Tweet
<P mce_keep="true"></P>
I knew of Ray as long as I can remember, but not so much as an organist but as someone who use to visit my houseand as someone thatmy family and I would visit. He died when I was 11 years old. My father(how should I say...was anelectrical engineerby trade, but an amateur organist who played at churches on the weekends and in his spare time) befriended Ray in the mid 1960s during a backstage encounter at RCMH. My parents became good friends with him afterwards and we would visit him and vice-versa for holidays, birthdays, etc. I remember he had a 2 manual Hammond organ in his apartment. I also remember him talking about being in the Marines during WWII and being at Iwo Jima. It wasnt until after my father passed and in talks with my Mom and older brother did I find some more info on him. I knew he played at RCMH, but not for so long(32 years or so?). My parents and older brother saw him backstage and in performances on numerous occasions however I was too young to go before they changed the venue in 1979(?) I found a bunch of photos taken at RCMH and some audio cassetes of him playing from concerts dating 1977-1978. They're actually not too bad(listening quality-wise) despite being over 30 years old and coming from what I think is a one channel cassete recorder my father must have snuck into the theatre. One is a Bach festival overture with Easter and Xmas shows with intermissions and another one appears to be a tribute concert to Dick Liebert. I did some searching online and found a few tidbits here and there. Was hoping to find more info and/or stories/recollections from others on here about him. On the ATOS website there is a PDF file of their publications and there area few issues listed with him in it. Is there a way to obtain these? Thanks!</P>
I knew of Ray as long as I can remember, but not so much as an organist but as someone who use to visit my houseand as someone thatmy family and I would visit. He died when I was 11 years old. My father(how should I say...was anelectrical engineerby trade, but an amateur organist who played at churches on the weekends and in his spare time) befriended Ray in the mid 1960s during a backstage encounter at RCMH. My parents became good friends with him afterwards and we would visit him and vice-versa for holidays, birthdays, etc. I remember he had a 2 manual Hammond organ in his apartment. I also remember him talking about being in the Marines during WWII and being at Iwo Jima. It wasnt until after my father passed and in talks with my Mom and older brother did I find some more info on him. I knew he played at RCMH, but not for so long(32 years or so?). My parents and older brother saw him backstage and in performances on numerous occasions however I was too young to go before they changed the venue in 1979(?) I found a bunch of photos taken at RCMH and some audio cassetes of him playing from concerts dating 1977-1978. They're actually not too bad(listening quality-wise) despite being over 30 years old and coming from what I think is a one channel cassete recorder my father must have snuck into the theatre. One is a Bach festival overture with Easter and Xmas shows with intermissions and another one appears to be a tribute concert to Dick Liebert. I did some searching online and found a few tidbits here and there. Was hoping to find more info and/or stories/recollections from others on here about him. On the ATOS website there is a PDF file of their publications and there area few issues listed with him in it. Is there a way to obtain these? Thanks!</P>
Comment