Comments on: Music Featuring Hammond Organs

Question: Music Featuring Hammond Organs

abbyladybug — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:43:06 -0800

I love any music that uses a Hammond Organ, whether it's 70s rock, gospel, jazz, whatever. The sound of it just makes me happy. There are some obvious artists that come to mind: Medeski, Deep Purple, the Doors, but I want MORE! The closest thing I've found so far is on All Music, there is a list of artist who use the organ, but it's mostly classical and jazz. I'd like a list that includes rock artists, too. Any suggestions for artists I'm missing or links that would help me to expand my listening options?

By: docgonzo

docgonzo — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:46:13 -0800

Melvin Seals of the Jerry Garcia Band played a mean Hammond B3... he joined the band in the late-70s, so any recordings of the JGB up until 1995 (obviously) will have him.

By: ericb

ericb — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:50:43 -0800

Selected tracks by Blood, Sweat & Tears, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Rick Wakeman and early Yes come to mind.

By: xil

xil — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:52:53 -0800

Booker T. and the M.G.'s. Green Onions is a B3 classic.

By: matildaben

matildaben — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:53:38 -0800

Yo La Tengo.

By: bricoleur

bricoleur — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:56:00 -0800

Jimmy Smith.
Jimmy Smith.
Jimmy Smith.

By: udeups

udeups — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:56:30 -0800

Starflyer 59 peppers many of their songs with the Hammond. Here's a review which mentions it specifically in reference to one of their better albums.

By: stevil

stevil — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:15:57 -0800

Gregg Allman
? and the Mysterians

By: trey

trey — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:20:28 -0800

Two-tone ska in many forms such as The Selecter, the Specials. Some Jamaican ska as well.

By: Dr. Wu

Dr. Wu — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:23:12 -0800

Jackie Mittoo.
Jackie Mittoo.
Jackie Mittoo.

(Not an argument, bricoleur: Smith is the king; but an homage: Mittoo sits right by his throne.)

By: mischief

mischief — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:26:27 -0800

Brian Auger
Steppenwolf

By: scody

scody — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:32:51 -0800

The Charlatans. Nearly 15 years on and I still adore their first single, "The Only One I Know" (verrrry heavy on the gronk-gronky organ sound, courtesy of the doomed Rob Collins) and in fact still have rather a soft spot for their first two albums in general.

By: timeistight

timeistight — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:52:51 -0800

Time Is Tight (buy the whole box).

By: stuartmm

stuartmm — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 17:08:22 -0800

The Lyres .. most of the albums are available.

By: blag

blag — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 17:09:49 -0800

Second the Charlatans. Bloody hell, was it really 15 years ago? Also the Inspiral Carpets used a lot of Hammond - you should have a listen to Saturn 5; beautiful organ work. Heh.

A lot of Dylan's earlier stuff had H in it too - I Want You and Positively 4th Street spring immediately to mind.

I honestly can't think of a song that couldn't be improved by the addition of some Hammond. Excellent question!

By: scody

scody — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 17:22:12 -0800

Oh, and of course Georgie Fame! (You may already be well aware of him, since you mention jazz. There's also a series called "Mod Jazz" put out by Kent Records that has some great keyboard-flavored gems.) And of course, I can't believe I forgot the awesome, awesome original modfathers of cool, The Small Faces, featuring Ian McLagan on keyboards. (Fun Small Faces/Who-related trivia that only I care about: Ian McLagan is married to Keith Moon's widow, and Kenny Jones of the Small Faces replaced Moon in the Who after Moon died.)

By: kidhuevos

kidhuevos — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 17:25:36 -0800

A lot of awesome recommendations here. The great thing about the Hammond B3 is there is hardly a western popular musical genre around that hasn't benefitted from it. With that in mind, here's my short list separated by category. Most of them crossed genres often, but these categories describe what each artist was best known for:

Jazz
-----
- Jimmy Smith
- Jack McDuff
- Joey DeFrancesco
- Larry Young
- Jimmy McGriff

Blues/R&B/Funk
-------------------
- Booker T
- Groove Holmes (The Beastie Boys used him on "Check Your Head" - they named the song after him on the album)
- Bobby Byrd (c/o James Brown)

Rock/Pop/Misc
-----------------
- Greg Rolie (Santana - 1960s)
- Keith Emerson
- Billy Preston (THE studio organ guy - played with everybody - Ray Charles, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc. )
- Greg Allman
- Stevie Winwood (not a fan, but the guy can play)

Reggae
----------------
- Jackie Mittoo
- Earl "Wya" Lindo (The Wailers, although Peter Tosh sat in for early recordings)

Possibly the most famous song ever to feature the B3 was Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade of Pale," with Gary Brooker's piercing, over-driven, reverb-drenched melody. I've been playing the B3 for 10 years and everytime I play this lick while warming up, people pay attention.

(As a matter of record, The Doors didn't use a Hammond B3 - Ray Manzarek, The Doors' keyboard player, used a Vox Continental.)

By: McGuillicuddy

McGuillicuddy — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 17:53:09 -0800

Al Kooper generally played organ in Dylan's work and was in Blood, Sweat and Tears. Here is his discography, he's played with everybody and it's all good.

By: bunglin jones

bunglin jones — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 18:03:54 -0800

The James Taylor Quartet's earlier stuff (late eighties, early nineties) is packed full of great Hammond stuff.

By: saladin

saladin — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 18:36:33 -0800

I'll second Yes. There's an organ solo late in "Close to the Edge" that will melt your face.

By: OneOliveShort

OneOliveShort — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 19:34:16 -0800

I know it's very pedestrian, perhaps due to overexposure, but I was thirteen , Boston's debut changed my life. "Smokin'" has organ that can STILL make a 41-year-old look silly, but very happy playing air-organ in my car.

ObDerail: any of you ever see 'em live? Did that organ sound as good?

Also pedestrian, I guess by today's standards, but Kansas' "Leftoverture" had some great organ on some of the tracks.

By: guyincognito

guyincognito — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 19:36:21 -0800

The Upsetters are another one in the roots reggae vein

By: Dr. Wu

Dr. Wu — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 19:38:36 -0800

Oh, and Southern Culture on the Skids make pretty good use of the B3 on their albums "Plastic Seat Sweat" and "Liquored Up and Lacquered Down."

For current, garagey, punky stuff, check out The Forty-Fives, who have a crazy-ass organist. Great live band, too.

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 19:57:01 -0800

Howard Wales

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:06:39 -0800

I recently found Deep Purple's "Made In Japan" on CD in a Virgin outlet for $7.50. Great price for a double album packed on a single disk. I know you already mentioned them, but this live album is one of their best (especially the 6-minute drum solo on The Mule, but we're supposed to be talking organs...)

By: biscotti

biscotti — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:19:21 -0800

I have to recommend the fabulous Alan Hawkshaw (thanks to sciatica). Mo'Hawk is where I'd start.

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:29:48 -0800

John Medeski of Medeski, Martin & Wood.

Mark Benevento of Benevento Russo Duo. I haven't had a chance to see these guys live, but a friend of mine has a guitar duo project that has opened up for Benevento Russo a few times during recent shows in the northeast US, and that's how I found out about them.

And of course The Band. (Not the official site, if there actually is one, but looks to be an informative fan site anyway.)

By: garethspor

garethspor — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:38:40 -0800

Soulive
Soulive
Soulive

By: box

box — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:39:07 -0800

Let me join the chorus of people saying Jimmy Smith, Jackie Mittoo and The Band. Also: Charles Earland, and, in rock, Brian Auger.

By: scody

scody — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:43:17 -0800

Bunglin Jones is spot-on re: JTQ -- The Money Spyder is especially cool.

By: juv3nal

juv3nal — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:52:43 -0800

I don't think he's been mentioned enough times:
jimmy smith.

analogy time:
glen velez is to the frame drum as jimmy smith is to the...that's right, the hammond.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:54:35 -0800

I forgot: Uriah Heep!

By: brheavy

brheavy — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 21:41:48 -0800

In the spirit of MMW, try Righteous Buddha - good sheet.

By: ashbury

ashbury — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 22:10:48 -0800

Al Kooper, with Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills did an album called Super Session that kicked ass, with Kooper doing some pretty fine Hammond work throughout it all. You can read about it here.

By: hototogisu

hototogisu — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 23:02:58 -0800

Not exactly what you're asking for, but you might get a kick out of it anyway:
Charlie Hunter often (if not always) plays an 8 string guitar through a combination of effects pedals that make it sound more than a little like a B-3. Jazz guitar, but he's also got more jammy stuff floating around too.

By: Pressed Rat

Pressed Rat — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 06:14:52 -0800

Lee Michaels, particularly this self-titled album (don't know why it's so expensive now - must have gone back out of print - look around for it). The only song of his that gets airplay is "Do you know what I mean" off his "5th" album - this album's WAY better music. If you can't find this one, get one of the compilations with Stormy Monday & Heighty Hi on it.

By: ubersturm

ubersturm — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 08:38:15 -0800

A band out of DC - The Apes. Unlike a lot of the suggestions, a newish band, and one you might be able to catch on tour.

By: nylon

nylon — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 11:50:00 -0800

Are you still reading this, Abby? Here's two that were missed, both Hammond and drum duos:

Sagor & Swing
Attila (featuring Billy Joel. Yes, the Billy Joel)

Also, I have around 50 LPs from the 60s featuring popular chart hits of the day played on the Hammond. You can pick them up in any charity shop/thrift store in the world for less than the price of a can of beans. Of particular interest to you will be Harry Stoneham, James Last's Hammond-a-go-go series, and Klaus Wunderlich.

By: modofo

modofo — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 12:01:42 -0800

Sixties/seventies jazzy vocal stuff: The Peddlers

By: organguy

organguy — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 12:31:04 -0800

Don't know if you'll look back at this - I found your post googling a similar question. You've gotten some obvious and not so obvious answers - here's a few more:

Newish Rock and Rock-like:
*Darediablo - instrumental ROCK from NYC
*Mike Watt (yes, the punk guy!) and the Secondmen (that's not a typo
*Bigger than a Breadbox - looks like a jazz trio but it rocks.
(full disclaimer, Breadbox is my band - I got permission to mention this...I'm the organist. We've gotten great reviews and we have some ardent fans, but we're kinda in the cracks and genre busting bands are hard to find on the internet)
*Casualties of Jazz

Most old school R&B and blues will feed you some Hammond - especially:
The Meters
Al Green
Sly and the Family Stone
Ray Charles - "Genius+Soul=Jazz" with RAY playing!!!

If you dig progressive rock you'll find tons of Hammond there:
Yes
Kansas
Trace
Gentle Giant

Funk!!
Tower of Power
Funkadelic
Little Feat - (not really funk, but very Funky!)

Other:
EARLY Bruce Springsteen - listen to Danny Federici tear it up on Rosalita
EARLY Tom Petty - Benmont Tench...great sideman

I could go on....and on...and on...