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.