Up North Bryan Rodwell at the Odeon, Leeds and the Gaumont, Manchester Available on CD CD $17 Quantity:   UK Customers Only (PPD): CD 12 GBP Quantity:

Up North
Bryan Rodwell
At the Odeon, Leeds and the Gaumont, Manchester

Odeon, Leeds
1 You Made Me Love You
2 I Hear Music
3 Misty
4 The Continental
5 Star Eyes
6 The Nearness Of You
7 Without A Song
8 A Foggy Day
9 The Story Of A Starry Night
10 Have You Met Miss Jones?
11 That Sunday That Summer
12 Heaven Scent

Gaumont, Manchester
13 South Rampart Street Parade
14 If You Were The Only Girl
15 Follies Bergere March
16 A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
17 Tea For Two
18 Body And Soul
19 Here’s That Rainy Day
20 The Second Minuet
21 March Of The Bowmen

THE ARTIST
Has an alternative title been sought for the first part of this CD nothing would have been more appropriate that "It’s Nice To be Back!" for it was to this very organ at The Odeon, Leeds that teenager Bryan Rodwell used to come from his home in Keighley, Yorkshire, during the mid-forties, to receive tuition from Charles Saxby.

Bryan commenced piano training at eight, making his first public appearance two years later and by his early teens he had already carried out solo and dance playing and broadcasting. At fourteen he toured with a youth symphony orchestra directed by the well-known theatre organist Henry Croudson. Having learned the organ at his parish church, Bryan became assistant organist and later the official organist there and at sixteen he distinguished himself with a piano and organ recital at Leeds Town Hall. A few cinema organ lessons from Norman Briggs at the New Victoria Cinema in Bradford were followed by those from Charles Saxby. Having graduated as a cinema organist he made a series of guest appearances before joining the A.B.C. Circuit.
Between 1947 and 1949 he served in the Royal Air Force, spending much of the time with the R.A. F. Central Band and it was during this period that he first broadcast as an organist from the B.B.C. Theatre Organ in London and whilst in Germany from the N.W.D.R. Studio Organ in Hamburg. Returning to A.B.C., he was appointed organist to the Ritz, Hereford and then joined the famous Granada group, officially as variety organist at their theatre in East Ham, London, although he appeared as a guest organist throughout the circuit and broadcast from several of the theatres.

In the mid 1950s he recorded some incredible LPs at two Granada Theatres, at Clapham and Tooting and electrified the organ world with his stunning modernistic playing. These LPs will also be re-released as a CD in due course.
Leaving Granada in 1956 he had a spell of television work and a season as orchestral pianist at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London and then turned to electronic organ playing at resorts, hotels and clubs. The master-tape for the major part of this CD was recorded in the late sixties and it is re-issued through the kindness of Bill Johnson, the owner of Concert recording which issued the original LP and who supplied the original master tape. The remainder of the CD consists of tracks Bryan recorded on the former Gaumont, Manchester organ, at the time of this recording featured in the Granada Studios Tour in the Projections Suite where it was installed and maintained by the Lancastrian Theatre Organ trust.

THE ORGANS
The 3/19 Wurlitzer of the Odeon, Leeds is a twin to the one in the Odeon Newcastle. Both theatres were owned by Paramount at the time of their opening and were resplendent in the Paramount green and gold livery. These two instruments were the only ones of their kind shipped to England by Wurlitzer and each had an identical gold waterfall console. Although the cinemas and the organs were the same nevertheless they had a very different sound from each other and Leeds was thought to be very American sounding, whereas Newcastle was more lush.

The Gaumont Manchester was originally intended to be a Granada Theatre but the name was changed immediately prior to its opening. This instrument is a 4 manual 14 rank organ which is a twin to the Granada Tooting organ and again their sounds are completely different. Manchester was presided over for many years by Stanley Tudor, who had the tremulants drastically slowed down and used a famous tibia/tierce combination which gave an unmistakable sound. The trems were restored to their original speed when the organ was re-installed in the Studios. At the time of this writing LTOT hopes to re-install this famous Wurlitzer in a new location and some of the proceeds from their club's sales of this CD will go to that purpose.