Lowrey organ

The Lowrey organ is an electronic organ, named after its developer, Frederick C. Lowrey (1871–1955), a Chicago-based industrialist and entrepreneur. Lowrey created the first successful full-sized electronic organ called the Model S Spinet or Berkshire, which came out in 1955, the same year he passed away. Before this, he had made a special attachment for pianos called the Organo, adding electronic organ sounds to 60 notes while still letting the piano work normally. This attachment, first sold in 1949, became very popular and competed with another famous instrument, the Hammond Solovox.

During the 1960s and 1970s, Lowrey became the biggest maker of electronic organs in the world. By 1989, the company had made its one millionth organ. For many years, Lowrey organs were made in La Grange Park, Illinois. In 2011, the company announced that some of its organ models would begin being produced in Indonesia.

History and notable users

History

Frederick Lowrey worked on creating electronic organs from 1918 until the early 1940s. He used a special and stable method called the Eccles-Jordan circuit, which became a key feature of Lowrey organs. Lowrey organs were different from their main competitor, the Hammond organ, because they used all-electronic sounds from the start, while Hammond organs used mechanical parts until 1975. Lowrey organs were popular for home use but were also made for theatres and churches.

Notable users

Lowrey organs were used by many musicians in the 1960s and 1970s. Garth Hudson from the band The Band played a Lowrey organ on many of their famous songs. The Beatles used a Lowrey organ in their song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Timmy Thomas used a Lowrey organ in his hit song "Why Can't We Live Together." Mike Oldfield used Lowrey organs in his album Tubular Bells and other albums. Other musicians like Mike Ratledge from Soft Machine and Serge Gainsbourg also used Lowrey organs in their work.

Later models

From 1966 to 1971, Lowrey made organs for Gibson while the guitar company was owned by Chicago Musical Instruments. The most popular one started in 1966 as the Kalamazoo K-101 but was later called the Gibson G-101. These organs shared design ideas with Lowrey’s “T-1” and “T-2” models but had special sounds like “Repeat,” “Glide,” and “Trumpet Wow-wow.”

In the late 1970s, Lowrey organs had fun features such as Magic Genie Chords, Track III Rhythm, and the Automatic Organ Computer. In the 1980s, Lowrey introduced the MicroGenie series of portable organs with built-in speakers, some of which could use batteries. These included models like the MicroGenie V60, V100/101, V105, V120, V125, and the MicroGenie Pro V600, which could be programmed and had MIDI capability.

Purchase by Kawai

In 1988, Lowrey was bought by Kawai Musical Instruments.

Starting in 1990, Lowrey (now part of Kawai) introduced three new models called the Holiday, Heritage, and MX-2. The Heritage and MX-2 were very similar, but the MX-2 had an extra set of settings and a design like the older MX-1. Engineers from both Kawai in Japan and Lowrey in Illinois worked together on these new models.

The partnership between Lowrey and Kawai lasted for 28 years, during which they created many new organ lines, including the LX, SU, A, and EX series. Engineers and designers from both companies helped develop these new models and their sounds.

In October 2018, it was announced that Lowrey organ production would stop in January 2019. After that, a group called Lowrey Legacy, formed by Dave Brown and others, made software updates for some of the A, EX, and SU series organs.