Jesse Crawford

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Jesse Crawford
Jesse Crawford at a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ (pre-1930)
Background information
Born(1895-12-02)December 2, 1895
Woodland, California, United States
DiedMay 28, 1962(1962-05-28) (aged 66)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation(s)Instrumentalist
Instrument(s)Piano, organ
Years active1909–1962

Jesse Crawford (December 2, 1895 – May 28, 1962)

silent films and as a popular recording artist. In the 1930s, he switched to the Hammond organ
and became a freelancer. In the 1940s, he authored instruction books on organ and taught organ lessons.

Early life

He was born in Woodland, California.[1] Crawford's father died when Jesse was one year old and left an impoverished wife and mother, who placed the baby in an orphanage asylum near Woodland in which Jesse taught himself music. At the age of nine, he was already playing a cornet in the orphanage band. At age 14, he left the orphanage to play piano in a small dance band, and then took a job playing piano in a ten-cent-admission silent film house.

His early theatre organ experience was at Washington's Spokane Gem Theater in 1911[1] and at the Clemmer-owned Casino Theatre (on an eight-rank Estey organ).[2][3] He next played briefly at theatres in Billings, Montana, Spokane, Washington and Seattle. When he met Oliver Wallace, Crawford learned about the new types of theatre organ sounds. Crawford's next jobs were playing at the Strand in San Francisco and the Mission Theatre in Los Angeles.

1920s: silent movie organist

In the 1920s, Crawford began forming a fan base and was dubbed the "Poet of the Organ" for his style of playing ballads in Chicago. In 1921, he was employed by the

Grauman's Million Dollar Theatre, Los Angeles.[1]

From 1926 to 1933, he performed at

Paramount Theater, with his wife, Helen Anderson (also an organist), playing a twin organ console.[1] They met in 1923, and married in 1924. Helen died in a car accident in 1943.[4]

After some recordings for the small local

Victor Records label, which proved very popular with record buyers. He had hits such as "Rose Marie," "Valencia," and "Russian Lullaby."[1] Other popular songs included "At Dawning" and "Roses of Picardy."[1]

1930s: Hammond organist

With the end of the silent film era, work for theatre organists in movie houses dried up. Crawford played a

NBC Radio studios in Chicago.[1]

In the 1930s, Crawford switched to the

Warner Brothers.[5]

Teaching and instruction book author

In 1940, the self-taught Crawford undertook his first formal music study with

Nathan Van Cleave
.

Crawford recorded Hammond organ

LPs for Decca Records and worked and began writing and producing sheet music song arrangements for Hammond organ and instruction books. He also taught organ students, both in one-on-one lessons and in class style lessons, where he mostly lectured. Some of his students became quite well known and accomplished in their own right, probably the best example being Hal Pearl whose career stretched over 70 years. Hal became known as 'The King of the Organ.' Jesse recorded his last two LPs on the Simonton Wurlitzer organ
.

Death

Jesse Crawford died in Los Angeles, in May 1962, at the age of 66.[1]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-85112-939-0
    .
  2. ^ "Casino (Clemmer) Theatre". Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  3. ^ Foort, Reginald (May 1933). "More about Jesse Crawford". Cinema Organ Herald. 2: 101–103. Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Study note - Jesse Crawford". Theatreorgans.com. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  5. ^ "Jesse Crawford". IMDb.com. Retrieved August 21, 2021.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jesse_Crawford&oldid=1173543988"