Edward M. Layton (October 10, 1925 – December 26, 2004) was an American stadium organist who played at old Yankee Stadium for nearly 40 years, earning him membership in the New York Sports Hall of Fame.
Early life and education
Layton was born in Philadelphia. He graduated from West Chester State Teachers College, now West Chester University, where he majored in meteorology with a minor in music. He began playing the organ when he was 12 years old.
While serving in the United States Navy during World War II, he learned to play the Hammond organ. After World War II, he began a career as a professional organist writing scores for soap operas on CBS, He went on to play the organ for the Yankees for over three decades, taking a break from 1971 to 1977 to pursue other musical commitments. (Wright had returned as organist during that time.) When he retired on September 28, 2003, he played a final performance of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", while fans chanted "Eddie! Eddie!". He also played for several seasons of New York Islanders games in the 1990s and served one stint as organist for the indoor New York Cosmos soccer team at Madison Square Garden.
Concerts and albums
Layton also performed concerts in more than 200 cities for the Hammond Organ Company and released 27 albums.
Hobbies
Layton loved sailing and owned his own tugboat. He also owned a huge collection of model trains he maintained at his Forest Hills, New York home. He loved demonstrating organs to the public, and giving organ lessons. In 2009, Soapluvva established a YouTube tribute channel to both Layton and Charles Paul, who were colleagues of each other at the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan.
Death
On December 26, 2004, Layton died of natural causes at his home in Forest Hills, New York, at age 79, following a brief illness.
Controversy
Layton claimed credit as the first to come up with the idea of playing charge calls at a baseball game in 1971.