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The Hammond Organ

joolsburger said:
Done right is there anything funkier?

Can anyone point me in the direction of some quality funky hammond I have a few bits but could do with some help.

Thanks.
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The Prisoners - A Taste of Pink and Themizerweiserdemelza, Jamie Taylor when he was good.

Some great hammond playing on Blonde on Blonde.
 
I've been enjoying the hammond on Grant Green's 'Live at club mozambique'. The recording is a bit duff, but the feel is there, and the band are tight.

Cesare
 
There also a bloke you may not associate with anything really good, but who really surprises when you listen. This is Harry Stoneham.

He's got an eye for a dollar, in that he was sponsored by Lowrey Organs for his stint supplying the live music for Parkinson back in the day, but his first love was the Hammond, and there's no better example of his (dirty, English, understated B3) style than his "Live at Abbey Road" album (Harry Stoneham Trio: Grasmere GRCD55 1992).

He plays here with Paul Morgan on string bass and Terry Jenkins (drums). The accompanists are seriously good, the organ dirty and precise, and the whole thing sort of what Jon Lord might have done in an alternative future...
 
My mate Tom Szakaly has a house full of Hammonds and is just the sort of bloke you might need for advice / support / information

check out his site Noddy's Puncture

Dave
 
The Mohawks - The Champ LP is a monster Hammond classic (Hear The Champ played at this website - http://www.myspace.com/themohawksofficial) and the whole UK library scene produced loads of massive Hammond tunes best discovered on the Exlcusive Blend comp: http://www.discogs.com/release/467600 and Hawkshaw's comp: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00008RH9R/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

James Brown - Grits & Soul is great: http://www.juno.co.uk/products/190742-01.htm

So's JB's Bill Doggett LP: http://www.juno.co.uk/ppps/products/205295-01.htm&highlight=bill doggett

In fact, hearing The Champ again by the Mohawks I really don't think there's a better Hammond record in the world.

And I'm sorry, but I've done the McGriffs, Jimmy Smiths, Lonnie Smiths and all that serious stuff. It's only when you get into the British and Euro easy listening stuff that you hear the B3 on full chat!


Charlie
 
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Charlie, many thanks for the Mohawks link. It's filled a gap for me -- always wondered who did the fantastic Dave Allen theme; a wonderful piece that I don't think I've ever heard in full before, with the Hammond played in "slinky" mode. I don't think any of the examples are "full bore" exactly, but are actually quite restrained and very expressive. It'd be interesting to hear what James Taylor (JTQ) would do with these tunes.

I tend to cringe slightly at the notion of the Hammond as a featured instrument, as it can all go a bit Harold Smart. The player's the thing.
 
If I tell people I like the sound of the Hammond they tend to wrinkle their noses and look worried. Check out that Exclusive Blend LP and maybe dip your toe into the Euro Library music comps. Jack Arel is great. Tony Hatch - Herbin. Easy Tempo comps - The Psycho Beat.

Charlie
 
All the above artist are great, however the best of the lot for me is Charles Earland, his stuff is just class, seriously funky and his style is just effortless, he seems to make some of the other Hammond players sound flat and two dimentional.

Check out any of his albums, they all have fantastic tunes on them, I've got most on LP. If you wanna get a best off, you can't go wrong with the Soul Brother Record compilation, it's a 2CD set which came out a few years back.

Get a copy an lisen to the king of Hammond do his thing.

G
 
Mark EJ said:
I tend to cringe slightly at the notion of the Hammond as a featured instrument, as it can all go a bit Harold Smart. The player's the thing.
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To me only Jon Lord's Hammond sound is distinctive.
He runs them thru overdriven Marshalls.
Guitars thru overdriven Marshalls can sound beautiful.
Hammonds thru overdriven Marshalls sound painful.
 
Well, there are many opportunities for overdrive in even the standard Hammond works. Its built-in valve preamp picks up vibrations from the motor driving the tone wheel generators, and the spring reverb unit does the same -- both are certainly microphonic in the acoustic sense.

Jon Lord used to do unique things with the Hammond's output. Latterly (maybe 72-ish onwards) I think he had a custom preamp which included a ring modulator, and an output split between Leslies and "straight" amplification, with a pan control. The Leslie design is of course the source of a whole slew of astonishingly benevolent colouration in it's own right, with more motors and valve power amps in the same box, and the standard treble horn driver is often replaced with an Electovoice unit which stands up better to continued Lordism.

When playing lead, Lord was as you say exceedingly sharp, but he tended to choose the right notes to go with this. Equally, his swirly chords could thicken the background superbly. I reckon his starting point was almost Steve Winwood's approach (SDG: Gimme Some Lovin; intro), and he just developed it from that.
 
Have had a few of these recommendations delivered now and I have to say a big thanks all round - I'm all hammond'ed up and loving it. Nice one chaps.
 
Mark EJ said:
Well, there are many opportunities for overdrive in even the standard Hammond works. Its built-in valve preamp picks up vibrations from the motor driving the tone wheel generators, and the spring reverb unit does the same -- both are certainly microphonic in the acoustic sense.

Jon Lord used to do unique things with the Hammond's output. Latterly (maybe 72-ish onwards) I think he had a custom preamp which included a ring modulator, and an output split between Leslies and "straight" amplification, with a pan control. The Leslie design is of course the source of a whole slew of astonishingly benevolent colouration in it's own right, with more motors and valve power amps in the same box, and the standard treble horn driver is often replaced with an Electovoice unit which stands up better to continued Lordism.

When playing lead, Lord was as you say exceedingly sharp, but he tended to choose the right notes to go with this. Equally, his swirly chords could thicken the background superbly. I reckon his starting point was almost Steve Winwood's approach (SDG: Gimme Some Lovin; intro), and he just developed it from that.
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Was listening to 'Low Spark of High Heeled Boys', 'Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory' and 'On the Road' by Traffic last night. Some great stuff from Steve Winwood on organ on the two studio LP's. Even more surprising was his endless wah wah guitar solos on 'On the Road'. As groovy as 'Hot Rats' in places.

Another hammond rec would have to be Graham Bond - if not already mentioned on this thread. He did two studio LP's, one called 'Bond Betweeen Us', the other I can't remember right now. The one to get, though, is 'Live at Klooks Kleek', a latterday live CD (recently re-released) that really, really cooks. A good band on these LP's too; Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Dick Heckstall Smith. They're a bit like the Artwoods but much harder with more Blues and Soul. His later LP's are a bit different. 'Holy Magick' is the most sinister thing I've heard and I'm not remotely religious.

Simon
 
Simon;

Thanks very much for the Klook's Kleek recommendation. It had better be bloody good for the money! Shit! And it's a CD, FFS!
 
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Mark EJ said:
Simon;

Thanks very much for the Klook's Kleek recommendation. It had better be bloody good for the money! Shit! And it's a CD, FFS!
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Jeez, that's worse than Intoxica prices.

Find it here for less than a fiver.
 
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cromodora said:
Farfisa organ also.
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Yes, but only one of them -- now very rare, and as my brain is turning to mush I can't remember the model.

It had a single manual with "reversed colour" keys in grey & white, a top panel covered in coloured tab switches, and chrome leg tripods each end with swivelling joints so that you could angle the whole thing to be played standing up. TBH, it would have been nowhere without Farfisa (then part of Rank) doing a deal with Leslie, which elevated its sound into Hammond L/M or Vox Continental territory. It ultimately stopped short of the sheer aggression of the Vox, and lacked the machine grunt of the Hammond (especially post-abuse). Nice beast, though.

Edit: This one.
 
Roy Richies has turned me onto Toussaint McCall ....... oooo that hammond n' blues

Yup agree that Sevie Winwood and the live traffic recordings are exciting rock n roll with Hammond being almost the best instrument in the mix
 
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