Originally Posted By: Bill Lewis
There was a guy down the Jersey Shore who did a similar but even bigger thing before the Midi days. Al Rondo. B3 with 4 leslies, Conn theatre organ on his left with 4 gyro speakers ( 2/12" speakers on a spininng disk to give the string sounds a real vibrato) Mic'd baby grand on his right, two mini moogs on top of the B3. And probably about 8 15" speakers just for the pedals. Used a drum tracks 8 track drum machine and made the whole system sound like a symphony. Bus trips used to come to the Beacon Manor in Point Pleasant NJ to hear him. He could play ANYTHING AND he was blind. He was or still may be around but unbelivable !!! He could hold the crowd until midnight when he did his patriotic tribute and made the whole building shake. Waitresses would come out of the side doors with red/white/blue cupcakes with lit sparklers for the crowd. I feel fortunate to have seen him many times. Years later he moved to a place called PJ Ruggles and updated his system using synths, yamaha organ and 8 JBL 18" 3 way cabinets to be even more powerful. He invented "Live" Kareoke" People would come to sing and he would back them up-- any song, any key, all by ear. Last I heard he was just doing private parties with a Yamaha keyboard. If this guy in Florida is from Jersey, and he talks like he is, he must have known him


WOW, Bill, that is quite amazing!
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Bill