by andyg » 26 Aug 2014 21:53
Hi Fiona
I'm sorry to hear of your loss.
I first met Brian at Southern Organs back in 1970 or 1971, it would have been at the Southwick branch. I was only about 13 at the time, mad about electronic organs, though I couldn't play that much at first. Whenever Brian was there, he always had time for me, to show me a few things about his beloved Lowrey organs and, as he and his colleagues realised that I was actually going to be a bit better than your average teenage player, he gave me lots of encouragement.
He was usually there at the Southern Organs Keyboard Club meetings, the early ones being held at the Cricketers Arms across the road from the shop. He, Jackie Brown and Vince Burgum would occasionally call me up and get me to play a few numbers and that led to my first ever concert engagement for the club a few months later.
Later on, when I'd progressed to being Chief Demonstrator for Kawai organs in the UK, I'd bump into him at shows where he was working for National organs with his colleague Sonya. When he opened his organ shop in Waterlooville, he expressed an interest in stocking Kawai organs. We left him our top model, the E550, for a week or two and he was impressed. I'd helped to design and voice that model and he was most complimentary about my work. That really meant something to me.
My lasting impression of Brian is of a gentle, quietly spoken man, who was a great player, a valued colleague in the business and a firm friend. It was a pleasure to know him.
Andy Gilbert