Christmas Through the Years with Hammond Organist Ralph Lofton

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Ralph Lofton is back for our Christmas episode! He shares his incredible journey in music, his miraculous heart transplant story, and the Christmas memories that shaped him. Ralph opens up about his early years, touring with BB and CeCe Winans, and the holiday traditions his family still treasures. Don’t miss out as he plays his favorite Christmas tunes on the Hammond C3 organ.

Ralph Lofton

Transcript

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Welcome to the Worship Keys YouTube channel. My name is Carson Bruce, so glad you're here. We talk all things music theory, gear, industry and ministry for your worship keys playing. If this episode is beneficial for you or you have any questions as you continue to watch, feel free to comment below and I'd love to hear any feedback that you have along the way. So let's get into today's episode. Alright guys, welcome back to the Worship of Keith podcast. Got this one little camera angle hanging on the side of this organ. What type of organ is this? Mr. Ralph Lofton. This is a C3 hammer. A C3. Okay. And last time we had you on the podcast, we were at Mount Zion Church and we were playing a B three, I do believe. I think it was. And, it's pretty good. But guys, welcome back to the podcast, Mr. Ralph Lofton, two weeks in a row and we're gonna be doing some Christmas. Content. Yes. Christmas music and Christmas conversation.

Yes, sir. And right now we're in your church that you serve at every Sunday, divine Faith Ministries? It's in Mount Julia, Tennessee. 9: 1:00

00 AM you'll see Mr. Ralph Flos and himself on this organ plan. Right, right here, sitting here on Sundays doing what God has blessed me to do. Yes, sir. And it's incredible to see you still using your talents after so many years. And you're just 70 years young, so Right. You just turn, you turned 70 in May, may of 2025. Right. Which happy late birthday again, man. Thank you man. Hope it was a great celebration. It was actually. Yeah. My wife and I went to, South Carolina. We stayed, on the beach. Awesome. Uh, you know, there's nothing like being on the beach and, we had a condo there. We stayed for a week and, she made it all special. Man. That's incredible. Uh, so I was. You know, really happy for being able to turn 70 and enjoy the way we did. Yes, sir. A lot of fun. That's amazing. And by the way, we are gonna let him play. We're not gonna talk the whole time, I promise. We definitely wanna hear you play. But, tell us a little bit about your heart transplant and that whole journey. Yeah. Actually this is, this month, uh, is now the eighth year. Eighth year, uh, that, I became a heart transplant recipient. Uh, did you have to re, did you have to ask God into your heart again? Yeah. No. Well, I did. I didn't have to, but I did because he never left. He was there the whole time. Even when they took my old heart out, he was there. And, uh, one of the things my wife said to me when they were, getting ready to take me in for the surgery, she just looked at me and said, you come back to me. We had already talked to God. Uh, and, and it was kinda funny because, uh, when. The doctor said, I think we've reached a stage where you're gonna need a heart transplant. You know, we didn't freak out and go, oh, oh no. And you know, because we believed, always believed in miracles. And, we believed that he was gonna see us through this. The process. When I tell people sometime they, it, it's amazing to them to realize, I don't think a lot of people understand, because some, you can find people that be on a list waiting for hearts for months, even years, before one come about. I blacked out. At, uh, church that I was ministering at at the time, uh, and, um, fell off the organ, passed out completely and, it was during service. When we came to, my wife was holding me and, then the paramedics came in, took us to the hospital. They alerted my cardiologist at the time, she came in and, said what we had talked about before. It's now time. So made calls to, uh, their sister hospital, which is, St. Thomas, uh, Midtown, and they called St. Thomas West. And brought us, transferred us there. The process was when they got us there, they were able to get us on the list. The fortunate thing was, uh, we were somehow, because of the grace of God, bumped up on the list and within a month. They were finding hearts. It was like two or three that, had came. Into, existence. But they was the first two, if I'm not mistaken. They didn't think that it would, it was going to work for my body. And, then another one came and finally they found one that they thought would be perfect. To fit my body. And unfortunately, it was a young person that, I think had been in a car accident or something and they were around 20 early twenties and, never did get a chance to meet the family or anything. But, the process was they took us in, around November 17th, the day of the surgery. It all went successful. I'm here now to say, you know, this is the miracle that God, provided for, my body and for my life. And so we are still here and just grateful I love it, God and, uh, especially to my wife for, sticking with and enduring through all of that process, because I know it was something that was really scary for her. Mm-hmm. But because of our strength and belief in God, we knew everything was going to be all right. That, I can't imagine how all that was, man, that's insane. But thankful to God that he brought you out on the other end, and you're able to still produce and play playing live. I mean, you're doing a lot of things tell us just briefly about the Nashville. Chads workshop. My good friend, uh, David Rogers is the executive director over there. Incredible pianist, right? Oh my gosh. So good. Phenomenal. David, he keeps me in the loop even though I'm not a direct. Jazz player. Um, but, because of our relationship and because he believes in my talent and, he keeps me, being a part of and working along with, the different things that they have going. Eight, he's had me over a couple of times for four concerts at the workshop. We just finished one about three weeks or so ago. Uh, they had their very first nashville Jazz Festival. Where I did, uh, what they called the gospel brunch on a Sunday. It was very received. It received very well. You should look them up. Um, uh, they have a lot of things going on and he has brought, uh, a new flavor to, to the workshop since he's been in charge there. Well, just to let you guys know we've had Mr. Ralph often on before on episode number 55. So if you want to actually get more tips on drawbar settings. Maybe some inversions, how you play, just your whole philosophy behind Oregon. You can check that on episode number 55 also. Yeah. Before you were on, was Mr. Virgil Stratford and Dewan Hill and Kurt Buell, and they all give you an overview starting from beginner of, Hey, these, this is what these presets do, right? These are the set sections of the drawbar. We have some videos that train you. On exactly the beginner overview and then more advanced crawling methods and, the heel toe on your, on your pedals. Mm-hmm. Down there. Yeah. And what to do. There's so much to teach and talk about. Just wanna let y'all know we got, four or five episodes, previously on the Hammond organ that you guys can check out to get some more training and information. So definitely see that his episode's number 55. We have other ones 54, 53, 52, I guess 51, I believe. Are those. Beginning fifties, episodes that all about the organ, which is so much fun. But today, I mean, it's Christmas time right now. It's in December. Right. And we're gonna talk about Christmas over the years. This is what the first episode's gonna be about with Mr. Ralph Lofton. I wanna get off camera here. Mm-hmm. But I just want you to share a little bit about your family, your colleagues, your friends. What you have done. Yep. Over the years you've been playing since you were nine years old. Right? You're 70 now, 61 years Wow. Of music. Yep. Starting on the piano and moving on to the organ later. Yeah. And I think we're gonna see some stories with, even your childhood too. I'd love to hear about your childhood. Yep. So I think it's, it's a great episode today, guys. I hope y'all love it if you're on YouTube. Comment, let us know. Definitely make sure to follow Mr. Ralph Lofton on Instagram, right, on Facebook, right? Well, guys, I hope y'all enjoy this episode. Let us know if you do. All right, Mr. Ralph Loft, and I'm behind the camera for those who hear my voice, but can't see me. Before financially, God was blessing us. We would, uh, take our kids through, a lot of stuff, uh, back in the day when they wanted a lot of things and we realized we didn't have financial, substance to do all of those things. My wife, Isha was so creative and, uh, coming up with different ideas of how to make sure that every Christmas with our kids when they were small, would, uh, never. Miss any type of, toys or different things that they would want, we would always, just constantly ask God to make sure that he would, you know, bless us and one part that I do, remember was when I started working on a Christmas album that I did, uh, where I ended up and I was not in a position to pay musicians to work on this project with me. Like I really would have loved to do because I had the equipment at home, I was prompt to be able to do everything myself. So I was the full band, took Christmas songs that we did and, did arrangements of some of most familiar Christmas hymns and Christmas songs. And, uh, two incorporate and include them in being a part of it. Our oldest daughter, uh, she played flute. Our youngest son, he played trumpet. And our youngest daughter, she was the singer, she actually took flute up in school, but she never pursued it enough to get good enough to be able to play on the project. So we used her as, as a vocalist. The funny part about it, you know, was this was the beginning stages of. They're learning their instruments and one of the songs that was on it was, we Wish You a Merry Christmas and had them play the melody separately. They thought that was one of the greatest things that ever, happened for them and to be a part of. So that was one fun part, uh, during a Christmas, period that we did. And, we just always made sure that, uh, Christmas never went by without them feeling that they had the best Christmas, even though we may not have had all we needed to have to make sure that they got what they wanted and they never missed a beat. God blessed us always to be able to come through. So that was one great memory, uh, that I remember. For Christmas, they would go to another, uh, Christmas project that I did with, uh, the group that I was a part of. F called, uh, the Quiet Time Players. And, uh, we did a full Christmas album. It was, uh, four of us along with, uh, two other players that were a part, but it was myself. Jonathan dubose who was the guitar player, uh, Derrick Jackson. Keyboard player piano. And, Donald Hayes was a sax player. So we did, uh, 10 songs of a Christmas record that was called Quiet Times Christmas. We had all of those songs, we, uh, come up with the different songs and, uh, did arrangements. I did one arrangement of the little drummer boy, uh, that I thought, uh, kind of. As they would say, funked it up a little bit. So that was some fun that we did and, uh, created, uh, such a great project that really turned out very well. And, um, do you mind playing a little bit of little drummer boy? Yeah. Uh, it was, uh, it kind of goes something like this. That was just a little demonstration of how it was, uh, then to go back, uh, with where I did, uh, we wish you a Merry Christmas, with the kids. It, it, uh, went a little bit like this. And we would end it by saying Merry Christmas. From the loftons Music always, you know, is a part of the household because everybody sings in the house. We have two sons that live in Memphis. Who are also musicians. The older one is the drummer, and the middle one is, uh, uh, keyboard, organ, uh, organist. And, sometimes I tease him and tell him, dude, you, uh, have become just so, uh, prolific in your playing. Make me wanna sit down and just listen to you play. We always would, would, uh, either if I wouldn't play, we would still just sit around, sing, uh, Christmas songs, uh, come up with ideas of how to, uh, bring music into the house during the Christmas holidays. And, uh, again, like I said, everybody sang, my wife sings, uh, the, the kids sing. Just coming up with songs that would really make, the household during, during cooking area in the kitchen, uh. Somebody might just break out and start singing and, that would be a song created during, during the holidays. Uh, so those kind of things were fun. They just always kept us, joyous. And, uh, brought memories that do bring back memories for, for me to, uh, think about over the holidays. Tell us about your, uh, your childhood, your upbringing. What, what inspired you musically and what were, uh, Christmases like when you were, when you were a kid? Well, even with living back with my mom who's passed on, my mom, she sang My Sister Sangs. We had a, a humbled uh, uh, raising in our home. So it was just the three of us. Uh, uh, those are the things that, uh, uh, make me think back. Um. We always look forward to mom putting up a real evergreen tree every year. Uh, uh, we didn't, uh, get around to doing the fake tree until we got older. But yeah, every year that she would bring in a a, a fully bloomed, uh, evergreen tree, we would take time to decorate. Put the lights and the stream, uh, the, the, uh, what do you call it, the streamer things and, uh, ornaments. Everybody had, uh, you know, a set of ornaments that we would put on. And of course you couldn't be without having the star on top. Those are the kind of things I remember back when we were kids. Uh, coming up, uh, each year, you know, without fail, uh, that evergreen tree would be brought in. And, um, you know, we didn't, we didn't see or believe in having the, the aluminum, you know, that became popular back in the day. That was, you know, back in the sixties. 'cause I was born in the fifties, so that, uh. Having an evergreen tree was always, you know, something that we looked forward to. And, uh, now of course, mom, uh, you know, fending for herself, uh, as a single mom, you know, made sure that we had what we wanted and needed. Uh, during Christmas, uh, I remember getting my first bike. And, uh, that was a lot of fun because a lot of the kids in the neighborhood all had bikes. So when we got 'em during Christmas time, everybody would be outside, uh, riding around, taking our bikes out and um, it was a lot of fun. So those kind of things I remember back when I was a child coming up skates and, and all of that. And the funny story. Moving on as an adult. Uh, we went to the skating R once and I think it was around Christmas time, if I'm not mistaken, few years ago. And, uh, I was trying to be cute with, uh, messing around with my youngest daughter and slipped and fell and almost broke my arm. No. And, uh, but anyway, it, uh, I survived and, and, uh, it, it did mess up my wrist a little bit and, uh, but I said I'm done with skating. And skating will not be on my agenda anymore. Yes. Would you equate a real evergreen tree to the real organ and a fake tree to a keyboard? You could do that. Yeah, you could actually do that. Uh, uh, there is nothing like the Hammond, you know, I mean, I always say, the Hammond organ is one of the most versatile, uh, instruments that has been put on the planet. Uh, thanks to Laurens Hammond, uh, for, uh, creating this instrument. I mean, it is so versatile. I remember back when I was a kid and first started playing the organ, uh, that was even before the Leslie Speaker came about. So it was just a regular tone cabinet and it couldn't give you, uh, the sound of the, the moving horn on the left. You couldn't get that. This is more or less what it sounded like that was the best that you could get of of a spinning Leslie. And then of course, because we didn't know anything about Leslie, uh, we didn't know whether it was spinning or not. It was just, just a sound. And then the first chance I got to play. A Hammond that had a Leslie connected with it. I was like, oh my gosh, where has this been? And, um, you know, it, uh, it just took my ability of playing to a whole nother level and, uh, realized you. Thank God for the Leslie. That's great. And, um, uh, the, those were things that I remember coming up too, uh, as, as a child, because of course I started playing when I was nine, but I started on piano. I didn't start on organ. Once I did start to pick up and start working with the Hammond and, uh, realize, wow, this can be, I can do a lot of stuff with this. And, uh, through the years just, you know, working with it, I started to develop, uh, a great appreciation for what it does. And, uh, again, it is one of the most versatile, keyboards that has ever been, uh, uh, created. And, uh, I love it. You've been around for a while and you've experienced a lot and you've played with a lot of amazing artists. Sure. And I know we heard a little bit about them on episode 55 when you were on, um, the Oregon specific episodes before Right. You were talking about tone and Right. Why tone matters. Do you have any memories going on tour with any artists during Christmas time or any Christmas tours in particular? Or any Christmas shows in particular we'd love to hear any experience you have during Christmas time. Okay. Uh, if I remember, back in the, uh, late eighties, uh, I was touring with BB and Cece Winans. And, uh, and now when you talk about being on tour. We were on tour, we were out, for, we did a European tour. And so we were out for, uh, I wanna say two or three months at a time, uh, without coming off the road, uh, going home. Couple of times I, if I don't, if I remember correctly. Where we were out and, uh, had to, uh, you know, share, uh, Christmas being on the road. The memories of it, uh, is kind of vague, but I do remember one year where we were all out and we made the best of, you know, being away from family, uh, and, uh, because we had become such a family being out. Uh, you know, we knew how to, uh, work through things and, and, uh, enjoy each other's company. Uh, during, I remember, uh, if I'm not mistaken, we were in Russia and the weather. It was, gosh, it was so cold. Uh, that one day. I remember we went through like all four seasons in one day. Uh, it would, it had been snowing the next, the day of, the morning of, or the day of, uh, the sun came out, started to melt the snow. Uh, the temperatures got up midday. Uh, it started to cloud back up again and it started raining, uh, later on that afternoon or evening. Uh, of course the sun was going back down and it rero and, uh, you know, we were walking around with the, the Russian hats, the whole nine, two or three coats. Just to keep warm. Um, and, uh, you know, these are things that I remember. We, we spent time, uh, away and, uh, uh, Christmas was just, you know, created where, you know, with them being a singing family, you know, we, we would take those moments together and, and, uh, uh, sing Carol's. And, uh, uh, just, just to share so that no one would kind of feel homesick being away from home during the holidays like that. Uh, uh, those are vague memories that I have, uh, from being out with them. Uh, it was always fun being on the road with them. Uh, and again, like I said. You know, tours, tours these days are not the same as they were back then. You know, people will go out for a couple of weeks, come back home, go back out, come back home, go back out and, but we were out and spent months on, months on months being out on the road. We started working now just not too long ago of, creating, the list of the projects that I have worked on and even still doing that. Now I have discovered and remembered had to remember, uh, different projects that I had played on that I did not remember I played on. And, uh, because of that many, you know. It's hard to keep up with, but it has been a fortunate thing for my career that I have played on so many projects and, just a lot of different artists from the Williams brothers, uh, to, albertino Walker. , who, see, when I start trying to think about it, they just all draw a blank. But there have been so many different projects that I have played on, but the way you can find them is that you can go to all music.com and type in my name, uh, you type in my name three different ways. Ralph Lofton, Ralph t Lofton, or Ralph t Lofton, Jr. And. Yeah, everything that's under those three versions of my name will come up and you'll be able to see just all of the different artists that I played on. And the thing I like about all music is they break down and give you the description on what you did on the different projects that you played on. So from producing to arranging to performing, um. Different instruments from piano to organ, uh, strings to horns. Keyboard, bass, uh, just a lot of different, uh, instrumentation that, uh, is included on the different projects that I worked on, songs that I wrote, uh, my own projects that I have released, uh, along with all of the other projects that I have, been fortunate to be a part of and contribute to. Amazing. Now you're only 70 years young, right? And, uh, if you were to leave one. Word of advice to your kids, your grandkids, even your great-grandkids. Some of your family you may never see one day years down the road. What would you wanna say to them? Stay true to who you are. Uh, elements in time change. Things change as time goes on. Uh, but stay true to who you are and what you do. Uh, God created all of us individually as individuals, to have and, and. You know, gifted us with certain talents. And, um, I think I mentioned to you, uh, once before that, um, as I started getting older in, in my music, I, I started to sometime second guess, do I need to change what I do, how I do it, just to try to be competitive with, um. You know, the music that, and how music changes. Uh, or do I just stay who, who stay with who I am. Uh, because what I learned and, and God showed me is that I gave you this talent this way, and if you would try to change it, then you would be changing from who you are. So I stay, stay true to who you are and let the talent that God blessed you with show itself to be just who you are. the thing that I always appreciate when people tell me, man, I can tell your sound from anybody. And when I hear records or hear music on the radio, I know if you played on it, when I hear, especially Oregon, you know, I know it's you right off the bat. So that is why I say stay true to who you are. That's great. Alright, a little off topic from piano and organ keys related, but it's in the holiday season. A lot of us husbands, we wait till the last minute to buy Christmas gifts. I want to know what's your best marriage advice and, uh, takes for, um, a happy marriage over the holiday season? Communication. That is one of the things that I have learned in my marriage is that we stay in communication with the, with each other about everything. I mean, there is no subject that we don't discuss. Somebody can call and ask me if I can do something, and the first thing I'll tell them, let me check with my wife. So, communication, uh, honesty. Honesty is got to be one. Uh. The most important things that you could have in your marriage, uh, being true, uh, to each other and with each other about everything. Uh, love, love your partner. Sometimes people say love is not enough. Well, maybe it is not, but it is a big factor. But if you, if between your, uh, communication, your honesty and the love you have, that's a, a good, uh, melting pot for a successful marriage. And, uh, that, uh, allows things in your marital life to stay strong and stay healthy. So, uh, I'm sure I'm missing something, what are you, uh, do you have any gift ideas for her this Christmas? I, we have gotten to the point because sometime we, we, throughout the year, each year, you know, we do things for each other and, um, I've learned, uh, sometime I wanna surprise her, but then. Most times I've learned that it works better when she decides she wants something specific and Amazon becomes our friend. So, uh, those are the things we kinda remember and, but yeah, there are times where, you know, I like, like being surprised and like surprising her. Mm-hmm. Uh, so for the most part, you know, we kinda go with, and especially for me, I'm one that, um, I've, I'm at that age where, you know, I don't want nothing just to just continue enjoying life. So, you know, it's hard for me to say, I want this or I want that. When, when she asks, what do you want for Christmas? Or What do you want for your birthday? Uh, Christmas time, you know, I said, baby, you know, I don't want particularly anything. Just glad we are still here and that we are still together and, uh, you know, enjoying our lives. So, but yeah, you know, communication, that's the biggest key of it all. They say, uh, what is it? Happy wife, happy life. I, I think is more happy spouse, happy house. Alright guys, I hope y'all enjoyed just Christmas through the years with Mr. Ralph Lofton. What a legend We've talked a little bit about how we, we often give people titles of being the goat or the legend, uh, being legendary. And sometimes we do use that a little more, a little prematurely than we should. Right, right. But it's, it's always a compliment no matter who you are. But this, this man has stood the test of time. Um, he's not just been doing this for two or three years. This is not his first go at it. He's, he's been touring since you shared, uh, since. Since the eighties with the The Winans? Yeah. BV and C. C Winans. That's amazing. You've been doing it for decades and you've stood the test of time with both your musicality and your. Character. And so thank you for being on the podcast and coming on today, man. Oh man. Thank you. It's been a pleasure and an honor always. And, um, you know, I appreciate, you know, guys such as yourself who have, uh, these avenues that, uh, you know. Uh, provide opportunities for people to see old guys like myself. Oh, no. Still hanging around, you know, uh, trying to do a little bit of that, this, that and the other. And, uh, we of course, we thank God for still, you know, keeping us alive and keeping us here. Yes, sir. Uh, and to being relevant and what we do and, um, you know, I'll never stop. Uh, as there's a song that says, I can't stop. I won't stop. I will not stop. Oh, yes. Uh, you know, until, God takes my, gives me my last breath. And, I've said I will retire from certain things, but playing is not one of them. I love it. I love that Mr. Ralph. Well guys, thank y'all for sticking around to the very end. Next week's episode is all of Mr. Ralph's favorite Christmas tunes, so some of your go-to Christmas tunes. You'll hear it right here on the Hammond C3. Yes, Oregon. Yes. So stay tuned for next Wednesday, and I hope you guys have a great holiday season all the whole month of December. I hope it's a blessing for you guys. We have some production tips as well coming. From Tyler Wester and Andrew Sharp. So be on the lookout for that, right? But anybody, guys, y'all have a blessed day and we're gonna see you next week with Mr. Ralph Lofton. ​