Customer Reviews

Mighty Wurlitzer

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This one is pretty good, although I have heard better. It's best to hear wurlitzer music live, because you don't just hear it, but you feel it.

I was born just in time to witness the demise of the great theater organ era. Here in Saint Louis they pulled them out of the grand movie palaces and shipped them off to spagetti houses and pizza parlors on the west coast until there were only two working organs left in town. And both of these are located at the Fabulous Fox -- the majestic main auditorium organ (supposedly the second largest in the U.S. and unfortunately one that has never been recorded) and a smaller lobby organ. So being a confirmed theater organ fanatic, it's great to discover a new (well actually old) recording.
JOSEPH SEAL PERFORMS THE MIGHTY WURLITZER is a good recording, though it is more a "Mellow" Wurlitzer than MIGHTY. There are no liner notes with the CD, but the organ sounds like one of the smaller Wurlitzers that were used in neighborhood theaters and skating rinks. The CD is a reissue of a recording probably done in England sometime in the late 50's or early 60's, and the program is an enjoyable blend of pop, operetta and show tunes. However, I wish Mr. Seal would have "pulled the stops out" a couple of times to add a bit of that Mighty Wurlitzer bombast to the recording. He really missed a great chance on Seventy-six Trombones! I also wish (since this is an instrumental recording) the NO OTHER LOVE selection would have been listed as an except from Rodgers' Victory At Sea score.
Anyway as far as sonics, the CD sounded great on my Bose Sound Wave and considering the lack of Mighty Wurlitzer recordings available on CD I enjoyed it!

Cool CD! The style of Mr. Seal is very reminiscent of the roller rink style. It almost makes me want to break out the skates. As another amazon.com reviewer stated, the "mighty" in the title is contradiction of terms. The organ is very mellow sounding, as though it should be played in a lounge. Personally I prefer the stylings of Jonas Nordwall and Tom Hazelton (not on this CD), who really utilize all the capabilities of this grand instrument. On this album, Mr. Seal certainly does use a variety of tonal colors and interesting combinations, but he doesn't pull all the stops out. Still, it's worth the [money]. Hope this helps, fellow shoppers!!!