Mort Lindsey and His Orchestra were another musical headliner during the short tenure of Tonight! America After Dark. A radio show veteran, Lindsey got his start as a staff pianist for NBC before freelancing as a general keyboard player for various radio quiz and variety shows. He found his big break as a conductor and arranger for television on The George Skinner Show. He released his debut album An Organ and Mort Lindsey in 1957 (probably just before he'd work on Tonight!) on Dot Records.
Sitting here, I'm thinking more about the album cover than the album's instrumentals. Mort Lindsey, unrecognizable even to his friends, sitting at a Hammond and emitting shimmering, light music. It's not "Mort Lindsey and an Organ" or "Mort Lindsey and His Organ" (good choice to avoid that one,) but "an organ and Mort Lindsey." The organ gets top billing because the audience needs to know that this record is all organ—like a warning label—while Mort Lindsey gets the vaunted and uppercase last billing to remind listeners that the organ isn't playing itself.
The liner notes read like Mort Lindsey's CV: "can arrange even for organ." (Though I'm not sure I'd trust those notes too much after multiple, deliberate lies saying more than a few songs "really rock.") Lindsey arranges mostly for the organ's imitative qualities (sounding like an harmonium, trumpet sections, drums,...) to help explore various genres and music styles but ends up sounding like a tired comedian: lots of imitations, no punchlines. I'm not familiar enough with the organ to say whether or not Mort Lindsey plays it particularly well or not—he's probably just fine—but it's nice enough music for when it's still winter and you can't wait for Spring Training.
Note: Once again, this album has not yet been digitized so I can't share any of those rockin' organ jams. We'll have to settle for his first novelty single instead. Unfortunately, no organ.
Here is the discography surrounding Mort Lindsey's debut album:
Scratch (1953 single)
An Organ and Mort Lindsey
"Jeepers Creepers" by Mort Lindsey
Pass the Headphones!!
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