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The Whitney Recording Studio was formerly at 1516 W. Glenoaks Boulevard, in Glendale, California. It consisted of two studios (A and B), and extensive editing and duplication facilities. Studio A contained a 4 manual, 34 rank pipe organ which was used a great deal in movie and television work, by rock & rollers, and by organists, for both pop and sacred music. Lorin Whitney himself recorded a vast number of sacred music and novelty albums on this instrument. You can hear this organ on rock and pop albums by Neil Young ("The Loner"), Lee Michaels, Art Garfunkle, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention ("Hot Rats"), and many others, and if you take the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland, guess which organ they used for their musical track?
Although it was a hybrid instrument, at its core was a Robert-Morton theatre organ, from the Sequoia (Fox) Theatre in Redwood City, California. This was a three manual, 13 rank organ made in 1928. The four manual console is actually the three manual console, cleverly jacked-up to add a fourth manual at the top.
When owner-organist Lorin Whitney retired, the studio was sold to MCA, which retained the organ until the studio itself was dissolved. At this point, the Whitney Morton was purchased by Paul Mickelson, who kept it in storage for over 14 years. When Mickelson passed on, the organ was acquired by the Orange County Theatre Organ Society, which attempted to find a home for the entire instrument. Alas, this was not to happen, there were no takers, and the instrument was dismantled and dispersed. I was fortunate enough to obtain the Robert-Morton Glockenspiel, Xylophone, considerable Robert-Morton chestwork, and of course, the famous console.
Robert-Morton made consoles which were rather, well, industrial-looking compared to the graceful consoles Wurlitzer manufactured, but they have a way of communicating a sense of power and functionality which I've always been attracted to. They're also well designed for repair and maintenance chores, always a consideration with a musical instrument.
I've decided to retain the console in its present four-manual configuration. The modification work was nicely done, and really, it's spent a lot more time as a four-manual than it ever did as a three-manual!
My Treasure, sitting in the driveway!
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