Ethel Smith is the only pop organist I have ever seen use both feet
very efficiently and gracefully. At a concert she gave in Scranton
Pa , as she talked with the audience explaining the pedal board , she
demonstrated her technique by playing "The Darktown Strutter's Ball"
with a graceful command of pedal control with both feet equal to that
of Virgil Fox playing a Bach fugue. She was the best! and she always
played in heels when she was young, but chose a flatter heel to match
her wardrobe in her later performing years.

Jerry



--- In ethelsmith@yahoogroups.com, MrChuk@... wrote:
>
>
> Was Ethel a "peg leg" organists? Using just her left foot on the
pedals?
> And did she play in high heel shoes as shown in her pictures?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Chuck in Mississippi
>
>
> In a message dated 10/23/2006 8:05:08 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> hammondrobb@... writes:
>
>
>
>
> It was on this date, 64 years ago, and it happened a bit like this.
It was
> Saturday night in
> New York City. One of the most popular radio shows on the
air, "Your Hit
> Parade", was
> about to introduce what would become their new star. Although the
live or
> radio audience
> didn't know this story was fiction at the time, their new star was
> introduced like this by the
> shows MC: "You know friends, the other evening, a man of our armed
services,
> on
> furlough in New York, had dinner in the Iridium Room of the St
Regis Hotel,
> and while
> there, heard a young lady who played the organ. That young fellow
thought
> the young
> lady was so wonderful that he could talk of nothing else and he
has asked
> Your Hit Parade
> to put her on our program. Well, we're answering the request of
that man in
> uniform who
> "left his heart at the St Regis Hotel" by presenting "Ethel
Smith", the girl
> he heard on his
> big night in the big town. We hope all his buddies in uniform
everywhre are
> listening right
> now, becasue here she is, Ethel Smith at the Hammond Electric
Organ playing
> Tico Tico....
> And the rest is music history. Tico Tico went on to become a huge
hit for
> Ethel, and in her
> own words "meant to me a Palm Beach Ocean Front Condo, and a music
> publishing
> business". Ethel was a huge hit on the hit parade, and ended up
playing the
> tune in the
> MGM musical Bathing Beauty. Tico Tico has gone on to become one of
the most
> recongnized Latin American tunes of all time, being recorded by
hundred's of
> artists.
> Maybe our good buddy Don will upload a few odd ones to the MP3
section.
> Until then,
> give the ultimate version a listen, by the one and only.... Ethel
Smith !
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>