrival of the new century there had been many changes on the home organ scene. Once familiar names had fallen by the wayside or diversified into other products. Mike’s lifestyle has changed too. DVD production and a link with the Orla organ company now take up much of his time. And yet whenever the chance comes along, he can’t resist that ‘old Hammond sound’.

...Ken Mellor.