Ron Harry; was organist for Celtics, Bruins games

Ron Harry, who pumped out rally riffs along with touches of musical whimsy as the organist for the Celtics and Bruins at Boston Garden and the FleetCenter, died Sunday of an apparent blood clot while vacationing in Hawaii, the Associated Press reported. He was 75.

Mr. Harry succeeded a legend, John Kiley, as organist for the Celtics and Bruins in 1984. For the first few seasons, Mr. Harry tended to be a low-key musical observer of the action.

''They didn't want the rah-rah stuff," he told the Globe in 1994. ''I was told not to play 'Charge' under penalty of death."

As loud music and musically scripted rallying cries became commonplace in arenas across the country, Mr. Harry expanded his repertoire, as well as his volume, at the games.

His selections -- drawn across a musical landscape from hymnals to hard rock -- could carry a veiled dart at an opponent but they were mainly marked by his sense of humor.

''Every now and then, I do something that breaks me up, but I don't know if people get it," he told the Globe. During one game in the holiday season, for example, he followed a bloody fight on the ice with ''Let There Be Peace on Earth."

When Bill Walton was a member of the Celtics, Mr. Harry often greeted his entrance to a game with a Grateful Dead song, a favorite of the free-spirited Walton.

One of Mr. Harry's trademarks was performing the song ''It's A Great Day Tonight For the Irish," as the Celtics took the floor for warm-ups, Jeff Twiss, vice president of media relations for the team, told the Associated Press.

''He never wanted to be seen but always wanted to be heard," Twiss recalled. ''You might see him in the press room before a game. But he always want to be in the background, and didn't want the accolades."

Mr. Harry, who retired from the Bruins in 1995, continued to work for the Celtics through the past season.

Mr. Harry, a Boston native who lived in Mason, N.H., had studied at the Cushing Academy in Ashburnham and the Juilliard School in New York City. In addition to his work at the FleetCenter, he had played at Boston area clubs.

He arrived in Honolulu on Aug. 2 and indicated he was not feeling well, said Sanchia Roberts, a friend of more than 40 years. However, she said, he was able to take part in a number of activities, including a luncheon cruise, during which he saw a pod of dolphins.

''He recalled how my husband and I talked of seeking whales and dolphins but that he had never seen them, and now he had," she said.

Mr. Harry's friendship with Roberts and her husband, Bobby, dates back 42 years, when they performed together around Boston, she said.

''He originally worked for my father when he managed the Hotel Touraine in Boston," she said.

Mr. Harry was to be buried in a cemetery across from his home, the Associated Press reported.