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LENNY DEE

PLANTATION BOOGIE

(LENNY DEE)

Decca 29360

No. 19    May4, 1955

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“He makes it laugh and weep, pulse and pound, soothe and sway–in short he makes his organ do

 everything but sit up and beg …”wrote a Decca Record publicist of Lenny Dee, their keyboard wiz.

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For years, Dee would amaze audiences WWII experiencers with his organ playing, commanding his nightly,

modified vintage 1933 “White Hammond” to flap like a bass fiddle, beat like a tom-tom, and strum like a

banjo.  Hi-Fi buffs  were enthralled with his Dee-series of album sound experimentations, Dee-lirious,

Dee-Most, Dee-Licious, Hi-Dee-Fi …

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He was born in the ’20s in Illinois, was raised in Florida, and took to making music early.   When he was

seven, Len started to study the piano and accordion.   For fun, he’d pluck a banjo for his friends.   After

three years of service on an aircraft carrier, Dee took advan­tage of the G. I. Bill to enroll at the Music

Conservatory of Chicago.

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With his studies behind him, Lenny landed a series of bookings at hotels and nightclubs.  After hearing

Lenny at th e Plantation Club in Nashville, Country music’s Red Foley encouraged Decca Records to sign

him to a  recording contract.   Dee remained a viable recording act, and stayed with the label for 20 years.

Oddly enough, “Plan­tation Boogie,” Dee’s only charting record, would also be his very first recording.   And

Dee-rightful!,the album from which the “Boogie” was extracted, would become Lenny’s largest-selling

LP.   No way to be considered a rock’n’roller, Dee worked the growing “Middle of the Road” circuit,

appearing with the Jimmy Dorsey and Ray Anthony bands; guesting on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” and

with Jack Parr, Joey Bishop, and Johnny Carson.

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When last spotted, Lenny–“the Leprechaun of the organ”–and his talented dog Miss Muffet–or

possibly some decendent were still entertaining the masses at Dee’s supper dub, Dolphin  Den, in St.

Petersburg, Florida.