Album Notes

If your looking for authentic Carousel music for your themed event or just for casual listening, "Katy Lou" is the gal for you. "KATY LOU" is a delightful Wurlitzer Style #153 Duplex Orchestral Organ. This type was used on three-abreast carousel's, in open dance pavilions, skating rinks, and other amusement areas. "KATY LOU" is painted in a myriad of bright colors with beautiful desert scenes on the facade. The scroll work is hand carved and painted in the colors of the flowers and cacti of the desert and the bright blue of the southwestern sky. Decorative screens in front of the louvers and bar-bells depict a native American scene, and a lonely wagon trail disappearing towards the distant mountains. Raised panels on the side wings are adorned with picturesque Saguaro cactus, Joshua trees, Ocotillo and Yuccas. Other panels sow quiet desert and mountain scenes. The machine was made by the Wurlitzer Company of North Tonawanda, New York. It has 54 Keys and plays from paper rolls of music. The organ was used for many years in the Midwest in an amusement park and then had been stored for years until Paul Eakins,a pioneer in collecting automatic musical instruments, purchased and painstakingly restored it. The scroll work was carved by hand and the badly damaged and punctured screens were replaced with stainless steel screens. Many hours were spent in completely restoring the machine, along with the voicing and turning of the pipes. The songs on this CD feature the most famous songs played on Carousels. From "Over the Waves" to "Barnum and Bailey's Favorite", there is a mixture of military marches, sentimental favorites, and toe tapping songs that explain why this type of music is called "The Happiest Music on Earth".