I very much enjoyed reading Stephen Bicknell's discussion "Orchestrions
and Fairground Organs" in the 11/6 edition of the MMD.  It got me
thinking... or remembering, that is...

When I was about 6 or 7 (sometime in the early 70's) I remember being
at a Mechanical Music store (or should I say, *very* large warehouse)
somewhere in Southern California.  In a corner of this warehouse sat a
HUGE dance organ called the "Taj Mahal" made by Mortier.  (You can find
a picture of it in the Bowers Encyclopedia... don't know what page...)
Anyway... this "magnificent bastard" was for sale.  I can remember the
owners "firing" it up for our family and being literally blown off my
feet.  Needless to say the thing was seriously impressive (though at
the time I was probably more impressed by the sheer size of its power
cord... a 20 foot long bull elephant trunk comes to mind...)

Anyway... before I babble on much longer... Does anyone know where this
organ resides these days?  I remember an ad for it in an AMICA journal
a while back.  I would love to see it again.  I'd even (at the drop of
a hat) haul my entire recording rig (24 track digital, large Mackie
board, many mics) over to it and make a high quality recording of it
for posterity.  Heck... mabye someone has already done this... in that
case, does anyone know where to find such a recording?

-Roc
cironera@perkin-elmer.com