Ehaljneey HAINES at the Console

eHAlJNeEY HAINES at the console As told to Stu Green. Photos are from the Haines Collection. PART I His grandfather had played first San Diego and the Egyptian in Long Dame in 1923 and the Thief of Bag trumpet in the Abraham Lincoln Beach. And he made his mark with dad in 1924. During the sound era Union band back in 1863. His dad Balaban and Katz in Chicago with he was usually a member of the stu did long stints as an arranger and stints at most of their famous pre dio orchestras which played sound trombonist in both the Arthur Pryor sentation houses. Charlie Chaplin track musical scores for such famous and Sousa bands around the turn of was with him in the pit at the L.A. Hollywood composers as Erich Korn the century. There had always been preem of The Gold Rush, feeding gold, Max Steiner, Franz Waxman, music, as far back as he could re him cues. He played the premiere LA John Green, Dimitri Tiomkin, David member. Music is in his blood. showings of Hunchback of Notre Rose and Alfred Newman. Chances As a lad, still in his teens, he cued are he'll be cueing a silent film re the Birth of a Nation on its initial vival tonight. He does 40 such shows a year, often on a 73-rank pipe or run. In Los Angeles he played at the Above photo : This is the earliest photo of a young DeLuxe, the Kinema, Loew's and the man about to start a rewarding career as a theatre gan. Forum. There were side trips to the organist taken in 1917. About this time, Chauncey But who is Chauncey Haines? You landed his first playing job . Haines recalls that Mor California theatres in Bakersfield ton's young installer and maintenance man, Lee won't find his name in the ATOS and Santa Barbara , to the Strand in Haggart, was present when this photo was taken . Hall of Fame but he played opposite AUGUST / SEPTEMBER, 1977 THEATRE ORGAN 29 Picture Academy in Hollywood. Let's go back to the beginnings of We first met Chauncey Haines in these pages in a 1971 issue. the Haines career. Music was in the Since then he has continued with his silent film series, usually in cards for him from the beginning. connection with film study courses sponsored by universities. Today, His grandfather , Jahn , played trum the veteran organist is still ''good copy, " so we decided on this fol pet during the Civil War, in the lowup. While Part 1 covers some of the ground we did six y ears ago, Abraham Lincoln Union band. His this study of the man reveals some of the more intimate details of father, Chauncey Sr., played brass his y ears as a theatre organist. With great frankness he discusses the in both the Sousa and Arthur Pryor organs, his many jobs, how he managed to lose them and his mul bands. Then dad decided it was time tiple marriages. Mr. Haines promises that the next installment will to settle down with his family in one be even more revealing. place and stop the constant travel of "one night stands." Dad settled for the directorship Helen Crawford, who ghosted por but occasionally saw his name men of the Detroit opera, and by the time tions of the scores for Duel in the tioned in the trade journals in con he was ten Chauncey had met many Sun and Saratoga Trunk. He was an nection with various motion picture of the notables who appeared at the intimate of comedian Harold Lloyd, scores. opera house, including William S. orchestra conductor for the Sonya The next time we heard his name Hart, John and Lionel Barrymore. Henle ice show and has been playing it was in connection with motion Among the opera orchestra members silent film revivals for the past 15 picture courses at UCLA; he was he found a ready supply of gratis years, often for the college cinema scoring the silent classics for the teachers. In no time he became pro classes. students. Then the university cut ficient on the piano. But the piano Chauncey Haines is one of the back on its motion picture classics wasn't his only interest; he also most active and creative organists on and we heard no more of Chauncey played drums, sometimes on horse the music scene continuously since Haines. Then, the seat of learning back in his dad's band for the Pen 1917, when he played his first stint did an about face , and came on dleton Roundup, a wild west show in in a Los Angeles theatre, the DeLuxe strong with its movie series. And the northwest Oater called a "ro (at Alvarado and Wilshire) , one of Chauncey Haines was once again at deo"). The Haines family lived in two LA houses then equipped with the console of the 73-rank Aeolian Walla Walla , Washington for a time . Hope-Jones styled 8-rank Wurlitzers. Skinner in UCLA's Royce Hall. That Small organs were all that were was 10 years ago , and Chauncey has Then he discovered a new phe available during the war years. since been cueing up to 40 movies a nomenum springing up everywhere The first time this writer met year , some in Royce Hall for UCLA, - movies. They needed music and Chauncey Haines was when he played some for "Filmex ," some for UC in young Chauncey was ready to ac a concert for the Theatre Organ Santa Barbara (Campbell Hall), company the "flickers" on the piano. Club of Los Angeles in the late 'SOs some in Beckman Hall for Pasa About this time the Haines family at the Lorin Whitney studio in Glen dena 's California Institute of Tech moved to southern California 's dry dale, Calif. That was before auxiliary nology, and some for the Motion climate for his mother's continued studios encroached on the speaking health. Movie houses in 1913 were area of Whitney's 4/34 WurliMorton Chauncey Haines in 1920. By this time he was both being improvised from Los Angeles in demand for the quality of his music and getting stores at an alarming rate. Chauncey and there was room for an audience fired for being too often AWOL. He was also think of 200. Haines arrived after an all ing about getting married for the first time . There heard his first organ in a theatre , a night session of performing a Ber would be four more. rather dull sounding church organ , nard Herrmann score for some sub but hearing it changed the rest of terranean sci-fie epic sound track at his life. When he was about 16, an the 20th Century Fox studio. Yet he other event took place which would was able to come up with exemplary further tie him to the theatre or readings of the "Bagpiper" from gan; two Los Angeles houses in Schwanda and Wagner's "Liebes stalled small but prophetic Hope tod ," in crisp organ arrangements. Jones Wurlitzer organs , the Million His orthodox approach and offbeat Dollar and the DeLuxe. The DeLuxe tunelist might have been over the organ was a "style 185" (8 ranks) heads of many fans in the late 'S0s to which a Tibia had been added. audience. The hobby was new to The vastly different sound of an or many in those fledgling days but his gan tailored to film accompaniment audience sensed they were in the needs had a strong appeal to the presence of greatness, and received young man , whose practice was done him well. Chauncey included some on church organs. material by Steiner, Herrmann and Another significant event which Tiomkin, and these more familiar inspired Haines was the arrival at the soundtrack tunes hit the spot. LA Million Dollar Theatre in 1917 of After that one concert, we some a young man named Jesse Crawford, how lost track of Chauncey Haines, fresh from triumphs in the northwest 30 AUGUST / SEPTEMBER, 1977 (where he was born) and in Grauman mended a teacher, and Arthur Shaw theatres in northern California. marvelled how rapidly Chauncey Haines had never heard anything improved. like the combination of Crawford When Shaw left the DeLuxe, the and the style 185 Wurlitzer organ. obvious replacement was Haines. He He went to the Million Dollar every was on his way. night he had the price of admis Of Shaw, Chauncey says "He was sion and sat as near to the console one of the greatest musical techni as possible, watching Crawford's cians I've ever known. I had great every move as he produced that gor respect for his faultless musical taste geous music. Chauncey was firmly and his ability to cue silent films. He "hooked." was second only to Oliver Wallace, Crawford noticed it, too. One the greatest of all time." night the great man turned to his In a recent interview, we asked faithful fan and asked: Chauncey about other Los Angeles "Interested in organs, kid?" theatre organists of the 'teens period. Haines was petrified at being noticed "I don't think ATOSers will re by his idol but managed to mumble call them," said Haines, "But here an affirmative answer. are a few - Albert Tufts, Herb Bur "Then come on over and sit on the land, Claude Riemer, Johnny Hill, bench with me," said Crawford, who Reginald Martin, Fred Burr Scholl, didn't know then that the youth had Clifford Demarest, and Ollie Wal already landed a job playing the only lace. They'd better know Ollie.

Load more