Four in a Row!

Welcome Aboard!

Welcome to Steamboats.Org It's been a while since I last visited the old river town of Pomeroy -- probably in the late 1980's to see and play the old Barckhoff tracker action pipe organ in the Catholic Church.

Thanks for sharing your photo!

Barckhoff Organ

We have a Barckhoff organ at Grace as well, of course it has had some repairs and rebuilding over the years. If your ever up this way, perhaps you can stop by and give it a try!

Pipe Organs and Riverboats

Thank you! It was my pleasure and privilege to play a 21 rank 1886 Barckhoff tracker action pipe organ in a church I served for 18 years. We replaced the missing Trumpet stop in 1990 with a new one made to original specs. Carl Barckhoff was quite an illustrious character and moved his pipe organ manufactory various times. The organ I played bears a nameplate from his Salem, Ohio days, but later he was at Pomeroy and elsewhere, before his passing in 1919. He built numerous instruments for churches in the Ohio Valley, including two organs for my hometown of New Albany, Indiana (opposite Louisville, KY) at mile 608.5 in 1886 and 1887.

For some unknown reason, those who love riverboats also seem to be infatuated with pipe organs!

Pipes

Perhaps there is a close association with pipe organs and calliopes!

Port Gibson guest organists

One major stop on our Southern Safari in June 1983 was at the Port Gibson Presbyterian Church - the one with the index finger pointing upward on the tip of the steeple, and the one with the chandeliers from the ROBT. E. LEE. It also has a pipe organ and Keith has unlimited access thereto.
1) Calliope Keith at the keyboard
2) Occasional Calliope Lexie at the keyboard
3) One of the LEE's chandeliers Look closely and you see Lexie and Keith up by the altar area.

Flash from the Past!

Interesting photos. I like that the chandelier was from the ROBERT E LEE! We are hoping to acquire river treasures for Grace Episcopal Church in Pomeroy, Ohio for our planned outside gardens, bell tower and hopefully a mariners' chapel inside. It will be a multi-year project. We are right on the river at mile marker 249.5!

Pipe Organs and the River

Talk about a blast from the past! I still recall those painters who were working up in the rear gallery and how they reverently removed their caps and sat down when the organ music began! The First Presbyterian Church at Port Gibson still retains its 1930 Henry Pilcher's Sons pipe organ (prior to that they had a tracker instrument also built by Pilcher) and my good friend Betty Gage is still the organist, a post she has faithfully held for 60 years. Pilcher was located in Louisville for many years, having been in Chicago until the 1871 fire, closing here in 1944. The magnificent 1860 Pilcher tracker in Grace Episcopal Church at St. Francisville, LA, was built while the firm was located in St. Louis and shipped down the river by steamboat. When the 21 rank organ was dismantled and restored in 1981, pieces of a shipping crate were found inside the gothic case marked BAYOU SARA.

Incidentally, the Spencer family, owners/publishers of The Waterways Journal, have strong family ties to Port Gibson and to the First Presbyterian Church. Small world!

So, more connections between the river and pipe organs!

More guest organists

1) the Six-Handed Monster: Bob Reynolds, Lexie Palmore and Keith Norrington at the Pilcher Organ console in the Memorial Auditiorium in Louisville June 1978
2) C.W. Stoll at the Austin Organ in the Highland Presbyterian Church in Louisville March 1983 2010 pipes
3) Keith in St. Agnes Church Louisville 1978

The most memorable musical escapade I was involved in occurred in Davenport during a 1978 DQ shore stop. The Capitol Theater in downtown Davenport had a wonderful theater organ. Unfortunately the place was closed and not being used. Fortunately CRATOS the Cedar Rapids Theater Organ Society was maintaining the organ and I was able to get one of them to open the place up for us. Keith, Lexie, Jim Blum, and I think Bob Reynolds climbed all over the chambers and inspected every nook and cranny possible while the CRATOS person played. It was neat to watch the organ rise up from the depths to floor level. Jim repaid the organist by bringing him down to the DQ and giving him the grand tour. I suspect pix of that event are 'somewhere'...

*RE: Pipe Organs & Steamboats.*

Steamboating colleagues:
One terrific thread here RE: Pipe Organs & steamboats and I'm relishing not only the photos but the memories and technical aspect from Keith and you all. I may not know much about little--but I know what I like to hear. Who could ever forget the magnificent Vidor selection played at the late Capt. C.W. Stoll's funeral in Louisville? Capt. Doc Hawely quietly turned to me with wide eyes and mouthed a silent WOW!

Cincinnati's Withrow High School in Hyde Park had for years a fine concert four manual pipe organ installed after the school was completed in 1920. The huge organ [Can't recall the name now] was the gift of the LeBlond machine tool family here. Mr. LeBlond was an organ buff with a huge organ in his Cincinati home. The Withrow organ served for years until the school system could no longer afford the repairs and upkeep. Last time I heard it played was Christmas, 1963 when I returned for the alumni group. Several teachers there saved the organ components for storage here in town in the nick of time from the dumpsters lined up outside the big auditorium.

Gaylord Carter, famed organist [1905-200], had an aunt living in Hyde Park. As a teen he was visiting her off from his own school out of town. Ms. Carter phoned Withrow High to the Principal's office. "My nephew in town and I want you to hear something." And off they headed. The Principal listened a few minutes and said, "Wait here one moment." All the students were brought in with young Gaylord launching off rocking the house. Gaylord never claimed it as his debut as he was something of a prodgy by then.

I have here a link to a web uploaded by 'steamboatism' in 2009 with video/sound of Carter playing the Simonton Grand Wurlitzer in 1984. I 'think' it may be opened at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOWOVJiV9c/

If it doesn't then I'll check again to verify some of the upper/lower case letters. Another fascinating story focuses on pipe organs installed on boats and ships. More on that in time. Well, what do I know? Cheers!
R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.

*Correction to the Gaylord Carter link.*

Steamboating colleagues:
I think, as usual, I mis-typed the link listed in my pevious on Gaylord Carter, organist.

Try this: YouTube - Broadcast Yourself

Dale Flick

Vidor and Doc at CW's funeral

Dale, someone else must have mouthed that WOW to you, as Doc skipped out early to catch a flight back to NOLA. He didn't stay for the whole service even though he was a pallbearer, and to make matters worse, he was stuck at the airport for several hours - so he could have stayed for the entire service, as the rest of us did.

Vidor's classic organ composition.

By golly Judy you're right about Doc--and others--having to bail out of C.W. Stoll's funeral to catch planes, return to work/offices. That young man playing the organ must have hit every key on the manuals while tap dancing on the pedals. I think the two days of C.W's funeral we experienced every kind of weather on planet earth. I was another who had to 'bail out' at the cemetery feeling a flu bug coming on. And boy did it! Cheers!

R. Dale Flick

A Festive Sendoff for C.W.

Hard to believe that C.W. has now been gone from our midst for a decade. His funeral service at Second Presbyterian Church was truly a musical extravaganza, from the opening organ voluntary of J.S. Bach's Prelude & Fugue in C minor, the beautiful congregational hymns, including "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" and, of course, the festive postlude of the "Toccata" from Widor's Fifth Organ Symphony, for which the pew packed church of family and friends remained seated, recessing to the Easter hymn "Christ the Lord is Risen Today". The organist who played the service was Don Scott Carpenter and he skillfully used ALL of that wonderful 48 rank Casavant pipe organ! Since I was still a "big gun" at the pipe organ company then I sent two of our techs over to the church the day before the funeral to make sure all the reeds and flues were in good tune. We simply had to give C.W. a proper musical sendoff! He and I always subscribed to the theory that "there is NO such thing as a pipe organ that is too loud!"

Also part of the service was a solo based upon "Shall We Gather at the River", beautifully sung by longtime friend and soprano from the Kentucky Opera, Edith Davis Tidwell.

Lucy Stoll told me later that she could just picture C.W. "pedaling" in his casket!

That didn't do it either, but I googled Gaylord Carter Simonton Organ, and it went right to it. Back in the '80's, I was privileged to get to visit the Simonton residence and hear Gaylord Carter play the organ to a silent movie in Richard Simonton's "little" theatre. He also had in another room a classical organ. For those who may not know, Mr. Simonton at one point in time was the owner of the Delta Queen. Them was the good old days!

I haven't seen the new silent movie, the Artist, which got an Academy Award nomination, but I wonder what kind of sound track it has. Silent movies aren't silent.

Anyone notice how many views this off topic thread has gotten. It's up to 600.

Well, Mr. Simonton was not only an owner of the DQ at one time, but he saved the boat & Greene Line Steamers during a really tough financial time. He's also responsible for the Calliope being put on the Delta Queen.
What's amazing is the, by today's standards, relatively small amount of money it took to do all this!
S'
David D.

PS Lexie's right, silent movies aren't silent! The music can make or break the movie, and the highest compliment a film organist can get is "I forgot you were there!"
I also heard on patron complain, "The playing was so loud, I couldn't hear the movie!"
S'
David D.

The link to the video of Gaylord Carter playing on the Simonton Grande WurliTzer organ Gaylord Carter, Silent Movie Organist - YouTube

What a grand instrument! Lexie, I am so jealous you got to see and hear it in person!

Lexie, do you remember the St. Louis-St. Paul trip in 1976 or 77 when Mr. Simonton had the theater organists and Bob Ralston of Lawrence Welk show fame onboard?

*RE: Gaylord Carter on DQ with Simontons*

Hi, Judy and Lexie:
While musing, ruminating I recalled some years back [Can't remember when] when Simontons had Gaylord Carter aboard the DQ as a guest. Could have been a Mardi Gras or other NOLA trip. I was aboard here before the boat steamed out briefly meeting Carter. Apparently he gave talks and played for the passengers that trip. Never heard if he played the calliope but probably did. Anybody on here remember that year?

R. Dale Flick

Going wild

I remember, but I think I was just getting off the boat when they got on, so I missed it all. Darn. They had to do all their organizing on an appliance, but if they could've gotten a real organ on board, I would have stowed away. Speaking of which, I was ruminating about how organs have popped up in movies on board really 'out there' vessels, such as 20,000 Leagues and Pirates of the Carib. The set designers just went wild.....

Gaylord Carter and calliopes....

I have a recording made in KY Lake Lock with Gaylord Carter playing the DELTA QUEEN calliope on the 4th of July 1961 that Richard Simonton was so gracious to give me. It is one of the prizes of my collection. To my knowledge, Gaylord played it several times...almost every time he visited the boat.

Here is a link to the recording as it has now been put online.

calliope

Interesting to hear the sound of the instrument in the early days before the gold plating and the sprayboard. It is not nearly as smooth sounding as it is now. It is almost squelched sounding to me compared to this real sound it has here back in the day.

Enjoy!

*RE: 'Gilding calliope/pipe organ pipes.*

Hi, Travis,
Must have been telepahy when I opened/read your posting. I was ready to post here asking about what influence the 'gilding' or 'silvering' of steamboat whistles, calliope and pipe organ pipes has on the sound? I'm not as well versed in the science of this as many of you. I do recall the former Great Lakes passenger steamship SOUTH AMERICAN with a fine gleaming gilded [?] whistle and it sounded good to me. I've seen some big pipe organs with gilded pipes but didn't know if that was done in manufacturing or later. Yes, I was 'there then' before the DQ had a calliope and remember when all that installation was done. Believe-it-or-not, there were more than a few critics at the time who stated the DQ didn't need a calliope. [!] Same was said when the company redecorated her interior with new carpeting. "Are they going to carpet the boilers next?!" I heard. OUCH! That was a long time ago. Cheers!

R. Dale Flick
Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.