Doc Whipple(1897-1963)
- Music Department
Clark "Doc" Whipple. Not much is known about him until he made his way to New York City in the mid 1930's. Back in that day, radio shows that didn't feature singers used organs for their musical background. There was plenty of work for a talented organist, and Whipple found his niche at NBC, where he was one of the studio organists working for the network. While it's impossible to know which organist played on which show, Whipple is known to have worked on "Mystery Theater of the Air" and "Ma Perkins." With NBC airing dozens of such shows on its red and blue networks, Whipple, like other organists, was certainly busy.
Enter television in the mid 1940's. The medium at that time was considered an experiment; in the beginning, there weren't more than 10,000 working televisions in the country, and most were on the east coast. Television shows were done on a tight budget, and, as with radio, the organ was the primary source of musical background. For daytime radio, this practice continued into the 1960's, including many soap operas and local productions across the country.
Enter "The Howdy Doody Show," which was hosted by "Buffalo" Bob Smith. Smith insisted on Whipple being the organist for the show, and Whipple did so for many years, also leading the NBC orchestra in various canned music for the show. When "Howdy Doody" gravitated away from music in the early-to-mid 1950's, Whipple found plenty of work on the next big thing: soap operas, which relied heavily on organs until the late 1960's.
Whipple and his family moved to nearby Scarsdale around 1951, making it easy for him to commute to and from the NBC studios. He lived there until his death in 1963.
Enter television in the mid 1940's. The medium at that time was considered an experiment; in the beginning, there weren't more than 10,000 working televisions in the country, and most were on the east coast. Television shows were done on a tight budget, and, as with radio, the organ was the primary source of musical background. For daytime radio, this practice continued into the 1960's, including many soap operas and local productions across the country.
Enter "The Howdy Doody Show," which was hosted by "Buffalo" Bob Smith. Smith insisted on Whipple being the organist for the show, and Whipple did so for many years, also leading the NBC orchestra in various canned music for the show. When "Howdy Doody" gravitated away from music in the early-to-mid 1950's, Whipple found plenty of work on the next big thing: soap operas, which relied heavily on organs until the late 1960's.
Whipple and his family moved to nearby Scarsdale around 1951, making it easy for him to commute to and from the NBC studios. He lived there until his death in 1963.