AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT .....

           

 

....THE HAMMOND ORGAN

                    “From a poor man’s pipe organ to

                     a progrock musician's big band”

 

PART ONE:

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2 : The history of the Hammond organ

Chapter 3: How does the Hammand organ and Leslie box work? By PA member Pierreolivier

Chapter 4: The heavy weighted Hammond models on the small catwalk

 

PART TWO:

Chapter 5: A personal Hammond story: a meeting with my hero Thijs Van

                  Leer

Chapter 6: ‘Hammond Heroes’: pioneers, masters and specialists on the Hammond organ

Chapter 7:  1967-2007 Fourty years of Hammond sounds in progressive rock

 

PART THREE:

Chapter 8: Quotes about the Hammond organ by Dutch progrock musicians

                 (from Rick van der Linden to Thijs van Leer and Ton

                 Scherpenzeel)

Chapter 9: My favorite Hammond organ drenched CD’s and DVD’s

 

PART FOUR:

Chapter 10: A Hammond story by PA member and jazz specialist Dick Heath

Chapter 11: PA members about the Hammond organ and their favorite

                   Hammond Albums: Jim Garten, Ozzy Tom, Jimmy Row, Easy

                   Money, Rivertree and Dalt99)

Chapter 12: This is not a Hammond organ! (about the Farfisa, Gibson and

                    Vox Continental organs)

Chapter 13: Sources of information

Chapter 14: Interesting links

 

 

 

 

       I would like to start with Part One, the

       other three parts will follow in the

       forthcoming days. 

 

 

   THE HAMMOND ORGAN

 

                 “From a poor man’s pipe organ to

                    a progrock musician's big band”

 

 

PART ONE

 

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2 : The history of the Hammond organ

Chapter 3: How do the Hammond organ and Leslie speaker work? By PA member Pierreolivier

Chapter 4: The heavy weighted Hammond models on the small catwalk

 

Chapter 1: An introduction

 

The Hammond organ was already embraced by the jazz musicians in the early Sixties but in the second part of the Sixties and in the first part of the Seventies it turned out to be a perfect keyboard for many (progressive) rock artists, especially because the powerful and varied Hammond organ could compete with the many decibels coming from huge Marshall guitar amplifiers! If you look at the amount of Sixties and Seventies hits with the Hammond organ in their sound, it’s amazing, just look at this list:

- Green Onions and Time is Tight by Booker T & The MG’s

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000002IR7/ref=dp_image_0/105-3380758-6476466?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music">

- You Keep Me Hangin’On by Vanilla Fudge

- Fire by The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown

- Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf

- A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Gimme Some Lovin’ by The Spencer Davis Group

- Hold Your Head up by Argent

- With A Little Bit Help From Your Friends by Joe Cocker

- Sympathy by Steve Rowland & Family Dogg

- Black Magic Woman by Santana and ... of course Child In Time by Deep

   Purple, incredible!

 

  http://www.hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?key=63&cat=s#">   

I have always loved the sound of the Hammond organ and other ‘vintage keyboards’ like the Mellotron, Minimoog synthesizer and Solina string-ensemble. In the autumn of 1998 I got the idea to write a ‘vintage keyboard’ special for the Dutch progrock magazine iO Pages. My knowledge about the Mellotron and Moog synthesizer is decent but the Hammond organ was technically a kind of unknown keyboard for me. So I started to collect information and stumbled upon the name Frank Obertop that was given by several Hammond organ fans. He is the editor of the Dutch Hammond organ society named Turning Wheel and he even appeared on TV talking about the Hammond organ during a popular music programm. It was quite easy to get in touch with him, he reacted enthousiastically on my plans for a special Hammond organ chapter in the vintage keyboards special and Frank even invited me to take a look at his Hammond organ collection! This was stored in the basement of an old Victorian-like building in Hilversum, it had been used for a famous Dutch political talk-show entitled Het Capitol, broadcasted every Sunday morning in the Eighties. I will never forget the moment that I entered the basement and looked at all those wonderfully shaped Hammond organs, from the famous B3 to the spinet models and he also owned two huge Leslie speakers. I was stunned and for me this was the key-moment to start my Hammond organ fascination, gradually grown mighty close to my deep love for the Mellotron!

In this article you will read about the special, very powerful and varied sound (from soaring in A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum to ‘churchy’ halfway the titletrack of Close To The Edge by Yes), the different models, famous and exciting Hammond organ players, the Hammond in progrock, Hammond drenched albums and some PA members will tell you about their fascination, a big hand for the Hammond organ!

Chapter 2: History

 

CHAPTER 2 : THE HISTORY OF THE HAMMOND ORGAN

 

 

 

The story of the Hammond organ starts with the man who invented it and gave his name to his invention: Laurens Hammond. He was born in Illinois, USA on January 11^th in 1885. After his father’s death in 1898 (thanks Angelo ) the broken family moved to Europe and they lived in Geneva, Dresden and Paris. Young Laurens spoke fluently English, German and French and designed an automatic transmission for automoblies. In 1916 he graduated from Cornell University with a degree in mechanical engineering. In World War I he had to follow his duty in the American Expeditionary Force in France and spent two years as chief engineer of Gray Motor Company. In 1920 he invented a silent spring-driven clock, the sale which brought him enough money to quit the Gray Motor job. He moved back to the USA and rent a lof in New York City where he developped the 60-cycle synchronous motor that he later used in the manufactue of electric clocks and his tone-wheel organs. Among Laurens his patented inventions were the familiar cardboard spectacles with red and green eyepieces for viewing 3-D film, an automatic bridge table that shuffled a deck of cards into four piles. Laurens his Hammond Clock Company conduscted business from 1928 until it became  the Hammond Instrument Company in 1937.

In 1933 Hammond turned his attention to the production on an electric organ. He bought an used piano for US $ 15,- and discarded everything but the keyboard. Using it as a controller, he experimented with a number of different sound-generating techniques before settling on the tone-wheel generator. Laurens Hammond developed his instrument based on the design of the Cahill Telharmonian. After the tone-wheel generator was very well engineered, the organ went into production, the 30-page  Hammond organ patent was filed on January 19 in 1934 and in June 1935 the first Hammond organ named the Hammond A was produced (until October 1938).

The goal of the Hammond Organ Company was to sell to churches and concert halls as a portable and less expensive way for a church to have an instrument that sounded like a pipe organ without the pipes. Given the cost of the pipe organ competition many Hammonds were sold. A number of them found their way to black gospel churches, and it is from this environment many of the early jazz and blues players developed their styles. Laurens Hammond also aimed at the home, this resulted in the smaller M, M-2 and M-3 socalled spinet models (two 44-note manuals instead of two 61-note manuals), produced between November 1948 and January 1964. Meanwhile in 1961 Hammond also produced the popular spinet models L-100 and M-100. But the most famous Hammond organ are the legendary Hammond A-100 (1959-1965), B-3 (1955-late 1974) and C-3 (1955-late Seventies). These Hammond models are internally all similar, nonetheless the B-3 became the most popular with its distinctive spindly legs (meant to show the player using the pedals) but the A-100 (with built-in amplifier and speakers) and the C-3 (solid side and back casing) wer also very popular.

When designed, it came with a PR40 tone cabinet consisting of front facing speakers in a cabinet that simulated the sound of the pipes. Don Leslie designed a cabinet with a rotating speaker that he wanted to have Hammond include in its manufacturing process. Hammond did not feel it had the pure sound he wanted for his organ. Leslie manufactured his own cabinets and people bought them separate. It consisted of an upper rotor for the high frequency driver and a rotating cage on the bottom with a scoop which projects the sound from the down-facing low speaker. This created a sound that locked in perfectly with the sound of the organ and in fact became know as the "Hammond Sound".

Hammond later started calling the B models the "Home Model" because you could see the organist's legs work the pedals. C and RT models had full modesty panels across the back supposedly so female church organists would not worry the congregation was looking up their dress while playing.

People played the Hammonds from the time of manufacture throughout the 1940's but Jimmy Smith was the man that popularized the instrument in the 1950's with his trio consisting of organ, guitar and drums. Others were playing the instrument but Jimmy defined the style. In the 1960's he did some albums with Lalo Schiffrin and Oliver Nelson which took the organ to an original voice with a big band and others such as Gerald Wilson had Richard "Groove" Holmes on organ on many of his albums with his big band. Booker T and the MGs put it to work on much of the Stax recordings of the 1960's and had many albums on their own hits including "Green Onions" and "Time Is Tight".

It then went into the rock arena with the Young Rascals, Procol Harem, Chicago, The Allman Brothers, Santana and became an integral part of the music scene with many different tones and colors to choose from. Especially in the progressive rock movement the sound of the Hammond organ was omnipresent in the Seventies music from bands like Yes, Genesis, ELP, Barclay James Harvest, Camel, Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant.

With the synthesizer revolution of the 1970's and 1980's then samplers that were basically recordings of the Hammond organ sound and because of the weight of the 600-pound instrument and difficulty of carrying it around it became less and less plausible to include the instrument on stage performances. Hammond abandoned tonewheel organ production in the late 70's and, sadly, stopped making the instrument in 1984. Several keyboards have come out since then which have tried to simulate the instrument. They began developing other markets with the inclusion of rhythm units, auto-chord, and self-accompanying organs. However, none have captured the tone and feel of the original Hammond tone-wheel organs!

 

Chapter 3: THE HAMMOND ORGAN- How Does It Work?

by Pierre-Olivier Turmel

 

The Hammond organ is a trademark sound in many musical styles. It featured in different styles of music such as jazz, gospel, R & B, rock and, of course, progressive rock. Since it’s sound is very known, very few knew how this sound is produced and how it work.  In this article, I will describe, in simplified terms, how the Hammond organ produce his glorious sound.

 

THE TONE GENERATOR AND THE TONEWHEELS

The creation of the Hammond organ is often attributed to Laurens Hammond, a inventor who already created such novelties such as clockworks, 3D movies and card-dealing bridge table. Since Laurens Hammond is the actual inventor of the Hammond organ, he take the inner working of his future organ to an other inventor, Thaddeus Cahill.  He invented, three decades before the Hammond organ, a massive instrument called the Telharmonium.  That instrument is basically a Hammond organ without the amplificacation system.  The Telharmonium was a massive instrument and it’s amplification system required train wagons to be transported, not a very pratical instrument.

In 1933, Laurens Hammond was already in the business of clockworks and with the assistance of a research engineer, John Hanert, decided to apply the Cahill’s Telharmonium working into a more compact and transportable instrument, the Hammond organ first organ, the Model A was born.

The main ingredient in the Hammond sound is mainly due to the tonewheels generator. That system consists of  tonewheels that spins and produced an electric current that is captured by a coil and then amplified via a vacuum tube amplifier. In console organs models like the B3, C3 and A-100, 96 of those tonewheels are inside of the organ but only 91 of those actually produce sound, the 5 others are there to balance the mecanism.  Those tonewheels are made in steel and are the size of a silver dollar.  The resulting pitch depend of the numbers of notches that those tonewheels had on their edges and the spinning speed.  The end of the coil contain a rod-shape permanent magnet and when the tonewheel spin at a certain speed, it create a small voltage between the tonewheel and the magnet, resulting in a sound that is captured by a pickup and travel via a wire and then to the amplifier and then to the speakers.  The more notches that a tonewheel that pass the rod in a second, the higher the pitch will be. The lowest octave on the organ used tonewheels that had 2 notches. Subsequent octaves on the organ will had 4,8,16,32,64,128 and 192 notches on their edges. The last octave of the organ is supposed to had 256 teeth but it was impossible to made a tonewheel with so much small notches so instead, the top half octave tonewheel is placed in the half-octave higher bins.  Generating the first half octaves of notes in the second half-octave bins produces the same frequencies with a tonewheel of 192 theet The tonewheels are placed in 48 different bins within the generator assembly.

Those of you who already saw a console Hammond organ like the B3, C3 or A-100 had surely this question in their head, why those organs had two switches to start the organ? The Run switch is the main one that run the synchronous motor that run all 96 tonewheels. At the time of the fabrication of those console organ, the synchronous motor couldn’t star by himself.  That’s why the Start, to get the synchronous motor to a speed or 60 Hz and after you  hit the Run switch . When you it the Start switch at first, you hear a grinding noise, it’s the synchronous motor taking it’s speed.  After 8 to 10 seconds, you hit the Run switch and then released the Start switch and you are ready to play.  Later spinets models like the L-100, M-100 and the M3 had a single starting switch, the technology of the synchronous motor had developped between the manufacturation of those console organs back in the 50's and the release of the spinets organs at the end of the 50's and the beginning of the 60's.

 

DRAWBARS AND PRESETS

After seeing the working of the Hammond organ internally, we will see how it work from the exterior, in other word, the drawbars and the presets keys.  A popular image in the Hammond organ mythology is an organ player shaping the sound of his beast by manipuling the drawbars on the organ.  When a drawbar is pushed all the way in, it’s off and when is pushed out, you go trought values between 1 and 8.  Those values determine the strenght of  specific harmonics or overtones in the organ sound. The console organ (B3,C3 and A-100) are represented by 4 groups of 9 drawbars. Those drawbars are colored, there are 4 whites, 3 whites and 2 browns drawbars.  Without entering too much in complicated organ terminology, those colors reflect the intervals of it’s associated harmonics.  Whites ones represented fundamental or octave, black are for non-octace intervals like 12th, 17th and 19th.  Brown ones manipulate sub-octave harmonics, an octave below the fundamental note.

Those of you who already saw a console Hammond organ remark on the left side of each manuals the presence of  reversed colors keys.  Those keys doesn’t play, they select the organ presets sound.  Those “reversed colors” keys work a bit like the preset buttons on a car radio, when you pressed a key, it released the previous selected keys.  Like the drawbars, they changed the strenght of specific harmonics. In other words, when you selected a specific preset keys, they are pre-determined or programmed drawbars settings.  Keys C to A of those reversed keys octave of preset settings called up drawbar setting that are wired within the organ.  In those cases, you can manipulate the 2 sets of drawbars associated with each manual.  The last 2 keys of the octave of preset keys (Bb and B) activate separately one or the other set of 9 drawbars associated with the manual where the preset is pressed. So, in those cases, only one set of drawbars is working.

 

PERCUSSION

One of the Hammond organ special features is the addition of percussion effect.  That effect was available only on later organs like the B3,C3,A-100,D-100,H-100 and RT-3 console models and some spinets models like L-100,M-100,M3 and T-100.  Earlier console organ models the A,B,C,B2,C2,RT,RT-2 and earlier spinet  models like the M and M2  did not feature the percussion effect.. That effect is activated when you press the B preset and work only in the upper manual.  The effect is controlled by 4 rocker switchs.The first one is an on/off switch that activate the effect. The volume switch control the loudness of the effect (normal or soft).  The decay switch control the speed of the effect sounding a bit like a marimba (fast) or sounding like a chime (slow).  The final switch control the pitch of the percussion effect, sounding a pitch above the fundamental (second) or an octave and a fifth above the fundamental (third). The effect work internally by coupling the second and third harmonic and that creates the “touch response” effect as it was originally called or percussion effect. The effect is desactivated when you hold a key long enough and only work when you play non-legato style of playing.

 

VIBRATO AND CHORUS

Earlier Hammond organs features tremolo effect rather than vibrato.  Some customers of those early organs complain to the company that the effect was not deep enough so the engineers of Hammond developped the vibrato effect. That vibrato effect is achieved by the addition of a scanner delay line vibrato line and was invented during WW II by Hammond head engineer, John Hanert.

When he developped the scanner delay line vibrato, John Harnett found that mixing the untreated drawbar signal, before the sound is affected by the vibrato effect with the “treated” vibrato effect produced a chorus effect. On the Hammond console organs models, you had the choice of vibrato effect or vibrato and chorus effect.  You select those effect and the intensity of the effect by a round rotary knob with the mention “Vibrato and Chorus” on it.  You can select with three levels of vibrato setting called V1,V2 and V3.  The Vibrato and chorus effect sound is available by selecting the C1,C2 and C3 settings.

 

SPRING REVERB 

One of the innovations made along with the invention of the Hammond organ is the released of the spring reverb.  At the time, before World war II, before the digital age, the only way to achieve that reverb effect is to create an acoustic environment to be able to create the effect.

It was Mr.Hammond himself that visualise that the ideal setting was to pass the sound through springs.  With early organs (pre-B3), those springs where about 3 feet and only fit in the vertical position in the organ.  In the 60's, the engineers of the Hammond company developped a much better, more compact device using very small springs. The spring reverb was available only on organs that had internal speakers like the A-100 and RT-3.  It was not available internally on organs like the B3 and C3 who don’t have internal speakers but was featured on Hammond tone cabinet, even Leslie speaker featured the Hammond patented spring reverb.That effect is activated with a round knob (similar to the vibrato-chorus knob) that graduate the amount of reverb  That spring reverb became a standard and was even featured on others instruments like the Mellotron M300.

 

SQUARE-FRONT KEYS

One of the cool feature on Hammond console organs is the square-front keys or “waterfall manuals”. Those keys are arranged in a stair-step fashion and finish flush with the edge of the wood of the manuals., a bit like the keys on an acoustic piano.  At first, it was to save money that the Hammond company produced those kind of keys but it was very appreciated by players, specially those who perform roll-off glissandos.  When Hammond released spinets organs, those organs featured overhanging keys wich are keys that goes beyond the edge of the manual, a bit like synthesizer keys.  The only spinet model featuring waterfall manuals is the M serie (M,M-2,M3).

 

PEDALBOARD

The pedalboard or bass pedals are often a neglicted feature on the Hammond organ but are very important.  The chuch pipe organ featured a 32 notes concave pedalboard.  Mr. Hammond went to observe those pipe organs and found that the varnish on those pedals was worn mainly on the first two octaves, so he decided to cut the the pedals to 25 pedals.  He also found that the concave pedalboard was very expensive to produce, so in a way to cut the production he decided to produce a flat pedalboard, wich became a standard in the organ business.  When spinets organs were produced, the pedalboard was once more cut down to 13 pedals.

 

THE KEY CLICK

This popular effect was considered , at is origin, as a defect.  The key click is the sound of a depressed key making contact with the key wire and making a percussive sound.  They tried to get rid of that “defect” but, as the years goes by, a lot of players like it and it becames a tademark sound.

Later, Hammond engineers found the way to eliminate the key click but the players came back and say , “Where’s the articulation?” and they reintroduced the key click on their organs.

 

CONCLUSION

As we seen it, the Hammond organ is not a simple instrument to describe and contain many feautures and components.  It’s the addition of those components that made this sound that we love so much. I mainly took the informations in the wonderful book “The Hammond organ-beauty in the B” by Mark Vail and try to simplify the too technical terminology in order to everyone (I hope!). To understand the working of the instrument.  For those interested in Hammond, I really recommended that book.  Thanks to Erik for the trust he gave me to write that part of the article and thanks to you for reading it.

 

THE LESLIE SPEAKER

 

 

Today, when we talk about the Hammond organ, a lot of people made the association with the Leslie speaker. The two inventions go in pair together but were made by two differents companies. This speaker was invented in 1940 by an ingenious inventor in California, Don Leslie, who worked the Barker departement store, who were one the first store to sold Hammond organs in California. Mr. Leslie then brought a Hammond organ but was expecting it to sound like a pipe organ but was dissapointed with the sound of Hammond speaker, so he decided to make his own. At first, he made a speaker based on Hammond own speaker but it wasn’t working right.  He realized that the sound of a pipe organ organ moves, as the different pipes were placed at different locations within the church, he wanted to create motions in the sound.  He then imagined the rotating speakers system. The system is simple, the signal of the Hammond organ enter the speaker and is passed to a 40 watts amplifier, then divided in two ways, the bass sound and the treble sound. The treble sound (higher frequencies) goes in the upper section of the cabinet and comes out from a 2 speed horn rotor that look like a double horn rotating in various speed. The bass sound goes in the bottom of the cabinet and goes out to a 15 inches stationnary speaker. In the bottom of the Leslie cabinet is a rotating 2 speed foam rotor by wich comes the the bass and midrange sounds. The two most popular Leslies models, the 122 model and 147 had 2 speed, the slow speed for chorus(chorale) and the tremolo at high speed that can be manipulated by the player with the half-moon switch, ordinary located in the left bottom side of the organ. That combination of those two sounds create the trademark Hammond organ sound that we all love.That effect is called the “Doppler effect”.

 

When Don Leslie created his speakers, he was very proud of his invention and thought that the Hammond company might be interested in his speaker, so Mr. Leslie presented his speaker to Hammond executives and a couple of organists. At first, they all like it and they all were very enthusiast with the novelty but Laurens Hammond himself and Hammond executive Paul Owsley rejected the Leslie speaker. The Hammond company sold their own line of speakers so they saw Leslie speakers as a rival, altough the Hammond speakers were stationnary and was a completely different thing. After rejected by the Hammond Company, Don Leslie create his own company, Electro Music, and sold his speakers independently. Laurens Hammond was envious of Leslie’s speakers and even realeased a“Leslie-proof” organ that could only work with Hammond speakers, but Leslie came up with an adapter for that organ that abled Leslie speakers to work with that particular model of organ. Mr. Hammond was so against the Leslie speaker that he forbid all Hammond sellers to sold them. If they sold them, they could loose the franchise! It would take the death of Laurens Hammond in July 1973 to see Leslie’s acceptation of his invention by the Hammond company who tried so hard to pin him down until then. In 1965, Electro Music was sold to CBS who in return, sold it to Hammond company in 1980, so the two products that went so well together were finally reunited. Today, Leslie speakers are produced by the Hammond Suzuki company. Don Leslie died in September 2004 at the age of 93 years young and today his invention is still regarded as one of the greatest achievements in the musical instrument world. 

 

 

MY PERSONNAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE HAMMOND ORGAN

by Pierre-Olivier Turmel

 

My relationship with Hammond organ began very soon in my life, when I was about 3-4 years old.  I remember when I was going to my grandparents house, my great uncle who lived in the same house as my grandparents, was a very musical person.  He liked classical music and play piano and organ, he even play organ in church on sunday.  On the basement of my grandparents house, he had a Hammond spinet organ (L-100) with a Leslie speaker. I remember that he play it during family parties and since that time always love the sound.  At the time, the popular music that was played on Hammond organs were very kitsch like Cha-Cha and waltz, rock songs were not played, but I liked the sound.

Chapter 4: The heavy weighted Hammond models on the small catwalk:

         Most popular types of Hammond organs

Hammond tonewheel organs can be divided into two main groups: the 'Console' models such as the A, B, C, D, and R series which have two 61 note manuals and the smaller 'Spinet' models that have two 44 note manuals such as the M, L, and T series. The production of tonewheel organs stopped in the early to mid 1970s.

Hammond A.

 

This is the original Hammond organ, produced between June 1935 and October 1938 with a price of  US $ 2600,- . It has the same cabinet as B models, but not as deep. The users included celebrities like Henry Ford and George Gershwin. At about 2500 were made.

 

Hammond B-3

 

 

The model B-3 was - and remains - the most popular Hammond model amongst musicians.

It was produced between January 1955 and 1974, price US $ 1250,- in 1955 and US $ 1175,- in 1967 (including a PR40 tone cabinet). It is the archetype and equipped with Hammond chorus/vibrato providing 3 levels of chorus and vibrato, selectable for each manual independently. It is also equipped with Hammond Percussion. Main feature: its spindly legs and classic Hammond sounds.

Users: from Gregg Allman, Brian Auger, Keith Emerson, Peter Bardens and Jon Lord to Gregg Rolie, Jimmy Smith and Joe Zawinul.

 

Hammond C3

 

Produced between January 1955 and 1974, price US $ 1123,- (walnut finish and PR40 tone cabinet) in 1967 and US $ 1369,- in 1972. It’s virtually identical to B3 except for more solid side and back casing and it has percussion. “Take a B-3's guts and put it in the C type church model case”.

 

Hammond A-100

Produced  between September 1959 and 1965, price US $ 950,- in 1967 and US $ 1426 in 1972. It was the first with built-in amp and speakers and users were Keith Emerson, Georgie Fame and Richard Sinclair (Caravan)

 

Hammond L-100

Produced between 1961 and 1972, price in US $ 525,- in 1967 and US $ 737,- in 1972 (it is the cheapest tone wheel Hammond organ).

Main features: spinet model, built-in-amplifier and speakers, vibrato and percussion

Users: from Keith Emerson, Tony Banks (his first keyboard when Genesis turned professional) and Peter Bardens to Dave Greenfield (The Stranglers), Eddie Hardin, Zoot Money and Dave Stewart (Egg and National Health)

 

Hammond M-100

Produced between August 1961 and 1968, price US $ 630,-

Very similar to L-100 but marginally bigger, an extra speaker and 24 extra control tabs including 6 presets (M100A had extra percussion features and pedal sustain). Users: from Don Airey and Matthew Fisher (Procol Harum) to Patrick Moraz, Jon Lord, Alan Price (I Put The Spell On You by CCR) and Stevie Winwood.

 

 

 

 

                               See you in part 2

 

 

 

Great reading and work, Erik and Pierre-Olivier!!

         THE HAMMOND ORGAN

                “From a poor man’s pipe organ to

PART TWO

Chapter 5: My personal Hammond story: a meeting with my hero Thijs Van Leer

Chapter 6: ‘Hammond Heroes’: pioneers, masters and specialists on the Hammond organ

Chapter 7:  1967-2007 Fourty years of Hammond sounds in progressive rock

CHAPTER 5:

MY PERSONAL HAMMOND STORY: A MEETING WITH MY HERO THIJS VAN LEER

Like so many progheads in the mid-Seventies I was excited about Dutch progrock band Focus. Although a lot of praise went to the capricious guitar talent Jan Akkerman but my man was the versatile Thijs Van Leer with his vituosic organ play, his swirling work on the flute traverse and of course his unique, quite cheerful sounding ‘yodeling’. I read all about Focus in the music magazines and I watched them on TV, including the footage from BBC’s The Old Grey Whistle Test with the legendary Focus At The Rainbow concert in 1972. Focus was ‘hot’ and within a few years this Dutch four-piece band turned into a worldwide praised progrock band, from the USA to Japan!

The years went by, I had become a symphomaniac and started writing for seveal small (prog)rock  magazines from the early Nineties. A few years later I decided to make  a vintage keyboard special for a Dutch progrock magazine, my ultimate wish was to let the known Dutch keyboards players like Rick Van Der Linden, Ton Scherpenzeel and of course Thijs Van Leer talk about those vintage keyboards in my special. I succeeded to get the phone number of Thijs Van Leer, thanks to Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) because I had interviewed him two times and I knew that Thijs Van Leer had played on his 2-CD The Electric Castle. So I tried to contact Thijs but every time his poshy ex-wife told me he was not at home. One day I came home from my late shift and my wife said to me words I will never forget: “Erik, Thijs Van Leer was on the phone, he asked you to call him back later this evening.” Well, I was absolutely excited because I realised that I was allowed to ask my childhood hero a few questions. I phoned Thijs and we had a nice conversation about Focus, his keyboards and his plans for a new Focus line-up.  Thijs  was very pleasant and willing to talk for a while, at least an hour! But this is not the end of this story because a few years ago a friend invited me to visit a music festival near his home Arnhem where Focus was on the bill. That day we visited the festival many hours before it began, the area was almost empty and we walked around a little bit. Suddenly a small white van approached us, the driver turned out to be Thijs Van Leer and he asked us to give him a hand to carry his Hammond organ... “Sure Mister Van Leer, we will” we said, proud and thrilled we helped him to carry his heavy Hammond organ to the stage, like we were his roadies! On stage we had a chat, he was very friendly and when I told him about our interview on the phone many years ago, he said  he remembered that interview because it was “such a nice specialized magazine”. During the festival concert in Arnhem,  I watched  my childhood hero Thijs Van Leer, playing the organ, the flute traverse and doing his ‘yodeling’, like in the early Seventies, full circle!

CHAPTER 6:

THE MASTERS ON THE HAMMOND ORGAN

In this chapter I have decided not to include the names of legendary keyboard-wizards like Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Patrick Moraz, Jon Lord, Eddie Jobson, Tony Banks or the late Peter Bardens and Rick van der Linden but to put the focus on names that you don’t find very often on Prog Archives.

JIMMY SMITH:

Intro: In Keith Emerson his autobiographical book entitled Pictures Of An Exhibitionist he tells that for a long time his idea about the organ was that “the only place was in a church or for entertainement at seaside bingo halls”. But after listening to the pioneering and pivotal Hammond organ player Jimmy Smith he changed his mind and started to save money for an organ by doing several jobs.

 

                           http://www.last.fm/music/Jimmy+Smith">

Jimmy Smith is one of the most legendary and most exciting players on the Hammond organ. He was born in 1925 in Pennsylvania (USA), at the age of 9 he won an amateur contest. First he took the bass, then the piano and eventually the Hammond organ in 1953. Jimmy founded a trio (that briefly included other famous musician John Coltrane), he earned a contract with the known label Blue note and gradually Jimmy became a sensation with his powerful sound and as 'bebop' described style. He played with Art Blakey and guitarists Kenny Burrel and Wes Montgomery and in The Sixties he put more of his blues roots into his music. Jimmy Smith became an icon for famous musicians like Georgie Fame, Brian Auger, Graham Bond and Jimmy McGriff, another wizard on the Hammond organ! In the Seventies Jimmy opened his own nightclub but later he started touring again, from Europe to Japan.

Recently I bought the DVD Funk In The Keys, it is a registration of  a concert at the Florida Keys Islamorada’s Festival By The Bay in 1999. We can enjoy Jimmy (74 years old!) playing lots of very quick runs and delivering a varied sound, one of the trademarks of the Hammond organ because of the drawbars that enable you to create almost endless sounds! To me the often swinging music mainly sounds as jazzy inspired, like the sound of the skilled guitarist who plays some very strong solos. The final song Trophhic contains a Latin-Amercian atmosphere (that reminds me of the rhythm in La Bamba) featuring outstanding flute work and a mindblowing improvisation by Jimmy Smith that fits perfect to the Latin-American rhythm, this man is a Hammond organ!

MARK STEIN 

In the New York era Mark Stein (organ and lead vocals) and Tim Bogert (bass guitar) played in a band called Rick Martin & The Snowmen. They were so impressed by the sound of THE RASCALS (swinging and floods of organ) that they dediced to form their own band with Vinnie Martell on guitar and Rick Martin’s drummer Joey Brennan. They named themselves The PIGEONS but, after the replacement of Joey Brennan by Carmine Appice, the new name became VANILLA FUDGE. After five LP's VANILLA FUDGE decided to split up and to look for other musical challenges. VANILLA FUDGE’s sound is a captivating and exciting blend of soul, blues, rock and progrock with strong hints from JIMI HENDRIX (fiery electric guitar) and THE RASCALS (floods of Hammond B3 organ).

The best way to get an impression of the dynamic and alternating VANILLA FUDGE sound is the compilation-CD "Psychedelic Sundae (the best of..)": some Rhythm & blues with soul/gospel-like vocals and vocal harmonies but mainly music that is based upon great interplay between the fierce electric guitar (like JIMI HENDRIX) and the powerful Hammond B3 organ. The compositions range from slow, almost hypnotizing to propulsive with heavy outbursts. The vocals sound soulful, a rather unusual combination in progrock. Discover this captivating, very progressive blend of different styles and keep in mind that YES, DEEP PURPLE and URIAH HEEP pointed at VANILLA FUDGE as their main influence! Best studio albums to start with are "Near the Beginning" and "Rock & Roll".

BRIAN AUGER

This highly acclaimed keyboard player (Keith Emerson called Brian Auger “the best jazz organist in the world”) was born in 1939 in India but he moved to London. There he began his musical carreer in the early Sixties in a jazz trio on piano. Then he started his musical adventures, he founded the bands Trinity, Steampackett and Oblivion Express and during the years he played with John McLaughlin, Jimmy Page, Rod Stewart and with Eric Burdon he toured between 1990 and 1994. A year later he founded a new Oblivion Express formation, the line-up included his daughters Savannah on vocals and Karma on drums and he is still touring with his band. I own a video with a 1989 concert at a jazz festival, it contains lots of exciting solos by Brian Auger, showing why is generally considered as one of the ultimate masters on the Hammond organ! At this moment I am collecting information in order to buy albums from Brian Auger, here are some quotes by fellow collaborators about Brian Auger his Hammond work on a few canditates for my collection:

 

BRIAN AUGER — LIVE OBLIVION Volume 2

Review by Easy Money

“This is 70s jazz fusion with the emphasis on fun RnB and rock songs without sacrificing any artistic integrity. This is a live album and it is bursting with the kind of energy that only comes with live performances. Brian's solos on B3 and Fender Rhodes all have the pure analogue sound of their time.”

“Brian Auger and his band are definitley drawing from 60s RnB/jazz bands such as Les McCann and Ramsey Lewis on this album, but Auger's music hits a little harder because you can also hear the influence of 70s rockers such as Santana and Deep Purple.“

BRIAN AUGER — Closer To It!

Review by Chicapah (Rollie Anderson)

“Santana’s incredible “Caravanserai” LP had sent serious shock waves reverberating through the fusion world and Brian, no doubt, was captivated by its spell. Therefore, the conga-laden, “traveling” feel of the intro to “Whenever You’re Ready” pays unashamed homage to that spectacular group of California musicians while laying the foundation for the rest of the album. After experimenting with R&B screamer Ligertwood on the previous LP (with mixed results) it seems that Auger took a more relaxed attitude towards his own limited singing chops and decided his tone would work just fine if they buried the vocal down in the mix a tad. The approach works and it turns out to not be much of a detriment at all. His Hammond sound on this number is brisk and fresh and it becomes evident that this style of music fits Brian quite well.”

BRIAN AUGER — Streetnoise

Review by Chicapah (Rollie Anderson)

“Tropic of Capricorn” is a very jazzy tune written by Brian “Auge” Auger that demonstrates right off the bat one of the main reasons to love this band. The Hammond organ. Brian is a monster and the fire he ignites every time he takes a ride is quite evident on this number.”

“As I mentioned earlier, their cover of The Doors’ “Light My Fire” is what got me started on Auger’s work and when you hear it you’ll understand why. After hearing what Jose Feliciano had done to the song they decided to make it even jazzier and expressive and the result is nothing short of genius. Julie’s erotic and near-orgasmic delivery takes your breath away as she makes the tune her own and Brian’s sensuous organ lead is a treat, as well. This track is the highlight of the album and singularly worth the price of admission.“

“If you haven’t come to admire Driscoll’s artistry by now, her stunning performance on “When I Was a Young Girl” has got to be the clincher. It’s a haunting vocal and organ piece that slowly builds to an amazingly emotional crescendo and I guarantee you’ll never forget Julie’s gut-wrenching wails that take her voice flying into the highest registers imaginable.

Brian’s “Ellis Island” (an instrumental inspired by Don Ellis) starts with a typical 60s-styled clavinet riff but then gets hotter than Hades as the tight rhythm section of Thacker and Ambrose glide underneath Auger’s jet-fueled, screaming organ ride.”

“If you are a fan of the Hammond sound then you can’t afford to overlook this album.

Auger’s organ lead will curl your hair and, if you stand too close to the speakers, it might set your clothes ablaze.”

“And NOBODY, including Emerson, Wakeman and Lord, had the ability to attack the Hammond keyboard with more intensity and blazing passion than Brian Auger. He proves it beyond any shadow of a doubt here.”

EDDIE HARDIN

After Steve Winwood left The Spencer Davis Group to found Traffic, he was replaced by Eddie Hardin. He turned out to be a real master on the Hammond organ, just listen to the live CD Catch You On The Rebop, Live 1973, Eddie Hardin delivers a wide range of Hammond sounds and sensational solos. Later he formed a new band with the Spencer Davis Group drummer Peter York, the press hailed their music and named the duo “the smallest big band in the world”. Recommended: their live CD Live In The ’70, the duo on their pinnacle.

MATTHEW FISHER

- Halfway The Sixties Gary Brooker and Keith Reid decided to write songs for other artists. Unfortunately for these young musicians this didn’t work out and in 1967 they founded a band to perform these songs by themselves. Gary recruited Robin Trower on guitar, Dave Knights on bass and B.J. Wilson on drums. But he also wanted an organ player to sound more sophisticated, inspired by the gospel and rhythm & blues music from the USA. Through an advertisement in the known British music magazine Melody Maker they found Hammond organ player Matthew Fisher. He liked the songs very much and immediately joined the brandnew band named Procol Harum, derived from the name of a cat!

In 1967 Procol Harum stunned the musical world with their eponymous debut LP and th eomnipresent Hammond sound, it turned out to be very pivotal and soon lots of Procol Harum inspired bands emerged in the late Sixties and eary Seventies (see Chapter 7).

On the Repertoire reissue CD of the LP Procol Harum entitled A Whiter Shade Of Pale you can listen to the amazing progressive sound by Procol Harum. This reissue also contains the single A Whiter Shade Of Pale (released before the album was recorded), because of idealistic reasons it was not on the original LP release (the band didn’t want the public to pay two times for this timeless composition!). And it also contains four bonustracks Lime Street Blues (this turns out to be pure rock and roll with powerful guitar and floods of Hammond), the single Homburg (slow rhythm with majestic Grand piano, melancholical vocals and a churchy organ sound), Monsieur Armand (catchy rhythm, lush organ and fiery guitar) and Seems To Have The Blues All The Time (bluesy vocals, a powerful Hammond solo and again a fiery guitar solo). About the original LP, after the wonderful Hammond drenched single A Whiter Shade Of Pale (based on Bach’s Air On The G String) the band presented mature, adventurous and varied compositions: warm vocals, strong duo-keyboards (piano/organ) and a short but swirling Hammond solo in the quite melancholical Conquistador, a bluesy climate in Something Following Me (powerful guitar solo) and Cerdes (swelling Hammond sound), a swinging rhythm in Kaleidoscope (excellent Hammond sounds) and Lime Street Blues (boogie woogie piano) and funny atmospheres in the short Mabel and Good Captain Clack. But the magnum opus on the debut album is the instrumental piece Repent Walpurgis, written by Matthew Fisher: first a slow rhythm with soaring Hammond and tender piano, then a sensitive guitar solo and warm piano arpeggio’s and finally wonderful interplay between a sparkling piano, lush organ waves and howling electric guitar, goose bumps!

GREGG ROLIE

During a jam session late ’66 Greg Rolie and Carlos Santana met and because of the chemistry they decide to found The Santana Blues Band, Greg gives up his job as a dish washer. Their blend of rock, jazz and blues with latin percussion sound sensational and without making an album, the band (soon simply named Santana) is invited to perform on the legendary Woodstock Festival in 1969. During the epic Soul Sacrifice Greg plays an outstanding solo on the Hammond organ, one of the highights of that festival in my opinion! A few years ago a Santana CD entitled Live At The Filmore ’68 was released, it contains lots of great work on the Hammond organ by Greg Rolie. In 1970 Santana performed at The Family Dog in San Fransisco (along with The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane), during the compositions Incident At Neshabur and Soul Sacrifice (hot percussion!) Gregg Rolie delivers two strongly build-up solos although the camera crew has difficulties to find Greg because the stage hosts so many musicians! This footage is now on DVD.

CHESTER THOMPSON:

Another man in Carlos Santana his band (after Gregg Rolie and Tom Coster)  who was a master on the Hammond organ, two interesting DVD’s featuring Chester Thompson are:

SANTANA – Live In Concert (Loreley in Germany 1998)

We can enjoy lots of sensitive, fiery and biting (wah-wah) guitar soli and Chester Thompson is outstanding on the Hammond organ, what a swirling soli in Day Of Celebration and One Fine Morning and in Savor he freaks out during a great build-up solo, how exciting!

SANTANA – Sacred Fire

This is the best Mexican party you can attend, Carlos Santana playing a home game (recorded in Mexico City, 1993)! From the very first second on this DVD Carlos and his outstanding band blow you away: a super-inspired ‘Sustain Santana’ with lots of moving, often howling guitar soli, hot Afro-Cuban percussion play on conga’s and timbales, strong vocalists and keyboard player Chester Thompson who delivers great work on the Hammond organ.

DAVE GREENSLADE

Dave Greenslade played in Colosseum, one of the pivotal progressive bands that emerged in the second part of the Sixties. In ’68 the founding members were drummer Jon Hiseman, saxophone player Dick Heckstall-Smith and bass player Tony Reeves, later joined by Dave Greenslade (keyboards), Dave Clempson (guitar), Chris Farlowe (vocals) and Mark Clark, he replaced Tony Reeves. Colosseum made three studio albums: "Those Who Are To Die We Salute You" and "Valentyne Suite" (both from ’69) and "Daughter Of Time" (’70). The music is a progressive mix of several styles (rock, jazz, blues) with lots of sensational solos and captivating interplay.

In ’91 the label Castle Communications released the comprehensive compilation CD entitled "The Time Machine". It’s a good impression of Colosseum their varied sound: catchy and swinging with strong vocals, raw guitarwork, lots of saxophone and floods of Hammond organ in Walking In The Park and Those About To Die, bluesy in Theme For An Imaginary Western and Butty’s Blues, flute in The Machine Demands A Sacrifice and vibraphone in Rope Ladder To The Moon. The final two tracks are live: lots of jazzy saxophone in Tanglewood ’63 and an impressive and powerful drum solo in The Time Machine. But the absolute highlight on this CD is the epic titletrack of their second album entitled The Valentyne Suite (almost 17 minutes). It starts with a fluent rhythm delivering strong work on organ, saxophone and vibraphone, then a wonderful mellow part with Grand piano and wailing saxophone. Next we can enjoy a churchy Hammond organ sound and powerful bass runs, culminating in a swinging rhythm with swirling Hammond organ, jazzy saxophone and a propulsive rhythm-section, very exicting and the interplay between the musicians is outstanding! The rhythm slows down and Dave Greenslade delivers a Hammond solo with a kind of wah-wah sound, spectacular. After a bass solo the guitarist plays a long, bluesy oriented solo with wah-wah. The final part has a very dynamic atmosphere with great interplay between organ, sax, guitar and the rhythm-section, Colosseum at their best!

After the demise of Colosseum in ‘71, keyboardplayer Dave Greenslade founded his own band Greenslade, featuring Tony Reeves (bass), Dave Lawson (keyboards, clarinet, flute) and Andrew McCulloch (drums), he had left King Crimson. In ’73 Greenslade released “Bedside manner are extra”, in my opinion their masterwork. It’s an an excellent blend of classic, jazz, rock, blues and symphonic rock with elaborate compositions and inventive and exciting dual-keyboardplay by Greenslade and Lawson. Highlight is the splendid build-up track “Drum folk” featuring halfway a short drumsolo and some Mellotron, the climax is a bluesy, very moving Hammond organ solo, goose bumps!

BARBARA DENNERLEIN

 

Born in Munich in 1964, Barbara Dennerlein started playing organ at the age of eleven. Just a few years later, aged fifteen, she performed regularly at local jazz clubs. There she laid the foundations for her future career as a professional musician, which, before very long, let her rise to the circle of the few German artists with international reputation and become the leading representative of her instrument, the legendary Hammond B3. With her brilliant playing technique she created an innovative and distinctive style that opened up totally new musical dimensions for the Hammond organ, which in modern jazz had been ignored for a long time. Without doubt she can claim that she has paved the way for the organ's current renaissance in jazz. In the early 1980's she was a secret known only to insiders on the Munich jazz scene: 15-year-old Barbara Dennerlein, captivating an enthusiastic audience with impressive wit and skill as she whirled her fingers over the B3 Hammond organ - an instrument often derided and associated with the dusty patina of bar jazz. But what this pert, unaffected teenager performed was pure jazz. Jazz at its best, ranging from swing to bebop, from blues to funk. And many a local jazz celebrity competed to appear on stage together with this prodigy.

Yet despite all this enthusiasm, scarcely anyone truly believed that this young lady would become Germany's most important and successful jazz export, acclaimed and respected by critics and the public alike on both sides of the Atlantic. In the "Critics' Poll" organised by the renowned American jazz magazine DownBeat she has been among the leaders year after year. In 1998 she took first prize for the fifth time in the "TDWR organ" category; in 1995, for the third time, she carried off the "German Record Critics Award, on this occasion for her Verve debut album Take Off. In the same year this successful CD was honoured twice with the "Jazz Award" and, after holding the Number One position in the German Jazz Charts for several months, proved to be the best-selling jazz album of 1995. An international success that was even outdone with her follow-up albums Junkanoo and Outhipped.

Above all, she is one of the very few organists who play a pedal bass, and is surely unequalled for her breathtaking technique."The pedals are absolutely crucial for my way of playing the Hammond organ. They enable me to create a very special rhythmic structure which cannot be easily imitated by the double-bass, since together with the two manuals I have a kind of "rhythmic triptych" at my disposal," explains Barbara Dennerlein.

In order to get an impression of this acclaimed Hammond organ player I bought the CD compilation The Best Of Barbara Dennerlein. Well, I am absolutely delighted about her because she combines great skills and emotion, from powerful jazzy sounding runs to moving bluesy inspired waves, check out this lady!

REESE WYNANS

This was Stevie Ray Vaughan his outstanding man on the keyboards in his band Double Trouble, he often used the Hammond B3 organ. On the 2-DVD Live At Montreux you can watch his skills on the second disc entitled Live At Montreux 1985: exciting support to Stevie his fiery and biting solos and groovy guitar riffs with tidal waves and swirling runs, from Soul To Soul and Mary Had A Little Lamb to Texas Flood!

CHAPTER 7: 

1967-2007 FOURTY YEARS OF HAMMOND SOUNDS IN PROGRESSIVE ROCK

a)      The Hammond organ embraced by the Progressive Rock keyboard players

My starting point for this special is the year 1967 when Procol Harum and Vanilla Fudge released their eponymous debut albums, loaded with the distinctive and powerful sound of the Hammond organ. In the same year The Nice featuring keyboard-wizard Keith Emerson  on his Hammond organ stunned the audience, Keith was soon named “the Jimi Hendrix of the progressive rock”. He got this nickname not only because of his adventurous and creative use but also because of his infamous abuse like stabbing with knives and jumping on it! From his autobiograpy Pictures Of An Exhibitionist: “Together with his father Keith intended to buy a Bird organ but in the Portsmouth Organ Centre his father hesitated, then the salesman  proposed to play on a Hammond organ. Keith says “And there it was, resplendent in beautiful shining mahogany: the Hammond L1 00 electric organ! I playes on it. That was the sound! My father agreed (“you’ve got to have it, it’s a far more superior instrument”).” 

 

Inspired by the Hammond drenched sound of  The Nice and Procol Harum soon many bands frequently used the Hammond organ between the late Sixties and the early Seventies like Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Caravan, Van Der Graaf Generator, Jethro Tull, Camel and Barclay James Harvest. Most keyboard players were classically trained and their influence on the music of the progrock compositions in those days was siginificant with some awesome examples of work on the Hammond organ: Rick Wakeman his solo during Roundabout and his church organ sound halfway Close To The Edge, Tony Banks his psychedelic solo during in Supper’s Ready, his majestic sound in The Musical Box and his interplay with the Mellotron during the intro of Watcher Of The Skies, Peter Bardens during his exciting solo in Lady Fantasy, Rick Wright on Pink Floyd At Pompeii and Animals and Keith Emerson on Pictures At An Exhibtion.

In his book Rocking The Classic the author Edward Macan explains that the Anglo-Saxon church tradition played an important role because many musicians grew up with the sound of the church organ and the choir. During the progrock concerts in the late Sixties and early Seventies Edward considers the atmosphere as almost religious ceremonial happenings with the Hammond organ as a substitute for the pipe organ.

In the UK you can trace that huge influence not only in the music of the legendary progrock formations like Yes, Genesis and ELP but also in bands like Bram Stoker, Beggar’s Opera, Fantasy, Fruupp, Fuzzy Duck, Gracious, Greenslade, Rare Bird and Refugee (featuring the ‘Swiss Poodle’ Patrick Moraz). In many music books about the Seventies these bands are named as a part of The Early British Progressive Rock Movement.

In the late Sixties and early Seventies countless progrock bands emerged in Italy, often inspired by ELP, Yes, King Crimson and Genesis but also Jethro Tull and VDGG. It was a very florishing music scene that delivered lots of excellent and varied sounding bands with an important role for the Hammond organ like Banco (their early albums), Formula Tre (Sognando E Risognando), Le Orme (Collage), Alphataurus (album Alphataurus),Gli Alluminogeni (Scolopendra), Anology (album Anaolgy), Il Balletto Di Bronzo (Ys), Cherry Five (album Cherry Five), Metamorfosi (E Fu Il Geste Giorno and Inferno), Murple Io Sono Murple), Museo Rosenbach (Zarathustra), New Trolls (I love the 2-LP Searching For A Land), Nuova Idea (Clowns), Panna Freda (Uno), Reale Accademia Di Musical (RAM), Rovescio Della Medaglia (Contaminazione), Rustichelli & Bordini (Opera Prima), Triade (La Storia Di Sabazio) and The Trip (The Trip and especially Atlantide).

Denmark delivers the exciting Hammond drenched sound by Ache on their two albums De Homine Urbano (1970) and Green Man (1971), keyboardplayer Peter Mellin is a real Hammond wizard (see Chapter 10)!

 

From the early Seventies the Japanese progrock delivered lots of interesting, often ELP and UK inspired bands with a prominent role for the Hammond organ with as the most obvious examples Cosmos Factory (album An Old Castle Of  Transylvania), Social Tension (‘the second coming of ELP’), Gerard (especially as a trio in the Nineties), Outer Limits (album The Scene Of Pale Blue),  Deja Vu and later Ars Nova

In the Eighties the neo-progrock ruled, speerheaded by Marillion, and remarkably is the omnipresence of (mainly digital) synthesizers, it seems that the Hammond organ was not very popular among the keyboard players of this category.

But then in the early Nineties we could enjoy the Skandinavian Progrock Revival, bands that were firmly rooted into the Seventies sound of the symphonic progrock dinosaurs and that made lavishly use of the Hammond organ like Anglagard, White Willow, Atlas, Manticore, Sinkadus and Zello. And in the USA the new band Spock’s Beard also sounded very retro with lots of vintage keyboards. On the video Lie At The Whiskey the Japanese keyboard player freaks out on his Hammond organ! In the USA another band hailed the Hammond organ, their name Niacin is even a ‘hidden tribute’ because it means Vitamin B3!

 

And how about the amount of Hammond organ in the current progrock scene?

Well, I would like to recommend some bands I discovered this last decade, first a trip to Argentina with Nexus. The music on their studio-albums albums Detras Del Umbral, Metanoia and especially Perpetuum Karma is rooted in the Seventies symphonic rock sound with obvious echoes from Keith Emerson his Hammond and Moog sound in early ELP. Their keyboardplayer Lalo Huber was willing to tell me about his passion:

 

“ My first musical encounter with the Hammond organ sound was in the Seventies when I accidentally listened to Blues Variations in a neighbours' house. At that time I was just a school boy and played electric guitar. But after listening to Emerson's roaring Hammond sound in Blues Variations I immediately changed my guitar for the keyboards!

I had fallen in love with the Hammond and vintage synthesizers like the Moog and with progressive rock too, all at the same time! My love for the Hammond continued to grow while listening to Rick Wakeman, Eddie Jobson, Steve Walsh and Jon Lord. These keyboard players are my key influences... together with Hammond pioneer Jimmy Smith of course, the man who "invented" the Hammond tricks and modern sounds!

My favourite albums with Hammond sounds are, almost obviously, Pictures at an exhibition, Tarkus, Brain Salad Surgery and Trilogy by ELP and  The six wives... by Rick Wakeman.

My own style is aggressive, I like to use overdrive and I almost break the organs in my live performances. I have even left blood on the keys in live performances... due to very fast and energetic "glissandos"! These are of course influences from the master Keith Emerson, and also Jon Lord. Sometimes I like to think and feel the Hammond as a wild animal, an animal with a lot of power that you have to control.

It's interesting how an instrument that was meant as a low cost replacement for church organs ended up as a jazz and progressive rock icon! I believe the Hammond is a key part of the essence of progressive rock and I work everyday to understand it better and better.”

 

Finally to Italy with two interesting bands.

Areknames: This is an Italian band featuring Michele Epifani (keyboards, guitars and vocals) as the musical brainchild. On their eponymous debut-CD we can enjoy pleasant progrock that frequently alternates from mellow or compelling to sumptuous delivering a lush organ sound and melancholic vocals. In general the compositions are based upon creating early Seventies symphonic and psychedelic landscapes with analogue keyboards like the Hammond – and Farfisa organ, Mellotron and Fender Rhodes electric piano. The electric guitarwork is sensitive and in combination with the lush organ sound a very compelling element. The information booklet mentions many bands that were an inspiration, in my opinion VDGG, early PINK FLOYD, ATOMIC ROOSTER and IL BALLETTO DI BRONZO were the main sources.

Just released: Areknames Live, what a stunning live album with an omnipresent, often compelling Hammond organ sound, from powerful runs and swirling solos to sumptuous eruptions and psychedelic sounds, goose bumps and highly recommended!

Wicked Minds: This new Italian band Wicked Minds is a ‘musical time-machine’ that brings you back to the heavy progressive sound of the exciting Seventies era: a Hammond organ (lots of swirling soli) and fiery and biting (often wah-wah) guitar drenched sound and David Byron like vocals in simple but very catchy and compelling songs that will appeal to fans of mainly Uriah Heep but also Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster and even Jimi Hendrix. You can get a good impression of their exciting music on the CD/DVD set entitled Witchflower (including videos and concerts in Italy and Belgium) and the album Live At Burg Herzberg Festival 2006.

 

b)      The important role of the Hammond organ in the Seventies Heavy Progressive Rock

 

In the very early Seventies many bands emerged that combined a powerful Hammond organ sound with harder-edged guitarwork. This delivered exciting and dynamic music with a lot of tension between the approach of JS Bach inspired keyboard players and Jimi Hendrix oriented guitarists, supported by powerhouse rhythm-sections and good singers. This movement was named The Heavy Progressive Rock and speerheaded by Deep Purple and Uriah Heep. Their live albums Made In Japan and Live are true their masterpieces, loaded with excellent work on the Hammond organ by Jon Lord and Ken Hensley.

In the slipstream of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep followed bands like Quatermass, Black Widow, Mainhorse (with great work by Patrick Moraz) and ....

Atomic Rooster, known as the band that hosted Carl Palmer before he founded the trio Emerson, Lake & Palmer. But after Carl his departure, Atomic Rooster started to sound more and more interesting, thanks to guitarist and vocalist John DuCann who joined the band in 1970. Immediately he went on tour with the band. When bass player Graham left the band keyboardist Crane refused to replace him and started playing bass lines on the lower part of Hammond organ. To compensate the fact that he couldn't use his left hand to press down chords on the lower manual he created a 'burning' style of playing, often in furious interplay with DuCann. When Carl Palmer left Atomic Rooster to join Keith Emerson and Greg Lake left for supergroup ELP Rick Parnell shortly replaced him. John and Vincent were not satisfied about his skills and had to replace him by Paul Hammond, an extremely good drummer from a local band called Farm. Soon the trio started to develop their influential 'heavy progressive' sound: hard edged progressive music with a swirling Hammond B3 organ and fiery guitarplay. The interplay between John's guitar and Vince organ is hot and often furious. In fact this powerful sound was the precursor to 'progressive metal', many metal- acts from The Eighties pointed at Atomic Rooster as their main source. In '89 it was all over for Atomic Rooster because of Crane's tragical death, he commited suicide. On the great compilation album The First 10 Explosive Years (my favorite Atomic Rooster CD) you will be blown away by the dynamic sound, loaded with short but magnificent soli on guitar and organ, energetic drums and powerful vocals.

 

                       

 

                                                

 

 

 

 

 

                                               

 

 

Interesting discussion fellow Hammond aficionados, especially because Easy Money came up with the Hammond copy models already a few weeks ago. A few years ago I was in a music shop and by coincidence attented a Hammond Suzuki XB3 demonstration, incredible, what a sound, so mighty close to the sound of the original Hammond B3  !

                              I hope to publish Part 3 this early evening.

erik neuteboom wrote: A few years ago I was in a music shop and by coincidence attented a Hammond Suzuki XB3 demonstration, incredible, what a sound, so mighty close to the sound of the original Hammond B3  !

.

                        “From a poor man’s pipe organ to a

                            progrock musician's big band”

PART THREE

Chapter 8: Quotes about the Hammond organ by Dutch progrock

Chapter 9: My favorite Hammond organ drenched CD’s and DVD’s

CHAPTER 8:

QUOTES ABOUT THE HAMMOND ORGAN BY DUTCH PROGROCK MUSICIANS

When I made a vintage keyboard special for the Dutch progrock magazine iO Pages I got in touch with many known Dutch progrock musicians, here is a compilation of their quotes about the Hammond organ from the interviews I made with them.

Cleem Determeijer (Finch and Veralin): “I owned a Hammond L100 with a Leslie speaker. It was a very inspiring instrument and you got a lot of extra’s for free!”

Thijs Van Leer (Focus): “In  my Seventies days with the early Focus line-up my most important keyboard was the Hammond organ, to be more specific: the L100. It has a wonderful sound in the mid-era, a kind of soft blanket for the arrangements. On stage the part of the Hammond organ in my range of keyboards was at about 70%. In the studio sometimes I used a Hammond B3 in order to get some special effects. I also owned two Leslie speakers. For a while I used a ‘potmeter’ to handle the speed of the Leslie box a bit more.”

CHAPTER 9:

MY FAVORITE HAMMOND ORGAN DRENCHED ALBUMS

ACHE — De Homine Urbano + Green Man

- This Danish band was founded in ’68 and made two albums: De Hombre Urbano (1970) and Green man (1971).) In 2000 both albums were released on 1 CD entitled “Ache: De Hombre Urbano + Green Man”. The music is based upon splendid keyboardplay (many floods of Hammond organ) and some fiery electric guitar. The first album contains two ‘side- long tracks’, the atmosphere is typically end Sixties and early Seventies (the Early British Progressive Rock Movement like JULIAN’S TREATMENT, RARE BIRD, BEGGAR’S OPERA and ATOMIC ROOSTER, the German Krautrock like early JANE, ELOY, RAMSES and TRIUMVIRAT) and early Earth & Fire) with lots of soli and long, exciting interplay between guitar and keyoards, like jams. The second album includes shorter songs but the climates are in the vein of the first LP. If you listen to this CD, it’s incredible that the magnificent keyboardplay is delivered by an unknown Danish musician.

Essential for Hammond organ freaks!

GLI ALLUMINOGENI — Scolopendra

- Here's an often overlooked gem from the Italian Seventies prog! The seven compositions on this debut album are a very dynamic and alternating blend of Sixties, blues, rock and classical featuring excellent work on the Hammond organ and also great Italian vocals and raw electric guitar. The one moment you are carried away by bombastic a church organ sound, the other there is a bluesy electric guitar or pleasant and warm Sixties atmosphere, VERY EXCITING!

AVE ROCK - Ave Rock

- This is a Seventies progrock band from Brazil. Although Ave Rock their second album sounds more progressive and more mature, I prefer their eponymous debut LP. The Hammond organ play is wonderful featuring many hugh floods and great runs, the guitar play is decent and the compositions are tasteful but not very original (evoking the organ-based progrock bands from the late-Sixties and early Seventies). Only the vocals doesn't please me, they tend too sound a bit unbalanced and at some moments too high pitched. My conclusion: a pleasant album for the Hammond aficionados.

BRAM STOKER — Schizo-Poltergeist

- Here is a gem from the Early British Progressive Rock Movement. The eight melodic and dynamic compositions are Hammond organ drenched, the electric guitar is often distorted (fuzz) delivering some fiery soli but in general it is on the background. Bram Stoker their sound has elements from Atomic Rooster (Born to be free), ELP (Fast decay) and often Beggar's Opera, mainly due to the classical organ sound (for example Bach's Toccata In D-Fuga in Fast Decay and the long Fingal's Cave) and the pleasant vocals. The track Blitz has some Spanish flavored guitar undertones and sounds a bit dark. The final, horror-like song Poltergeist features floods of classical inspired organ. If you like Hammond drenched seventies progrock, I highly recommended this CD!

BEGGAR'S OPERA — Act One

- What a mindblowing debut-album this is! The very melodic and harmonic music from this five-piece band is based upon an incredible dynamic and propulsive rhythm-section and splendid, very exciting Hammond organ work, often accompanied by a powerful and fiery electric guitar. The interplay between the musicians is magnificent and the excertions on keyboards and guitar are very compelling, in the spirit of the late Sixties and early Seventies. The vocals are also worth to be mentioned: distinctive with an enthusiastic approach and often a bit cynical undertone but at some moments also warm and plesant. The highlight on this CD is the track "Raymond's road" featuring awesome guitarsoli (inspired by Hendrix and Page)and exciting work on the Hammond organ in the vein of the best Keith Emerson, including short renditions of known classical pieces from Bach and Grieg. An excellent album (my reissue contains 2 decent bonustracks) that will please every Hammond aficionado and fans from the early seventies progrock sound!

 

BOOTCUT – De Fluff

- As a huge Hammond freak I got more and more impressed during the Beardfish gig on the first Symforce Festival, that young guy Rikard Sjöblom (who also plays guitar and sings) knows how to play the Hammond organ (I was told by other Hammond freak ‘Herman The Mellotron Man’), what a wonderful sound and how enthousiastic he performs! When a friend told me that Rikard his other musical project Bootcut was planned to play later that day I was on the first row half an hour before the show! Well, that gig was great and halfway I decided to sneak quickly a Bootcut CD on the Beardfish merchandising stand.

Bootcut has released 3 albums and this one entitled De Fluff is the second (from 2004). The band is a duo featuring Rikard Sjöblom (Hammond B3 organ, Nord Electro2 and ARP Pro Solist synthesizer) and Petter Diamant (drums and percussion) with additional musicians on woodwind – and brass instruments, guitar and contrabass. In general the 12 melodic and accessible compositions sound fluent and swinging with strong echoes from jazz (Bootcut often played in jazz clubs) but also rock and blues. Their music often brings late Sixties and early Seventies bands to my mind like The Spencer Davis Group (after Eddie Hardin had replaced Stevie Windwood who had just founded Traffic), Hardin & York (also a Hammond/drums duo), Brian Auger and Trace. And of course late Sixties fellow Swedish band Hansson & Karlson but less complex, less soloing and more keyboard variation like the synthesizer in Quintus Quest, the clavinet in Funck The Living Dead and the Fender Rhodes electric piano in the bluesy Istället För Att Jag Kom Till Skogen Kom Skogen Till Mig. Although Rikard plays less self-indulgent, we can enjoy some swirling and propulsive work like in Fresh Free Fruit (funky sound), Funck the Living Dead, Hang Em High and especially in Crazy Cookie where he freaks out, goose bumps! The interplay between Rikard and Petter is strong and often dynamic. In some songs we can welcome guest musicians on guitar, flute, trombone and saxophone, it give the music a pleasant extra dimension. A funny track is the final song Mutta, a swinging blend of organ, guitar and Turntables (by D-Cuts), that sound of playing LP’s with the hand, quite original in prog!

This is a very tasteful CD that will please the Hammond organ freaks.

CAMEL — Camel on the Road 1972

- This CD has been released 20 years after it was recorded, in 1972. The sound quality is not perfect but OK and you are treated on exciting work on the Hammond B3 organ by the late Peter Bardens: tasteful organ waves and a great, very compelling solo in Lady fantasy, lots of good soli and interplay from the electric guitar and organ in Six ate, lush organ waves in White Rider and extended soli and experimental work on the organ in The last track God of light, a typical end Sixties/early Seventies composition in the vein of Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, Rare Earth and Deep Purple.

COSMOS FACTORY - An Old Castle Of Transylvania

- The Japanese progrock band COSMOS FACTORY made a serie of albums in the Seventies with every time another sound. I prefer their debut-album “An Old Castle Of Transylvania” (1973). The long title track (around 20 minutes) is a mind blowing blend of psychedelia and progrock with great build ups and eruptions, very compelling with strong hints from early PINK FLOYD but the swirling movements also brings the long live tracks from URIAH HEEP, DEEP PURPLE, IRON BUTTERFLY, VANILLA FUDGE and Krautrock like early JANE and ELOY on my mind. It contains sumptuous keyboard play including heavy floods of Hammond organ and Mellotron along biting guitar. The interplay between guitar and organ is like “Set the controls for the heart of the sun” from PINK FLOYD. The other songs are also loaded with Hammond and Mellotron, ‘keyboard Heaven’ for the fans of ‘vintage keyboards’.

DEEP PURPLE — "Live in concert 1972/73"

This DVD is a very exciting view on the powerhouse Deep Purple on stage. Deep Purple performed very well, the exciting chemistry from the legendary live double album "Made in Japan" is also on this DVD featuring splendid performances. The track list from the legendary Denmark concert (1972) contains all the 'classics' delivering excellent work on the Hammond organ by Jon Lord: a swirling solo with great use of the drawbars in Highway Star, a legendary intro and halfway a swinging solo with varied Hammond sounds, an exciting duel with Blackmore and in the end a compelling Gillan-Lord duet in Child In Time, a spectucular intro and halfway a swirling solo in Lazy, mindblowing Hammond sounds in Space Truckin’ and strong solos in Fireball, Lucille and Black Night, a big hand for Jon Lord!

This DVD also includes 3 tracks from the New York 1973 concert and 1 track from the legendary "California jam" concert in 1974 along lots of other extras.

FUZZY DUCK - Fuzzy Duck

- This is one of the many harder-edged and organ dominated progressive bands that emerged in the early Seventies. FUZZY DUCK’s music is simple but it touches me very much: pleasant vocals, a tight rhythm-section, strong guitarwork and, the most delightful element, floods of Hammond organ. This reminds me of Ken Hensley from early URIAH HEEP and Manfred Wieczorke from German heavy progressive band JANE. The guitarplay is also a good point, featuring fiery solos and catchy riffs. The final song “A word from bid D” includes the so called ‘ducking vocals’ from keyboardplayer Roy (Daze) Sharland, very funny to hear. FUZZY DUCK’s music has echoes from ATOMIC ROOSTER, SPENCER DAVIES GROUP, VANILLA FUDGE and QUATERMASS. If you like the Hammond organ, don’t miss this CD! By the way, I own the “Aftermath” CD version, it contains 11 tracks, including the previously unreleased “No Name Face”.

HANSSON & KARLSON – Hansson & Karlson

- Hansson & Karlson was a Swedish duo featuring Bo(sse) Hansson on Hammond organ and Janne Carlsson on drums. They made three albums entitled Monument (1967), Rex (1968) and Man At The Moon (1969) and the single Lidingo Airport (1967). They also were the support-act of Frank Zappa, Jefferson Airplane, Cream and Jimi Hendrix. In the booklet of this CD (including an interesting interview) you can read that Jimi Hendrix was impressed by the duo and Jimi and the duo even became friends! By the way, Bo Hansson is also known as an artist who made several symphonic prog albums in the Seventies, his effort Attic Thoughts is recommended. So what about the music of this Swedish duo? Well, I am delighted about these virtuosic musicians, what a skills, what a great interplay and what a wide range of exciting Hammond organ sounds (especially on the outstanding track February). The music reminds me at some moments of Julian’s Treatment and Rare Bird but in general it’s swinging jazz and compelling blues. My highlight is I Love, You Love (live 1968 from Rex): Bo freaks out on his Hammond organ, then he slows down but he ends with a bombastic, classically inspired sound in the vein of Keith Emerson, goose bumps! In fact it’s “never a dull moment” during the 70 minutes running time of this dynamic and exciting CD compilation, highly recommended!

 JANE - Jane At Home Live            

- I’ve always been a fan from German keyboardplayer Manfred Wieczorcke. He played in the early line-up from ELOY (his Hammond work on the album Floating is great) and then moved to JANE. There he delivered his best work on the live 2-LP “Jane Live At Home”. In the Seventies JANE made a progressive blend of rock and blues featuring emotional vocals (with an obvious German accent), good harder-edged guitarplay and compelling keyboardwork (floods of organ along strings and MiniMoog). The compositions sound simple but very tasteful, this band knows how to carry you away with their music: the one moment it’s rock and roll with fiery electric guitar, the other moment you hear soaring keyboards, great build ups and sumptuous outbursts. You cannot compare JANE to the progrock legends ELP, GENESIS, YES or KING CRIMSON but in my opinion this 2-LP is one of the best progressive records from all those melodic and tasteful German progressive bands that emerged in the Seventies.

JULIAN'S TREATMENT - A Time Before This ... Plus (1970-73)

- In 1990 the British label See For Miles Records released a compilation with material from JULIAN'S TREATMENT recorded between 1970 and 1973. It’s entitled “A Time Before This ... Plus” and a perfect showcase of the exciting sound from JULIAN'S TREATMENT: lots of organ, strong female vocals, a dynamic rhythm-section and some piano, guitar, flute and Mellotron. The music frequently alternates from melodic progrock in the vein of EARTH & FIRE (female vocals and layers of organ) to ominous climates with hints from the Gothic scene featuring haunting vocals and majestic Hammond organ. My highlight on this compilation is the compelling composition “Child of the night 1 + 2” delivering wonderful vocals, impressive Hammond organ, some beautiful flute – and violin Mellotron waves and fiery electric guitar, this is the band at their best. The music from JULIAN'S TREATMENT sounds very dated and relatively simple but if you love the organ-based progrock bands from the early British Progressive Rock Movement like RARE BIRD, BRAM STOKER, QUATERMASS or GRACIOUS, don’t miss this underrated, often missed band with the powerful female vocals and splendid organplay as their trademark!

(JON) LORD WITH THE HOOCHIE COOCHIE MEN – Live At The Basement (live 2003)

- In 2003 John Lord was asked to perform at the Sydney Opera House with the Queensland Orchestra, a dream came true for him because he had always loved to play there once. He also booked a few smaller venues but unfortunately he got injured so he could hardly play the Grand piano. The contact with an old Australian friend on the bass named Bob Daisley led to the  temporary formation of Jon Lord With The Hoochie Coochie Men, this DVD is the excellent registration of a concert the band gave in 2003. As a huge fan of the Heavy Prog by Deep Purple, I was very curious to Jon Lord his role in this band. Well, it’s straight 12-bar blues (like Stevie Ray Vaughan) and Jon is clearly happy with it, he delivers an outstanding, very inspired job like many exciting solos, especially in Lonesome Traveller Blues, the ‘classic’ Green Onions (swirling with great use of the drawbars) and the final song 12 Bar Blow Jam. The band plays tight (with good guitar play and pleasant work on the harmonica) and enthousiastically, in two songs there is a contribution by Jimmy Barnes. He sings very emotionally and expressive, it's very compelling to listen to the interplay between his vocals and John his bluesy Hammond organ sound.

This is a DVD to check out if you like blues and the Hammond organ!

MAINHORSE — Mainhorse

MARSUPILAMI - Marsupilami

- As a huge fan from the early British Progressive Rock Movement I got excited after reading the positive reviews on this site. So I ordered their two albums and especially this eponymous debut album is a treat. The sound is typical early Seventies: very alternating (a progressive blend of classic, folk, blues and psychedelia) and dynamic featuring long compositions that are build around great Hammond organ play, powerful flute work and fiery electric guitar. The vocals are good and the instrumentation delivers also bongos, xylophone and mouth organ. To me the music of Marsupilami has echoes from JULIAN'S TREATMENT, BEGGAR'S OPERA (first album), IRON BUTTERLY, THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN and some early PINK FLOYD but their music has sufficient musical ideas to nail them as a derivative! I'm delighted about this discovery, very compelling and exciting early prog!

ODYSSEY - Setting Forth

ORME, LE – Collage

- After two psychedelic/Sixties inspired albums this third record was a true progrock gem. The 7 compositions features great Hammond organ play (Keith Emerson, early Jane and Ramses), very distinctive and warm vocals (with a melancholical undertone), some acoustic guitar and a dynamic rhythm-section. A very good element in the music from Le Orme is the tension between the mellow and bombastic climates. And Le Orme delivers a lot of musical surprises like a kind of Blackmore/Gillan-Page/Plant duel from the bass and Hammond organ in "Cemiento armato", wonderful Hammond organ work (from psychedelic to church organ) in "Evasione totale" and exciting interplay between organ and drums in "Era inverno". This album is not as refined like "Felona e sorona", "Uomo di pezza" or "Contapuntti" but it is very worth listening .... especially for the Hammond freaks!

RARE BIRD — As Your Mind Flies By

- This is a wonderful album that is build around the excellent duo-keyboardwork from Graham Field and David Kaffinetti. The shorter songs alternates from romantic to bombastic featuring powerful vocals (warm, melancholic, dramatic) and great play on the Hammond organ ("I'm thinking" is the Hammond in its full glory!) , electric piano and harpsichord ("Down on the floor"). The absolute highlight on this album is the 'magnum opus' "Flight" (at about 20 minutes), divided in four pieces. Part One contains propulsive interplay between drums and organ, Part Two has exciting duo-keyboardwork (swirling organplay), Part Three delivers a psychedelic organ (like early PINK FLOYD) and in Part Four is the focus on slow and sumptuous Hammond organ play (including excerps from RAVEL's "Bolero"), the vocals have a slightly hysterial undertone but fits perfect to the atmosphere.

SANTANA — Live At The Fillmore, 1968

- After meeting piano/Hammond player Gregg Rolie Carlos Santana started the Santana Blues Band in ’66. This 2-CD was recorded at the abovementioned Fillmore West music club in December ’68. In general the songs are like jams with great chemistry between Carlos Santana his guitar and Gregg Rolie his Hammond B3 organ and we can enjoy lots of excellent soli. The atmospheres range from blues (like the Albert King cover As The Years Go Passing By with a great wailing voice by Gregg and intense howling runs by Carlos) and rock (fiery and biting guitar in Persuasion) to Latin-rock (Jingo and Soul Sacrefice delivering hot percussion play) and jazz (Treat with moving work on piano). This 2-C set also includes the previously unreleased tracks Chunk A Funk, Fied Neckbones, Conquistadores Rides Again and the half hour composition Freeway (mindblowing Hammond work).

If you like early Santana and want to be carried away by his amazing guitarwork, exciting percussion and floods of Hammond organ, check out this historical document.

SOCIAL TENSION - It Reminds Me Of MacBethia

- “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, ladies and gentlemen, .. Social Tension!”. Altough SOCIAL TENSION sounds like an ‘ELP fan’s wet dream’, they do not deserve to be described as just an ELP clone. Keyboard player Nobuo ‘Kodomo’ Endoh is a virtuosic but he has a more varied an refined sound than Keith EMERSON, using synthesizers, organ, piano, harpsichord, strings, classical orchestrations and ... Mellotron (Keith EMERSON refuses to play this instrument, it would cause unemployment for classical musicians he used to say). This CD is a compilation from the two albums “MacBethia” and “It reminds Me Of Those Days”, fortunately the record company has deleted the lacklustre tracks from the second CD for this compilation. The result is a very impressive tribute to the wonderful “Pictures../Trilogy” years: seven spectacular and dynamic keyboard-driven symphonic rock compositions with bombastic keyboard play and a powerful, very propulsive rhythm-section. Highlights are the two ‘epic’ title tracks with lots of breaks, changing of atmospheres and amazing keyboards solos. Breathtaking!

TRACE— Trace  

- TRACE sounds like the Dutch equivalent to early ELP but Rick has a wider array of keyboards, including Hammond B3 organ, Hohner clavinet and pianet, ARP – and EMI synthesizers, harpsichord, Solina string-ensemble, Mellotron and church organ. He even used the sound of a bagpipe. The music on the eponymous debut album is a treat for fans from bands like The NICE, ELP, TRIUMVIRAT and early LE ORME. It delivers exciting, often sumptuous, keyboard driven symphonic rock: the mainly instrumental music is loaded with virtuosic keyboard runs, swirling Hammond organ and majestic Mellotron, supported by a powerful and propulsive rhythm-section. The Musea CD-release contains two bonustracks (Progress and Tabu) and the history of Trace with nice pictures.

URIAH HEEP-Live

- When I was at about 14-15 years old Uriah Heep Live was one of my favorite live albums and it still is because Live contains all their classic compositions with often mindblowing Hammond organ work by Ken Hensley like in Sunrise, Love Machine, Return To Fantasy, Easy Livin’ and of course July Morning, Uriah Heep their epic Classic Rock composition that features Ken Hensley at his best on the Hammond organ!

Also worth to check out is the 2-DVD Classic Uriah Heep – The David Byron era. My highlight on DVD1 is the version of “July morning”, a compilation of live material 1973-76 like the Dutch rock festival Pinkpop 1976.

By the way, a few years ago I attended a Ken Hensley solo concert in Holland, he played a lot of ‘classic’ Uriah Heep songs, including the compelling compositions Gypsy, halfway Hensley delivered a mindblowing, very extensive Hammond organ solo, the crowd (mainly 35+ male progheads along some young female groupies ..) freaked out, what an inspired musician!

 

                      

 

 

    This weekend I intend to publish Part 4 of this Hammond Organ   

     Special, including Dick Heath his very interesting contribution!

 

 

Lady In Black, this weekend I will publish my Hammond Organ Special Part 4, it includes a contribution by Dick Heath, I am sure he will mentions Brian Auger, otherwise you can send him a PM for recommendations. I am not really into Brian Auger, I only have a concert video from a 1989 jazz festival concert that showcases his incredible talent on the Hammond organ

By the way, I have already betrayed my wife with a Mellotron, she gets use to my fascination for vintage keyboards but I have promised her to keep some time and energy for other things   !

Must admit i never before heard the music of Julian's Treatment, and it is indeed very good!!

                            I am looking forward to your reviews about Steampacket,

                              Brian Auger is awesome on his Hammond organ

                    “From a poor man’s pipe organ to a

                         progrock musician's big band”

PART FOUR

Chapter 10: A Hammond story by PA member and jazz specialist Dick Heath

Chapter 11: PA members about the Hammond organ and their favorite

                   Hammond Albums

Chapter 12: This is not a Hammond organ! (about the Farfisa, Gibson and

                    Vox Continental organ)

Chapter 13: Sources of information

Chapter 14: Interesting links

CHAPTER 10:

A HAMMOND STORY BY PA MEMBER AND JAZZ SPECIALIST DICK HEATH

              Work in progress, his contribution follows later this week!

CHAPTER 11:

PA MEMBERS ABOUT THE HAMMOND ORGAN AND THEIR FAVORITE

HAMMOND ALBUMS

                           A fine example of Hammond fascination on the Forum:

http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=22&FID=51 - - Admin Group http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_images/5_star_rating.gif - - - http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000003JAB.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg - http://www.progarchives.com/forum/new_reply_form.asp?M=Q&PID=2691434&PN=7&TR=130 - - -

Originally posted by Easy Money I know of a church near my home that has an unused B3 sitting around, I have already expressed interest, but to get the best deal on used stuff you never want to appear too interested. There's a beauty of a B3 on Ebay at the moment, 43 bids in already, currently sitting at £2600 (about $4500 US) with 7 days still to go. The last good condition one I saw there was a couple of years ago & that went for over £8000 http://www.progarchives.com/forum/smileys/smiley29.gif -     OZZY TOM: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=7306&FID=1 - ozzy_tom Senior Member    “The Hammond organ is a magnificent instrument for fans of jazz & gospel (religious music) but I think that in progressive rock its role was the most important. Most of bands which played this most ambitious "pop" music use Hammond. This instrument thanks to its loudness helped keyboardists to came out of guitarists "shadow". Prog-rock created even (impossible for people who lived before late 60s) such kind of rock musician as organist who is also a leader and very often the only melody-player in the whole band (The Nice, ELP, Trace, Triumvirat etc.). Organists became the masters of ceremony, the front men & bosses of rock groups. Some of them (like Keith Emerson) started to treat their instrument like Hendriks' electric guitar which can be destroyed or burn on stage. Of course there were lots of other icon-instruments of these days like Mini Moog, mellotron or ARP synthesizer but Hammond is always the first thing which we see in our minds when we hear about 70' prog music. I think that this old-good sound is the most missing thing in nowadays music which is full of plastic keyboards.I suppose that Hammond sound was so special in those days because of its possibilities 'cause thanks to this organ keyboardist can evoke warm, pleasant passages as good as cold, heavy riffs or even electric guitar-like tones (like in Caravan's or Attilla's music). Fortunatelly till these days there are some bands (for example: Standarte, Wicked Minds, Par Lindh Project, Gerard, Ars Nova etc.) on prog-rock society which understand that Hammond isn't only a "product of those ancient times" but it can be succesfully useful nowadays and can bring as this the feeling of these wonderful times of fantastic music.    My adventure with Hammond organ became with Deep Purple which was my favorite band from some years ...but truly in the beginning I didn't know that there is some organ or something, I just listened to their songs and I didn't focus on each instrument. I opened my eyes (or rather ears) after I listened to first three Purple's albums (where Hammond had a main role) and some Uriah Heep's compilation where I listened to "Gypsy" and I felt in love to this roaring sound! After that I started to explore farther prog organ-driven bands like The Nice, Colosseum, ELP, Aardvark, Trace & so on & after some time I also discovered lots of new retro band which also uses lots of this instrument. Thans to its phenomenal sound till today Hammond is a must-have in most of bands which I start to listen to, I usually search for it when I hear some new music or read reviews of bands which I don't know.”   JIMMY ROW: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=14861&FID=51 - jimmy_row Senior Member   Thoughts on the Hammond Organ:  - I can remember around the time I began listening to music, I was always attracted by “novelty instruments”, ones that you didn’t hear a lot within the context of rock music, of course my exposure was mostly FM radio at this time, so when I heard rock bands using flutes, tuned percussion, sitars, etc, etc, I was always taken by the texture and diversity that was added to the music—an interesting departure from guitar-riff dominated American rock.  Strangely, as common as the Hammond B3 is in music, I can’t remember noticing it until I heard Deep Purple or Yes on the radio.  I can recall thinking, “Wow, they’re using a church organ (sic), it sounds so powerful….why doesn’t anyone else do that?”  Well, to my surprise, I soon discovered Uriah Heep and Deep Purple, and I was struck with awe over their uncompromising use of this organ.  Jon Lord’s solo on Hush showed me that it was best played without any restraint and I was delighted to hear that a famous (or infamous if you like) band from the 1970’s dedicated much of their sound to just that—complete freakouts on the Hammond organ (in addition to moogs, pianos, and all of those other goodies).  Of course I’m talking about Emerson, Lake, and Palmer….and it wasn’t enough for Keith to play the hell out of the thing, he had to throw it around and stab it with knives, incredible!  By now, I was headlong into progressive rock, discovering that beautiful sounds like the Mellotron, Moog and ARP Synthesizer, and Hammond organ were not just novelty sounds, but many groups built their foundation upon them.  Because the Hammond was around earlier than these other electronic instruments (since the 1930’s I believe…the creator, Laurens Hammond, was appalled that his instrument was used in blues and jazz music – “the devil’s music”) it played an integral role in the development of blues, jazz, and rock music throughout the 20th century; the likes of Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, Brain Auger, Keith Emerson, Jon Lord, Ken Hensley, Steve Winwood, Mike Ratledge, Vincent Crane, Johnny Smith, and Thjis Van Leer made the Hammond organ their trademark sound, each coaxing a different sound and bringing their own personal style, showing that this instrument has an unexpected diversity, bringing something different to any style of music…just manipulate the draw-bar settings and you have an amazing variety of possibilities at your fingers.   Top 5 tracks: (5 out of millions…very difficult) * Jon Lord – Child in Time (Deep Purple – Made in Japan, 1972) * Tony Pagliuca – La Porta Chiusa (Le Orme – Uomo di Pezza, 1972) * Keith Emerson – Pictures at an Exhibition (ELP – Pictures at an Exhibition, 1971) * David Sinclair – Nine Feet Underground (Caravan – In the Land of Grey and Pink, 1971) * Thjis van Leer – Hamburger Concerto (Focus – Hamburger Concerto, 1974)   Top 10 Hammond-driven Prog Albums: (okay its 11) * Emerson, Lake, and Palmer – Tarkus (1971) * Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, and the Trinity – Streetnoise (1969) * Deep Purple – In Rock (1970) * Uriah Heep – Look at Yourself (1971) * Jethro Tull – Thick as a Brick (1972) * Colosseum – Valentyne Suite (1969) * Vanilla Fudge – s/t (1967) * Par Lindh Project – Gothic Impressions (1994) * Atomic Rooster – Death Walks Behind You (1970) * Ars Nova – Book of the Dead (1998) * Banco del Mutuo Soccorso – Darwin! (1972)   EASY MONEY http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=15367&FID=51 - Easy Money Senior Member   - The first time I heard a Hammond B-3 organ was in the early 60s. I was 6 years old and living in Florida. I had received an AM radio for Christmas and was playing with the dial when I stumbled across an African-American station playing gospel music.  I had never heard such high energy music before and was immediately captivated by the Hammond, it sounded so dramatic and full. Right there I decided what I wanted to be when I grew up…someone who played high energy music, on an instrument like that! Of course I forgot about that childhood epiphany for many years until late in the 60s when I had my second encounter with the Hammond. My big brother had a friend who had a record that I just had to hear, Deep Purple’s Book of Taliesyn. I was already well-versed in classical music from listening to my parent’s collection of old records and I knew most of the pop-rock hits of the day and I often wondered what it would sound like if a rock band played longer compositions. Now, on this Deep Purple record, the music that I had imagined, one that combined the energy of rock with the long range development of classical music was blasting out of the speakers. The big plus was again the amazing sound of the Hammond B-3, this time played loudly and aggressively by Jon Lord. It’s funny how thin this record sounds today because back then it sounded larger than life. Throughout the early 70s I listened to a variety of music, but my favorite bands always had the up-front Hammond player. Deep Purple was still a favorite, as well as Santana, ELP, Focus, Badger and others. In the mid 70s when I was living in Texas and approaching the end of my teen years, I decided to take the plunge and learn to play. I stumbled through a few piano lessons and then decided  to teach myself. At the time I found the piano a bit boring but I knew there was no way that I could afford a real Hammond. One day I was in a music store in Dallas when I found the next best thing, the Univox Organizer. The Organizer, put out by the Univox Corporation in the mid 70s, was a low-cost analogue imitation of the Hammond B-3. It had draw bars and percussion just like a Hammond, but only one keyboard.  It was popular for a while because it was less expensive than a Hammond and much easier to transport. The sound of the Organizer is very similar to a Hammond though not as rich or complex. It has a little more direct punch than a Hammond making it sound 85% Hammond and 15% Farfisa. My parents were shocked when I spent almost $800 on an instrument that I could barely play, but I was determined. After practicing for a couple of years I was admitted to a low-end yet very creative music school, East Texas State University. I loved going to music school and learning about music that was new to me, including jazz and contemporary concert hall music. My interest in B-3 players shifted from Jon Lord to Brian Auger and then finally to the great jazz B-3 players like Jimmy Smith, Groove Holmes and Jack McDuff. Later I would discover more “outside” players like Larry Young and Sun Ra. By the late 70s my playing had progressed to where I was working professionally with funk and jazz-fusion bands. Then something happened that I couldn’t have predicted. Music moved into the 80s and the sound of the Hammond became very out of fashion. I put away my Univox and switched to guitar and later to digital samplers. Many years later, in the early 90s, I was living in San Francisco playing and teaching music when I finally had a reason to break out the old Univox again. I had been invited to play keyboards with a very good Santana cover band. The keyboardist I was replacing was the original keyboardist for Malo, Jorge Santana’s band, one of the best Latin Rock bands in the San Francisco Bay Area. During this same time I was also asked to join a Jamaican Dub Reggae band. While with this band I had a lot of fun playing in the rich psychedelic style of Prince Jammy, my favorite Jamaican Hammond player. In the mid-90s a new music trend swept through San Francisco. The young hipsters called it acid jazz but to me it was late 60’ RnB/jazz with a modern psychedelic sound and updated beats. My Univox never sounded better. It was the perfect instrument for this retro music and I led my own band through many gigs at some of the hippest restaurants and jazz clubs in Oakland and San Francisco. Acid jazz finally faded and I put away the Univox as my interest had shifted to vintage analogue synthesizers and the new electronic music of the late 90s. The new century came and my life changed drastically. I reunited with a former girlfriend, got married and moved with her to Memphis. I gave up on modern electronic music because Memphis is just not conducive to that style and I found myself going back in time and getting gigs playing blues and old soul music. In 2005 I hooked up with local guitar slinger Jim Duckworth and we put together a jazzy instrumental progressive rock band in the style of Focus and Santana. The chance to play progressive rock professionally does not come around often, so I considered it a really unique opportunity. Unfortunately progressive rock is still a tough sell and we eventually gave up on the band.  Soon after that the Univox finally wore out. These days I still get gigs in Memphis playing blues and funk as well as jazz  with my band Zazerac. I usually play a fake Hammond setup that consists of a Crumar T1, another 70s Hammond copy, as my lower keyboard and a Korg Triton as the upper keyboard. You can hear my playing at www.zazerac.com Check out the tune Mr Ali to hear what the old Univox was capable of. (When you read this article the band web site may be down. A new one should be up soon on MySpace music under the name Zazerac.) Although my bands never “made it big” I did get to share the stage with some great artists including: Faust, Primus, Faith No More, Ohio Players, Neurosis, Marc Almond, Black Flag, and Mr Bungle . In closing I would like to acknowledge the websites of some of my favorite  musicians I have worked with in various bands over the years. None of these people are “rock stars” so give them some support. John Echols, bass, Dallas TX www.daredevilsmusic.com  John is the master of the “thump-pop” style of bass. His percussive style is similar to Ralphe Armstrong of Mahavishnu or Doug Rausch of Santana. Check out the song Funky Luck to hear his mad skills. Jason Collins, guitar, Oakland CA  MySpace.com-The Funkanauts. Jason has a great early 70s psychedelic rock/RnB sound in a style that mixes Eddie Hazel with David Gilmour. Jason’s retro sound was always a perfect match for my analogue keyboards. We played in many bands together. Nate Vinson, keyboards, Dallas TX MySpace.com/beep squawk. Nate plays jazz piano and composes electronic music. Check out his wacky  DrumnBass music that sounds like an unlikely mix of Aphex Twin, Sun Ra and Martin Denny. Dain Dizazzo, bass, San Francisco CA www.thenewup.com  Dain plays  deep melodic bass grooves in a style that mixes Bill Laswell with John Entwistle. Check him out in his progressive leaning alternative rock band The New Up.             Five Hammond B3 Album Recommendations * Deep Purple - Made in Japan - Though Jon Lord may not be the best keyboard player in the history of rock, he is possibly the best soloist. Each one of Lord’s solos is a mini-composition and no matter how intense he begins, he always manages to build to an ever higher level of intensity. His solos are very focused. There is rarely a wasted note as each phrase builds and pushes the solo to greater heights. On this record both Highway Star and Lazy show Lord in fine form and he has stated that these are some of his favorite recorded solos, but the solo that really shows what Lord is  capable of comes on the jam that follows Space Truckin. This jam is based on the song Mandrake Root from an earlier album. The solo starts with Lord’s trademark flat 9 scales and builds while Lord starts manipulating the sound of the Hammond with a ring modulator. At its peak, this solo becomes an onslaught of electronic sound very unique for a rock keyboard player, it is more similar to sound oriented guitarists like Hendrix or Sonny Sharrock.  Another Deep Purple album that contains great Hammond solos is In Rock especially the songs Flight of the Rat and Hard Lovin Man.   * Santana - Santana I - Greg Rolie may not be as technical a player  as some of his rock contemporaries but he always had the best sounding B-3.  There is not a dull moment on this record. Every song is bursting with Latin-Rock energy. Although this is Carlos’ band, Greg’s organ playing is right up front and it is his Hammond licks that kick the album off on the opening song Waiting. Throughout the record Greg plays several great solos and all feature his trademark rhythmic riffs. He is one of the most rhythm oriented of all the great B-3 players.   * Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express  Live Oblivion Vol 2 - Brian Auger was at the peak of his game when this record was released. Brian was in the process of leaving behind his RnB/rock career and was heading towards becoming a full-time jazz musician. In this record you get the best of both worlds, jazz quality licks played with the fun and energy of a rock band. Brian’s electric piano playing lacks the sophistication of Herbie Hancock or Ramsey Lewis but his Hammond playing holds up well against anyone. He prefers rapid fire lines that are phrased aggressively in an almost rock guitar style. Overall this is a fun, high energy album that shows jazz can rock also.   Larry Young-Lawrence Of Newark http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B00005K2UR/ref=dp_image_0/104-3642153-4194313?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music"> - Larry Young started as a more typical hard-bop B-3 player but switched his style in the late 60s to a more Coltrane influenced avant-garde style. This album is not highly rated by many critics and may not be his best offering but I really like its purposefully anti-commercial approach.  The music is somber and deeply spiritual. This is jazz fusion but instead of mixing jazz with rock, Young is using 60s African pop rhythms as well as Afro-Cuban rhythms. Young does very little traditional soloing on this album and instead uses the tone bars to create shifting psychedelic sound scapes. The production is bizarre and unorthodox and the many drummers that are used in this recording shift in and out of the mix in a constantly changing rhythmic kaleidoscope. This album isn’t for everyone but if you are looking for a totally unique take on the B-3, this might be it.   * Holmes / McGriff - Supa Cookin - Groove Holmes and Jimmy McGriff, two of the great masters of the Hammond B-3 square off on this high speed, high energy live album.  Holmes and McGriff rate right up there with Jimmy Smith, John Patton and Jack McDuff for being originators of the classic jazz/blues/RnB organ sound of the 50s and 60s. Almost every progressive rock organist from Jon Lord to Tony Kaye and Keith Emerson owe a big debt to these jazz forebears. This is not a subtle album, almost every song features standard blues changes played at top speed with both keyboardists showing how fast they can play their rapid fire solos. The song Mozambique is slightly different as it uses more of a 60s African rock feel and a deeper psychedelic sound texture. All through the album both organists use wah wah pedals and a bit of distortion to update their sound to the rock age. In the late 70s I had the opportunity to see Groove Holmes perform at Bill’s Twilight Lounge in Memphis. He was a great guy and he let me sit behind him and watch while he played. During breaks he talked with me about jazz and it was Holmes who told me that Larry Young had just died. I will never forget the two of us standing in the parking lot, speechless and silently reflecting on what a powerful musician Larry Young had been.   JIM GARTEN   http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=22&FID=51 - Jim Garten Admin Group Forum Moderator “The Hammond Organ, my first true love!“ My introduction to the Hammond came at exactly the same time as my introduction to progressive rock; the very first album I ever bought as a callow 10 year old was ‘The Best Of Uriah Heep’ (purchased from a neighbour for the princely amount of £1 as he didn’t like it) and as the very first chord of ‘Gypsy’ scratched its way out of the family stereogram, I knew there was something there I needed to know more about. The album didn’t disappoint – following in quick succession came ‘July Morning’, ‘Look At Yourself’ and ‘Easy Livin’… by the end of the album I was in love (no, not with Ken Hensley!). Throughout my musical development in the 70s 80s 90s & noughties be it punk, jazz, heavy rock, metal, progressive rock or any genre into which I dipped my toe, there was always one sound which would make my ears prick up & make the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention… it was that sound. Be it the lightest of whistles produced by Ian McLagan with The Faces, the furious soloing of Jon Lord, the classical rock leanings of Wakeman and Emerson, the delicacy of touch by Charles Earland, or back to the full throated roar of Hensley’s B3, that sound would make me stop mid-sentence, forget what I was doing and make me oblivious to all else around me. Sad to say, it really does affect me that much sometimes… I remember being in the middle of a board game with a bunch of friends, The Rolling Stones’s ‘Sticky Fingers’ was on the deck (which I’d never heard before), then out of nowhere during ‘I got the blues’, Billy Preston’s solo hit me like an audio missile & I was completely unable to do anything until the solo had finished. Luckily, my wife and friends are all used to these occasional absences, just tipping each other knowing looks & venting long suffering sighs when the 20th Century’s greatest invention comes between us… In the end, the inevitable happened – about 6 years ago, after 8 years of marriage, my wife and I had a new addition to the family; a 1971 Hammond L122 (as seen in old films of The Nice and Focus, and apparently the same model of beast on which the classic ‘Green Onions’ was recorded); it arrived, relegated the dining table to the kitchen & promptly gathered dust until a year or so later when on my 40th birthday, Vicky presented me with vouchers for keyboard lessons. These went on for a couple of years (during which time, and after Vicky’s insistence & persistence on EBay, the L122 was joined by its spiritual partner, the Leslie 145) until the Hammond fell seriously ill… parts were difficult to come by & by the time he was well again, other interests had come into play, so there he sits again in the corner, well loved but un-played, and certainly never for the ‘For Sale’ list. Maybe one day I’ll sit at that bench again & renew my relationship with actually making that sound, but in the meantime, I’ll content myself with listening to those who really can play, and who have provided the soundtrack to my life for the last 35 years. Trying to condense my love of the sound into a mere five albums is no easy task, but I will try my best (with the caveat that if this list were re-done in a couple of days, it would probably be completely different) :   1 – Made In Japan; Deep Purple – this one should sit in any ‘best of the Hammond’ list; in 1972, Deep Purple were on the up and up, critically acclaimed, hugely popular & loving every minute of it. This shows in the group playing and dynamics, but especially in that of Blackmore, and most especially with Jon Lord on the Hammond C3. From the onslaught of ‘Highway Star’ through ‘Child In Time’s subtleties and the jazzy blues of ‘Lazy’ to Space Truckin’s extended finale, Lord plays like a demon & shows all other rock Hammond players exactly how it should be done.   2 – That Was Only Yesterday; Spooky Tooth – Gary Wright’s playing on this ‘best of’ album is phenomenal; if you want to hear a Hammond growl like wounded bear, you need listen no further than their version of The Beatles classic ‘I Am The Walrus’, ‘Tobacco Road’, ‘Cotton Growing Man’ or the opening ‘Sunshine Help me’; the band’s output became increasingly erratic as they went on, but for a good overview of their career, and some of the best rock Hammond playing, this is the album to choose.   3 – Living Black; Charles Earland – When people mention the words “Jazz” and “Hammond” in the same sentence, nine out of ten times, the words “Jimmy Smith” will follow; the late Charles Earland is in my opinion too often overlooked, which is a real shame as he is a soulful, passionate exponent of the art. This album, which combines two early live albums “Living Black” and “Live At The Lighthouse”, although erratic in sound quality in places, shows the man at his best, and prior to his jazz-funk later period when he all but abandoned the Hammond for electronic keyboards (hawk, spit). With these early 1970s recordings, you can smell the cigarette smoke in the room & see the sweat dripping down the walls – good, down & dirty jazz Hammond, played by a master.   4 – Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends; ELP – Probably the most overblown of all progressive rock live albums, and certainly one which gave the genre a bad name for pomposity & pretension. For all that, it’s a must have for Hammond fans – Keith Emerson never puts a finger wrong from the opening fusillade of notes signifying a 200 mph version of ‘Hoedown’. His prowess & sheer exuberance comes through throughout this recording, reaching peaks during the epics ‘Tarkus’ and ‘Karn Evil 9’ with Emerson playing as if his life depended on it. Pretentious? Yes. Overblown? Yes. Essential? Definitely!   5 – Epilog: Anglagard – Relative newcomers to the prog rock scene, Sweden’s Anglagard, and their keyboard player Thomas Johnson make no bones about it – they play unadulterated regressive sounding prog rock, and Johnson’s playing on 1994’s Epilog could easily have been recorded 20 years earlier. Highlights of the album include ‘Hostsejd’ and ‘Sista Somrar’, clocking in at 15 and 13 minutes respectively, both showcasing Johnson’s fluid runs & seemingly instinctive understanding of exactly what prog rock should sound like. - As I said before the above recommendations, this list can, will and must change on a day to day basis. They all represent Hammond playing of the highest order, not all of which involve complex soloing; sometimes just the “feel” of the player adds so much to the songs (the Spooky Tooth recommendation, for example contains few if any soli). Although the above may be my top five at this moment in time, honourable mentions must also be given to the following: * Santana: Moonflower – Tom Coster at his best, especially on Soul Sacrifice (usually associated with his predecessor, Greg Rolie, but Coster really makes it his own here) and Savor/Toussaint L'overture, where he swops soli with Santana throughout. * Uriah Heep: Live 1973 – not the best of live recordings, but Heep’s classic lineup captured at the Birmingham Odeon on their Demons & Wizards tour; Hensley on fine form throughout, particularly on July Morning, Gypsy (the Hammond solo's superb, but can you stay awake during the Moog solo...?) and the classic Circle Of Hands. - In closing, I'd reiterate the Hammond has been a feature of my life for over 35 years, so I freely admit to being a sad Hammond geek. The problem is, I've now infected my wife to the extent that on a single listening she can tell a real Hammond from a fake, and whether it's a full console or a spinet  Does this count as spousal abuse?"   CHICAPAH http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=6905&FID=51 - Chicapah Prog Reviewer   Why the Hammond? It came closest to doing what an orchestra could do by filling the room with a huge, electrified sound that had no limits.  From my earliest moments of musical consciousness I had always been attracted to the symphonic works of Beethoven, Haydn and Shubert and the big brown organ satisfied that need in my soul.  In the 50s and 60s nothing else could touch it. On the occasion of my 11th birthday someone gave me the single of Dave “Baby” Cortez’ “The Happy Organ” and my love affair with the Hammond began.  That song became the first instrumental to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959 and it let the general public know that the Hammond had a place outside of church sanctuaries and urban living rooms.  As my musical tastes matured I discovered the magic of jazz legend Jimmy Smith who demonstrated that the instrument could more than hold its own with the piano in that genre.  But for me it was the stalking Hammond snarl in “Green Onions” by Booker T and the MG’s that sealed the deal in 1962.  There was a juke box in the local Dairy Mart that had that tune on the lineup and I must have pumped a fortune into that machine just to hear it booming through the restaurant. After the British invasion opened the flood gates for rock & roll to blossom many groups jumped at the chance to show what the Hammond could do.  Brian Auger, Greg Allman, Felix Cavaliere, Mark Stein, Jon Lord, Keith Emerson, Steve Winwood, Tony Kaye, Greg Rolie and many, many more brought the Hammond into the forefront and demonstrated the instrument’s nearly unlimited versatility.  Who could ignore the screaming-like-a-banshee intro to The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin” or that incredible sound when the Leslie speaker cabinet kicks into tremolo mode on the Young Rascals’ hit “Lonely Too Long” or that unearthly growl that saturates and dominates Deep Purple’s “Highway Star.”  Obviously I could go on and on but you get the point. Being a dedicated guitar buff, I never played keyboards but I toured with several professional rock bands in the wild 70s that featured the beloved behemoth.  Even with the specially-designed dollies and straps the heavy monster took at least two or more strong roadies to install in night clubs and upon stages that weren’t designed with access for the Hammond B3 in mind.  But the blood, sweat and tears were always worth it because just the revered organ’s presence garnered the group a certain prestige and demanded respect from the audience before the first number was even counted off.  I personally grew up and worked with Grammy-winner Richard Theisen for six years in “Daniel” and no one in the southwest USA could make his Hammond sing any better. Outside of the progressive rock arena I would recommend two recordings to check out.  “Collections” by The Young Rascals and “Idlewild South” by the Allman Brothers are both excellent.  Inside I would start with “Streetnoise” by Brian Auger & the Trinity, “Machine Head” by Deep Purple, “The Yes Album” and the debut album by Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  The Hammond organ is the glue that holds these and countless other classic LPs together and, while modern keyboards and synthesizers have been invented that can ably ape its unmistakable tone, any organ man of merit will tell you that there’s no substitute for the real thing.   RIVERTREE http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=7397&FID=51 - Rivertree Special Collaborator Discographies Edition & Band Submissions Considering the development of many Krautrock bands from the end of the 60s on it was just normal to use Hammond Organ to give their music a special jazzy or symphonic touch. Besides a lot of popular productions this is an excerpt of quite rare and unknown Hammond saturated german Krautrock and Heavy Prog albums 1972 http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=2624 - Analogy 1972 http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=15898 - Prof. Wolfff 2003 http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=16756 - Platte 1972 http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=5460 - Reflections On The Future 1971 http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=16034 - Seasons 1970 http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=9513 - Orange Peel 1971 http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=3500 - Ikarus 2000 http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=17186 - Edmundo Lopez http://www.krautrockseite.de/kblnzbands-sperrmuell.htm - Sperrmüll - Sperrmüll This are current German Neo Krautrock/Psych Bands using Hammond http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3249 - Electric Orange http://www.spacedebrisprojekt.de/ - Space Debris http://www.karmicsociety.com/ - Karmic Society http://www.treaclepeople.de/ - Treacle People http://www.liquidvisions.de/ - Liquid Visions http://www.zonesix.de/ - Zone Six http://www.marsmushrooms.de/ - Mars Mushrooms Finally my Top 10 of Hammond infected songs * Deep Purple - Child In Time * Brian Auger's Oblivion Express - Freedom Jazz Dance * Colosseum - Valentyne Suite * The Allman Brothers Band - In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed * Santana - Jingo * Procul Harum - A Whiter Shade Of Pale * Steve Winwood - Silvia (Who Is She?) * Niacin - King Kong * Frumpy - Take Care Of Illusion * Grobschnitt - The Excursion Of Father Smith     CHAPTER 12: THIS IS NOT A HAMMOND ORGAN!   The Doors: The omnipresent organ sound in The Doors their music was in the early days a Vox Continental organ (Vox built large church organs in the UK but in 1960 Vox released the Vox Continental combo organ , soon it became the most popular one) but later keyboard player Ray Manzarek switched to the Gibson G101 combo organ because he was dissatisfied with the new plastic keys after the factory had moved to Italy. On Absolutely Live you can enjoy that Gibson organ sound in its full splendor!   The Animals – House Of The Rising Sun: This is the most famous example of the sound of the Vox Continental organ (played by Alan Price) since the worldwide hit single was released in 1964.   The early Pink Floyd sound: before Rick Wright bought a Hammond organ in the early Seventies, he only played on Farfisa organs , you can hear that distinctive sound on songs like Arnold Layne and especially on the Pink Floyd At Pompeii video/DVD (in combination with the Hammond organ) for the more psychedelic atmospheres.   CHAPTER 13: SOURCES OF INFORMATION   Book: The Hammond Organ – Beauty In The B by Mark Vail Book: Rock Hardware by Miller Freeman Books Book: The A-Z Of Analogue Synthesizers Part One: A-M by Peter Forest   CHAPTER 14: INTERESTING LINKS http://www.hammond-organ.com/ - Hammond/Leslie resource and home of the hammondzone user group http://www.freegospelresource.com/organ.html - Drawbar Settings, Progressions, and Links http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/hammond/ - - obsolete.com http://www.roth-handle.nu/instruments/organ_HammondL100.htm - http://www.roth-handle.nu/instruments/organ_HammondL100.htm http://theatreorgans.com/grounds/docs/history.html - History of the Hammond B-3 Organ The http://www.dairiki.org/HammondWiki/HammondWiki - HammondWiki http://www.captain-foldback.com/ - Captain Foldback (Hammond organ history, information on the different models of vintage Hammond organs, and technical data) http://www.freegospelresource.com/organ.html - Drawbar Settings, Progressions, and Links http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/hammond/ - Article on the Hammond Organ http://www.roth-handle.nu/instruments/organ_HammondL100.htm - Description of Hammond Organ http://www.dsv.su.se/~fk/beatrix_home.html - Beatrix - The Organ Software Synthesizer http://www.afana.org/jazzorgan.htm - Geoff Alexander's history of the Jazz Organ http://www.jackhollow.co.uk/hammond/modellist/models.html - The model list of all vintage Hammonds (and Leslie speakers) http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-jazz-organists - List of jazz organists http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-hammond-organ-players - List of Hammond organ players http://www.answers.com/topic/clonewheel-organ - Clonewheel organ http://www.answers.com/topic/organ-trio-1 - Organ trio http://www.answers.com/topic/hammond-piano - Hammond Piano        THANKS TO ANGELO FOR SCANNING THE PICTURES                IN THIS HAMMOND ORGAN SPECIAL!!

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Posted By: Easy Money
Date Posted: November 28 2007 at 14:19

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Hey Erik, Congratulations on part 4, my favorite so far. The personal stories really added a lot. Kudos to Chicipah for mentioning the Happy Organ by Dave Cortez. I love all those Hammond instrumentals from the late 50s and 60s. I have a very early Brian Auger album in which he is playing in that 60s rave-up style, I hope to get it up on PA soon.

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Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: November 28 2007 at 17:05

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Thanks Easy Money     Part 4 is a cascade of highly recommended Hammond drenched albums and I also love the personal stories, that's why I have decided to add this chapter because every Hammond freak has his own words to describe his passion for the Hammond organ and on Prog Archives there are many Hammond freaks!

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Posted By: Chicapah
Date Posted: November 28 2007 at 18:53

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Erik, you da man!  Thanks for including me in your excellent essay. ------------- "Literature is well enough, as a time-passer, and for the improvement and general elevation and purification of mankind, but it has no practical value" - Mark Twain

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Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 05:14

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Thanks Chicapah but in fact I am the one who should be happy                              with all the contributions made by PA members   I just received Dick his contribution to have a look on, well, in my opinion it's a superior addition to this Hammond Organ Special, it is worth to wait for it so eagerly .. and so long                                                Dick, now let it roll  !!

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Posted By: Jim Garten
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 07:27

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You know your next job, don't you Erik - at the moment, it's spread out around this thread... your next job is to put it all together in a single article... ------------- Jon Lord 1941 - 2012

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Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 07:34

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OK Jim, good idea, shall I create a new thread entitled Hammond Extravaganza Part 3 or .. ? Any idea about this is welcome, thanks in advance  But first let's wait on Dick and his excellent contribution!                And Jim, did you receive already bets on your Hammond + Leslie  ?!

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Posted By: Certif1ed
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 08:11

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Anyone posted this yet? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ck__wghRww - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ck__wghRww       (If they have, it's worth seeing again!)     And THIS never gets old... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdJeCjIwGFk - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdJeCjIwGFk   ------------- The important thing is not to stop questioning.

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Posted By: glass house
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 08:56

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Again a excellent read, love the personal input.

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Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 10:46

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Certified: thanks  , great YouTube material, especially the four Hammond B3's, an EARGASM  !!   Glass House, thanks for the compliments, I am glad that the personal input is received so positive                                   Dick is on the brink of finishing his eagerly awaited                                                 contribution ...10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 ...........

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Posted By: Dick Heath
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 12:39

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erik neuteboom wrote: Certified: thanks  , great YouTube material, especially the four Hammond B3's, an EARGASM  !!   Glass House, thanks for the compliments, I am glad that the personal input is received so positive                                   Dick is on the brink of finishing his eagerly awaited                                                 contribution ...10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 ...........       Now to compatibilise the PC systems........ my bit is effectively done but how to get the pictures sent/published with the text???   Erik, Collegium Musicium's 'Steamroller' album sounds to me to be an East European Nice album - with only one type of keyboard played. In fact I'm on record stating I think Marian Varga did it better than Emerson. The bass solo on one track is a belated ear-opener, considering Pastorius's Jaco  album wasn't  due for another 2 years... ------------- The best eclectic music on the Web,8-11pm BST/GMT THURS. CLICK ON: http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php - http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php Host by PA's Dick Heath.

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Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 12:51

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Dick, I have contacted PA cumputer wizard Tony R30 but it's a big problem to post your contribution without losing all those wonderful pictures  ..   About Collegium Musicum, The Nice is a better comparison, indeed and I agree about the very talented musicians

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:09

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:09

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:09

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Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:10

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:10

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:10

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:11

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:11

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:11

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:12

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:12

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:12

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:12

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:13

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:16

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Ok, that was the best I could do. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.riviere1/Files/More%20questions%20than%20answers%20the%20Hammond%20in%2060s%20British%20popular%20music%20.pdf - Complete transcript here in PDF Format (Adobe Acrobat)

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Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 13:22

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MANY THANKS TONY R30 TO HELP US WITH PRESENTING DICK HIS              EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTION IN THIS HAMMOND ORGAN SPECIAL              WE APPRECIATED THIS VERY MUCH, ALSO BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT                       RUSH NEVER USED HAMMOND ORGANS, ONLY MELLOTRONS ...  !

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Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 15:43

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And thanks Dick, your contribution has become an excellent addition to         the previous stories by PA members and the pictures are very well chosen

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Posted By: glass house
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 16:09

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Great article Richard.   Now, to read the whole lot again  .

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Posted By: Nightfly
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 16:26

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Well done all for some great aditions to this thread.

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Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 17:28

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Thanks Dutch Tony and Paul, it was great fun to create this Hammond                Organ Special and to collaborate with other PA members who are also                Hammond freaks, the Forum turned out to be the cradle, as usual!

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Posted By: Dick Heath
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 17:43

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Thanks to everybody getting this up especially IT whiz Tony (as usual!!) If you fancy a full electronic version (it is a a bit like an Archers script at the moment because of problems), e.mail me separately so I have  a private email address to which can I send this article  as a PDF attachment ------------- The best eclectic music on the Web,8-11pm BST/GMT THURS. CLICK ON: http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php - http://www.lborosu.org.uk/media/lcr/live.php Host by PA's Dick Heath.

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Posted By: erik neuteboom
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 17:51

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I think Tony R30 has gone to be bed: "early to bed and early to rise,                                   makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise..!"   By the way, at this moment I am watching a The Stranglers compilation DVD, swirling spinet Hammond (L100) work by Dave Greenfield in songs like Something Better Change, I still love it after all those years

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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: November 29 2007 at 18:02

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Tony R wrote: Ok, that was the best I could do. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.riviere1/Files/More%20questions%20than%20answers%20the%20Hammond%20in%2060s%20British%20popular%20music%20.pdf - Complete transcript here in PDF Format (Adobe Acrobat)

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