Chicago Musical Instruments Co. (CMI)
founded 1920
BiographyChicago Musical Instruments, which was founded in 1920 by Maurice Berlin, held interests in numerous musical instrument manufacturers. In addition to Lowrey and Selmer, a producer of orchestral woodwind and brass instruments, their most notable subsidiary was the Michigan-based Gibson Guitar Corporation, which they maintained control of between 1944 and 1969, a period that is often considered to be the firm’s golden era. Lowrey stood throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a primary distributor and manufacturer of electronic organs throughout both North America and Europe. Their instruments were frequently used in popular music of the era as an alternative to the Hammond B-3 organ, most notably in The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band of 1967, and The Who’s “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” from Who’s Next of 1971.
