Phase 6
Madisonville’s best known band’s purchase of new equipment set off something of a cold war-like equipment race in the area when the members traded up from beginner to professional gear. (I haven’t called the band by name because that’s part of its story and I don’t want to step on it in case the members want to tell their stories themselves [though I’d rather they hire me to do it].) Even some of those members made quick changes. The keyboardist/singer switched from the Doric organ to a Farfisa Combo Compact organ. The Farfisa was quite a sweet machine. Of course I wanted on just like it, but discovered its cost and knew I had no hope. Oh, well. Sometime afterward the lead guitarist traded the Toby amp for a Fender Bandmaster, an amp on par with even the Vox amps The Beatles used. He also added a fuzztone module that connected to the guitar via the out jack (and he was a master of its properties), and later brought on a wah-wah pedal (he was very good with that as well). The new equipment allowed for expansion into the new sounds that were becoming standard in pop music.
When CEP and I had seen the band from Sweetwater at the Madisonville pool, the guitarist had recently purchased a Gretsch Country Gentleman. I assure you that those GCGs weren’t cheap. I recall that they cost around $700, which, in 1967 buying power, was quite expensive. The organist for that same band had a Silvertone console organ. The organ had a very nice sound, bass pedals, lots of voices, built in amp and speakers, including a Leslie speaker (rarely heard except via Hammond organs: Booker T, for instance), but the darn thing weighed a ton. A wonderful piece of equipment, though.
It was in this atmosphere that I lobbied my parents for an organ. The organs that locals played were all I was aware of, but I was on the lookout for anything that I might be able to play in a band. I had practiced mightily on the old two octave Magnus chord in my bedroom until I had the major, minor, and seventh chords down, and I had learned a few songs. My parents were skeptical of my motives. “I’m just worried that you won’t stick with it,” they said over and over. I knew I would, but how can one convince another of that? I understand their concerns (though I didn’t then) because my parents weren’t rich or anything close to it. That’s not a slam. I’m not rich or anything close to it either.
Over the Thanksgiving weekend of 1967 my dear old mom and dad relented. We got up early the following Saturday and my family, along with CEP, went to Knoxville to see what we could find. The deal was that we’d shop for an organ in the early part of the day, then go over to Atlantic Mills for Christmas shopping. We prowled pawn shops and a couple of music stores on Gay Street. I saw an organ in the pawn shop that didn’t impress me (though I’m sure it would have worked out just fine), and I saw one of the new Fender organs (which impressed me very much). After lunch, organ shopping ended and we headed west.
A couple of months before that day, while at the county fair in Sweetwater, CEP and I had stopped by the Lee’s Music booth and talked to a nice lady there. She had a stack of Fender products brochures exhibiting guitars, amps, and keyboards, and those of several other companies’ lines. She allowed us to take these. On the way out we ran into the keyboard player from another Sweetwater band we’d met during our music lessons. He’d just purchased a double keyboard Farfisa organ. Damn! We didn’t get to hear the guy’s band, but the keyboard was impressive.
The weekend following the Knoxville trip, my parents and I stopped by Lee’s Music in Athens, Tennessee. Pay dirt! A sweet little red and black Tolex covered 49 key Gem organ awaited me. It looked very similar to a Vox Jaguar organ (in fact, the Gem company manufactured that product for Vox), and at $300 seemed a steal compared to everything else we’d seen. Poor old mom and dad signed the papers and we took it home. I was very happy. The deal was that the organ was a Christmas present and I’d have to wait to take possession of it, but that just made it all sweeter. Look out, girls, we’re already in your town!
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