Larry Givens
By Larry Lobel
You asked about my visit with Larry Givens. It was 1972, and I was a raw youth of 23 -- a raw piano technician with one year's experience. I was traveling with friends who knew Larry and we planned our route to be able to stop at his Pennsylvania farmhouse.
We spent about an hour there, and Larry gave us a tour of his gigantic barn filled with players, orchestrions, and other MMIs. There must have been about 50 instruments there. Larry was a gracious host. He showed us around the barn, giving interesting details and stories about some of the instruments, and played rolls on some of his favorites. I had always been fascinated by player pianos, but had never before seen or heard an orchestrion, and I was dazzled by them. It was a brief visit, but I have often recalled it with pleasure.
The latest catalog of the Player Piano Company (94-95) lists a new book written by Larry Givens, a biography of Adam Carroll, who was a piano roll arranger. So I suppose Larry Givens is still active in the field. Does anyone know if he still has his collection, and does he ever show up on the Internet?
Larry Lobel
[ Thanks, Larry. Can someone tell us about Givens' new book and his
[ activities? -- Robbie
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(Message sent Sun 9 Feb 1997, 16:22:52 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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