The Tiki Tones meet The Ghost and Mr. Chicken

 

I found a version of The Ghost and Mr. Chicken that was recorded by The Tiki Tones.

Who are The Tiki Tones you ask? Well take a visit to their website and listen to some of their music. Just click on their logo below

 

 It was on a compilation called Mondo Drive-In

 Here is the YouTube of their version:

If you can't see this click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3P_RXfOG_o

This is a real fun version of Vic Mizzy's song. 

I love it!

Well that's it for now from 1313ElPotro

Haunted Organ Revisited

 

In the Ghost and Mr. Chicken, the main character, Luther Heggs (Don Knotts) is frightened when the Organ begins playing by itself.  The song is the same one that old man Simmons played 20 years earlier to the day after he killed his wife, and right before he committed by flinging himself out out of the organ tower!

The song was written by Vic Mizzy. He is better knows for writing the themes from The Addams Family, The Munsters, Green Acres, and even Spider Man 2.

It appears in the movie three times... and you can find it on the DVD and on the CD, and even on VHS. 

 Here are the three songs from the movie courtesy of a few YouTube Posters:

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) Luther's Night In The Old Simmons House 

MrKsummer7
http://youtu.be/DA24pLMyvXQ?t=2m59s

The Ghost and Mr Chicken (1966) (13/14) Organ Music Played by the Gardner! FULL MOVIE
 

CharlieChaplinMovie
http://youtu.be/k8rK-nBtSUY?t=1m28s



The Ghost and Mr Chicken (1966) (14/14) Don Knotts marries his beautiful Bride. FULL MOVIE

CharlieChaplinMovie
http://youtu.be/jird0Kuqez8?t=2m11s

Haunted Organ
 

Dan Dembicki
http://youtu.be/Nc28EZQHhNw?t=17s

How to play The Ghost and Mr. Chicken Haunted Organ

Skip to 3 minutes, 19 seconds if you want to watch the piece played in it's entirety. HollisKim
http://youtu.be/zVAKRcv6WYo?t=3m19s

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
 
HollisKim
http://youtu.be/B8uYXnUcd3A

Creepy Haunted House Organ Music

Skip to 1 minute, 19 seconds for the song.
Adultz94
http://youtu.be/w3C6z8oLhfw?t=1m19s

Ghastly Ghoul at the Organ

CreepingDead
http://youtu.be/JDKcR_nQW4I

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken Haunted Organ  

cyberboy63
http://youtu.be/ouWncg5ep4c

Swiss Ave Halloween Organ 

lovfallstrand
http://youtu.be/4klhhbDKm9s

10-31-2012 Phantom on Swiss Avenue, Dallas, TX - DB
 
http://youtu.be/RhmoVgOR8E0
Laura Mawhinney

the ghost and Mr chicken played at the iowa state capital on piano  

http://youtu.be/D1eS1TV0LMo

wwwlegozone

That's it for tonight from 1313 El Potro. 

Grim Grinning Ghosts on Moller Pipe Organ

Here is a great rendition of Grim Grinning Ghosts from YouTube. Organist Joseph Momot plays the theme from Disney's Haunted Mansion on the 1920 Moller Pipe Organ at Our Lady of Pompeii RC Church in Lancaster, NY on 10/20/08.

Grim Grinning Ghosts on PipeOrgan 

What makes this post even more special is he was asked for the sheet music and he shared that it came from a Hal Leonard book...

The sheet music is in the "21 songs from 7 Disney Theme Parks" published by Hal Leonard Corp. # HL 003113205. ISBN 0-634-04801-5.

What a great guy. I took a look on Amazon and sure enough...

The Disney Theme Park Songbook:

Remember the Magic, 21 songs from 7 theme parts, 136 pages including Grim Grinning Ghosts. Including shipping the total came to $10.36. I will let you know what it looks like.

That's it for now from 1313 El Potro.  

Uncle Rot Haunted Mansion Waltz

I came across this little gem today. A fellow named Uncle Rot has a channel on YouTube called CreepingDead.

https://www.youtube.com/user/CreepingDead?feature=watch

On this are some videos of his Alter Ego, Uncle Rot, a piano playing skeletal apparition from the nether regions!

Here is Uncle Rot playing his best version of Haunted Mansion Waltz. It may sound like many renditions of the Haunted Mansion theme but half way through he really goes with the waltz part like from the ballroom at the Haunted Mansion Attraction.

Here is is video:

Uncle Rot Haunted Mansion Waltz 

If that doesn't work try this:

That's it for now from 1313 El Potro.

A Trip to UCLA AKA: The Ghost and Mr. Chicken Sheet Music Found

A trip to UCLA AKA : The Ghost and Mr Chicken Sheet Music finally found!

 I like many Halloween buffs have a special affection for the movie "The Ghost and Mr Chicken".

One of the best parts of that movie is the Sound Track by Vic Mizzy.

 

Vic Mizzy has three Haunted Organ pieces in the movie. Organ No. 1, the initial scene where the Organ comes to life, Organ No. 2, a reprise at the climax of the movie where Luther (Don Knotts) confronts the bad guy, and Wedding March at the end of the movie where the wedding march begins then switches to the Haunted Organ.

Sadly the sheet music for these wonderful pieces of music has to my knowledge never been released. There have been a few wonderful versions posted on YouTube that I referenced in an earlier post including one showing us how to play a version of the Haunted Organ. There is even a great set of sheet music available from Dan via his YouTube channel.

I have still been looking for the sheet music when during one of my searches I came across this:

Which lead me here..

http://guides.library.ucla.edu/content.php?pid=387834&sid=3310807

I downloaded the PDF listing the contents of the collection and low and behold.... 

 
This is where the ORIGINAL sheet music for the movie lies... Just a one hour drive from me.

So I called and found out that yes, the sheet music is available, but not to photo copy. A researcher can look at them and take notes on colored paper that they give you. I asked for permission to bring some score paper (colored of course) and they said yes.. So I requested them for the next day.

At 3:00PM I went up to the library special collection desk and asked for the box. You are required to leave all your personal possessions (cell phone, keys, notebooks, coats) into a locker. And they buzzed me in. They had the box all ready for me. Inside I found the folder labeled "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" and took it to the desk.

It was like opening King Tuts Tomb. I actually started shaking a little bit. I thought here I was touching sheet music Vic Mizzy actually wrote... wow.

Now UCLA doesn't own the rights to this music. They control the physical copies. But let me tell you, they look beautiful. So without further ado, here is a handwritten copy of Organ No. 1, By Vic Mizzy, from the Ghost and Mr. Chicken.




It's a real small copy. This is to show the sheet music exists as part of an academic research project. That allows it to qualify for fair use under the US Copyright lay.

 That's it for tonight, from 1313ElPotro.

What a wife!

The other day I was driving with my wife, talking about looking at a new Organ. 

See the one I have doesn't have a chime or tubular bells setting... and for some spooky songs you just can't beat that.

So I mentioned that I might be able to pick up a new organ for $50, and it might cost more and be too difficult to add that functionality to my Gulbransen when she said the following:

But I'm kind of attached to that organ now,  and I'm sure you can figure out how to add that. You can do anything.

It was sincere. And she said it without even thinking.

Besides you always like to have a project to work on. 

Wow. Knock me out. What a sweet thing to say.

So no more looking for a new organ. Now it is full speed ahead with adding MIDI to my Gulbransen Pacemaker Custom (1921KM) making it my own FrankenOrgan the 1921KM-MIDI)

To begin with I found a MIDI chip on a breakout board to be the MIDI soul.

Sparkfun Breakout Board for VS1103 

 
Then discovered they were out of them so I had to find another source. 

Next I needed to figure out how to connect the keys of the organ to the VS1103. I found a site called Midi-Hardware.com. Here is a link to the products they have:

midi-hardware.com tutorial   

Scroll down a little more than half way and look for the section called 3 keyboards and pedals.

So that is the path I am on. I will keep you posted. That's it for tonight from 1313 El Potro.

Halloween Playlist (Songs I know)

So now that Professor Johnson, Organ Donor AKA The Mad Organist is born..... Time to plan for next years playlist.

To be considered songs have to meet one of these criteria:

• Must be associated with Halloween 
• Must be spooky or dealing with death, funerals, monsters, vampires etc...
• Must be best known as a song played on the organ

  As I see it there are three categories of songs to play on the organ for Halloween..

1. I already know
2. I have the means to learn
3. I am still searching for a way to learn

Lets check out category 1, I already know:
  Haunted Mansion Foyer Music
  The Shining
  Dark Shadows
  Tales From The Crypt
  Phantom of the Opera

Not a bad list to begin with.

Now let's check out category 2, have the means to learn. First I'll define "means to learn". First off I can't read sheet music. 

One way I have learned these songs is through "How to play ****" postings on YouTube. These are basically someone playing the song on a piano or organ with a camera pointed down on their hands. 

Here is what I looked at to learn my Category 1 songs:

How to Play Haunted Mansion  

[How to play] Haunted Mansion

How to play The Shining

Tales From The Crypt (scary part at the end) 

Phantom of the Opera (EASY VERSION)

Phantom of the opera
EAE GFF DGD E
EAE GFF DGD E
ACE DDD GDE
EAG FED CBA G#
FF EE

How to play Phantom of the Opera [Piano Hero] 

Another way I have learned is to find a midi file of the song I want, then play it through Synthesia.

Synthesia on YouTube

Synthesia, Piano for Everyone Website 

A great source for MIDI files is Omar's Haunted Trail.

Here is the MIDI for Dark Shadows I used to learn that song:

Dark Shadows-1.mid  

Next time, my Category 2 songs. That's it for tonight from 1313 El Potro.