Lowrey organs were originally made in Chicago, Illinois (prior to 2011) and have been played in churches and by professional and home musicians since the 1950s.[1] Lowrey entered the portable keyboard market in the early 1980s with the Wandering Genie, which was succeeded by the Japanese-made Micro Genie line. In January of 2019, Kawai, the owner of the brand, announced it would cease all production of Lowrey Organs. This list of models is incomplete.

Organs edit

Image Model Name / Number Years sold new Description
Berkshire Deluxe TBO-1 1968 Organ with 2 44 key manuals, 13 bass pedals, built-in spring reverb, Leslie effect, and marimba effect famously known from Baba O'Riley by The Who played by Pete Townshend.[2] The TBO-1 is a slightly upgraded version of the older but otherwise identical Berkshire TBO (1966).
  Carnival (C500) 1978 Automatic bass, rhythm and accompaniment. Two keyboards and bass pedals.[3]
Coronation
Cotillion 1983 Theatre organ with memory presets and extensive features, including human voices and other sound effects.
Debut (L-65) 1981
Debut (L-70) 1982 Featured two keyboards and Magic Genie.

 

DSO / DSO-1 Unknown; 1962 at earliest Home spinet organ. Two 3½-octave manuals and 1-octave pedals. Includes Leslie tremolo, a chime effect stop, and a "glide" switch on the side of the volume pedal. The "-1" adds an Automatic Orchestra Control (AOC) and Repeat stops (the two red stops on the right-side bank in the picture).
Encore (M-100) 1979
Festival 1960-1966 Two 61-note keyboards. 25 bass pedals.[4] Features Automatic Orchestra,[5] glide control, percussion and "Moving Stereo" controls.[6]
GAKH25 / GAK25H 1983 Console.
Genie (L-5) 1972-79[7][8] Featured walking basses and rhythm section.[9] One finger play.[3]
Genie (L-10) 1979
Genie (L-15) 1979
  Genie 44 1975
Genie 88 1975
Genie 98 1975
Genius
Fiesta (L25) 1982-1984
Heritage
Holiday 1966[9]-1983
Holiday (D-325) 1978 Two keyboards with Magic Genie.[10]
  Holiday Deluxe 1972-1974[11]
Jamboree (TG 88) 1978-1979
  Journey 2010s
Jupiter 1974[11] Featured Automatic Orchestra and Leslie Speaker.[5]
LC-88 1980
Mardi Gras (L-55) 1982-1983 Featured four channels, double keyboard and Magic Genie chords.
MX-1 1981-1984
Organo 1956 60-note organ for attaching to a "standard piano"[12]
Pageant

(M-150)

1982
Parade 1981
Saturn Deluxe 1974[11]
Spinet 1956[13]
Stereo Jubilee 1977[14]
Stereo Genie 98-1 1977 Features Automatic Organ Computer and Lowrey Glide.[15]
Super Genie 1974-1975[11]
Symphonic Holiday 1975[16]-1977[14] Four channels, 88 keys, two keyboards, Magic Genie.
Teenie Genie 1974-1976[17] Rhythm and auto-bass pedal accompaniment.[18]
TG44-1 1977 Two keyboards and bass pedals.[19]
TG44BK 1977 Two keyboards, pedals and built in cassette recorder.[20]
TG98
TGB 1977[19]
Theatre HR-98 Complete professional theatre organ.[18]
Venus 1974

Portable organs edit

Some of Lowrey's portable organs were made in Japan and based on JVC designs.

Image Model Name / Number Years produced Description
L-2 Wandering Genie 1980-1982 Portable organ with Genie accompaniment. Effects include variable sustain, "repeat" setting with adjustable tempo and "glide" (single-tone pitch bender).
Micro Genie V60 Rebranded version of JVC KB-300/KB-303.[21]
Micro Genie V100 49 keys. 8 note polyphony. Rebranded version of JVC KB-500.[21]
Micro Genie V101 1982-1987 49 keys. 8 note polyphony.[22] Rebranded version of JVC KB-500.[21]
Micro Genie V120 1985- 61 full sized keys.[23] Rebranded version of JVC KB-700.[21]
Micro Genie V105 1986- Hybrid of JVC KB-600 & KB-800.[21] Features include MIDI in and out, AUX in and out, MIC in with adjustable gain. Expression pedal input.
Micro Genie V125 Rebranded version of JVC KB-808.[21]
Micro Genie Pro V600 49 keys. Programmable. MIDI in and out.[24] Came with "guitar strum" accessory. Rebranded version of JVC KB-800.[21]

References edit

  1. ^ "Lowrey organs for home and church (1956)". The Daily Independent. January 1956. p. 16. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  2. ^ "Pete's Gear: Lowrey Berkshire Deluxe TBO-1 organ: Baba O'Reilly/Won't Get Fooled Again 'synthesizer' sound". thewho.net. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  3. ^ a b "Lowrey Genie and Carnival Organ advertisement (1978)". The Salina Journal. 4 October 1978. p. 25. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  4. ^ "Lowrey organs (Spinet, Super Genie, Festival) for sale (1976)". The Manhattan Mercury. 18 March 1976. p. 14. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  5. ^ a b "Lowrey organs advertisement (1966)". The San Bernardino County Sun. 11 February 1966. p. 24. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  6. ^ "Lowrey Festival Organ advertisement (1960)". Arlington Heights Herald. 8 December 1960. p. 23. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  7. ^ "Lowrey Genie organ advertisement (1972)". El Paso Herald-Post. 5 January 1972. p. 36. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  8. ^ "Lowrey Organ Headquarters - Home of the Genie advertisement (1972)". The Berkshire Eagle. 5 January 1972. p. 22. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  9. ^ a b "Lowrey organ advertisements - Genie and Holiday (1972)". The News-Herald. 6 January 1972. p. 8. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  10. ^ Bujor Florin Lucian (2018-04-04), Demo 1978 Lowrey D-325, retrieved 2019-04-10
  11. ^ a b c d "Lowrey organ sale advertisement (1974)". Mt. Vernon Register-News. 26 December 1974. p. 23. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  12. ^ "Lowrey Organo advertisement (1956)". The Indiana Gazette. 25 January 1956. p. 22. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  13. ^ "Lowrey Spinet Organ advertisement (1956)". The Herald-Palladium. 20 January 1956. p. 2. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  14. ^ a b "Lowrey makes magic - organ advertisement (1977)". Waukesha Daily Freeman. 23 November 1977. p. 50. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  15. ^ "Lowrey organ advertisement (1977)". Albuquerque Journal. 10 March 1977. p. 8. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  16. ^ treasurec0ve (2012-11-08), 1975 LOWREY "Symphonic Holiday" ORGAN for SALE $100 ...GREAT DEAL!, retrieved 2019-04-10{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "Lowrey Teenie Genie advertisement (1974)". The Newark Advocate. 10 July 1974. p. 38. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  18. ^ a b "Lowrey organ advertisement (1976)". Alamogordo Daily News. 7 January 1976. p. 10. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  19. ^ a b "New Lowrey organ advertisement (1977)". The San Bernardino County Sun. 16 June 1977. p. 29. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  20. ^ "Lowrey organ advertisement (1977)". The Chilliwack Progress. 21 September 1977. p. 25. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g "JVC instruments rebranded as Lowrey". jvckeyboards.tripod.com. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  22. ^ "Lowrey Micro Genie V101". Keyboard Kountry. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  23. ^ Kevin (2017-03-31). "Audio Trough: Instrument Review - Lowrey Micro Genie V-120 a.k.a. JVC KB-700". Audio Trough. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  24. ^ "Lowrey Micro Genie Pro V600 Black & white | Glenn Giles". reverb.com. Retrieved 2019-03-22.