It has an undeniable sound. You can pick it out of the worst song and saves a many a bad recording. I love it.

Stones have used it on a few tracks as well. I wish they used it more.

Lee Michaels, Allman Brother, J. Geils made a living off of it.

Anyone feel the same?

Hmm, i'm not so sure...

without a Leslie, no it isn't.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-01-19 19:20 by His Majesty.

Yeah, I love that sound too. A great one by J. Geils for the Hammond is "Chimes" off of Blow Your Face Out. Also need to mention Steppenwolf's use of the Hammond ("Magic Carpet Ride", among others). Gregg Allman's B-3 is on display at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in Macon. Check it out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-01-19 19:22 by Elmo Lewis.

Was trying to think of Stones tunes with an organ. Post-LIB, the only one I can think of is I Got the Blues. I suppose there must be some others.

The J Geils guy was great. If you like jazz much, Jimmy Smith really wails on the B-3

Oof the hammond solo on I got The Blues is 'on it'!!!

The J Geils guy was great.

Seth Justman

Stones songs with a prominent Organ: "Can you hear the music", "She Smiled Sweetly", "Torn and Frayed". But the archtypical Hammond B3 sound (the one from "Gimme Some Lovin) is really only used on "I got the Blues".
But the "best" keyboard sound IMo is still the Grand Piano. With all the technology they STILL have not been able to reproduce the sound of a grand piano.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

Photo Alan Messer [www.rogerglover.com]

I agree that the grand piano is much more versitile. Bu the Hammond B-3, with the Leslies is incomparable. Lee Michaels, Procol Harum, Spencer Davis, Jimmy Smith, Allman Bros, Steppenwolf, Deep Purple (Hush) all of them made great use of the B-3.

ChelseaDrugstore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Stones songs with a prominent Organ: "Can you hear
> the music", "She Smiled Sweetly", "Torn and
> Frayed". But the archtypical Hammond B3 sound (the
> one from "Gimme Some Lovin) is really only used on
> "I got the Blues".
> But the "best" keyboard sound IMo is still the
> Grand Piano. With all the technology they STILL
> have not been able to reproduce the sound of a
> grand piano.

Forgot about the Rascals and the versitile Felix Cavaliere.

From an article by Glen E.Nelson:

Why The Hammond?
Even today, the influence of the Hammond organ is felt everywhere. Listen to any song on any given radio station, and it is a strong bet that you will hear someone banging away at a B-3. By the way, the B-3 is only one of the many different styles of organs that the Hammond company produced, among which were also the Chord organ and the Spinet organ. This one just happened to be the most "portable", if you can call it that, and it really had the best sound, today what we would call the "classic" Hammond sound. The Hammond is used in all types of music, from Gospel, to Blues, to Jazz, to Funk, to Rock. My first real exposure to the organ was early in my musical career when I was still listening to Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Yes almost exclusively, studying and memorizing every Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman lick that I could transcribe. (Especially Keith Emerson, who used to take his B-3 and throw it around the stage, ride it like a horse, set it on fire, stab it, or whatever else.) Back then I knew I loved the sound of the organ, but I never really realized it’s full capability until I reached college and was introduced to my first Jimmy Smith record, who is world renowned as the master of the jazz organ, and really the first musician to treat the organ as an honest-to-god instrument, and not just a novelty to be thrown in at sporadic times, the way Count Basie did back in the early fifties. My friend popped in the album Organ Grinder Swing, and said, "Check this out - this guy solos with his right hand, comps chords with his left, plays bass lines with his left foot, and controls the volume with the right." I must have said something like "Yeah, right". Not only was this man doing everything that my friend had described, but he was also soulfully moaning and wailing to the music that he was creating, and I knew immediately that this was something serious that I had to know more about. Four years later, and I consider myself to be a full time jazz organ player. Jimmy Smith, though, was not the only one to make a name for himself playing the Hammond. Among the many in jazz, funk, and rock are Richard "Groove" Holmes, Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Joey and John DeFrancesco, Shirley Scott, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Larry Young, Don Patterson, Paul Shaffer, Don Pullen, Larry Goldings, 'Big' John Patton, Booker T. Jones, Billy Preston, Merl Saunders, Ray Manzerek, Jon Lord, Fats Waller, and so many others. I have had the opportunity to take lessons with both Dr. Lonnie Smith and Larry Goldings, and let me assure you that these men take the instrument very seriously, and that they are monstrous musicians, capable of doing amazing things. I have also had the opportunity to meet Jimmy Smith at a club in Boston, and let me assure you that the man, although intense, is completely insane.

The Leslie:


There is one more thing that must be described if we are to fully appreciate the character of the Hammond, and that the is the Leslie tone cabinet. The organ needed an external speaker in order to be heard, and it also needed one specially designed that had rotating speakers, so that the vibrato effects in the organ could come out. Besides, the organ had a special multi-pin output that could only be connected to a tone cabinet, a conventional amplifier would never have worked. The Hammond company actually designed several tone cabinets of their own, but they never caught on as well as the similar model produced by the Leslie corporation, which simply sounded better anyway. In the early days, there was a sort of rivalry between the two companies going on, but not long after the Leslie pretty much became accepted as the standard. Even Laurens Hammond, who publicly pooh-poohed them had his own home organ coupled with a Leslie. Like the organ itself there were a lot of varieties of these speakers, but one of the most commonly used models was called the Leslie 122, which stood around six feet high, and had two rotating treble horns at the top of the cabinet, a bass woofer inside, and another pair of rotating horns at the bottom. The rotation of the horns were continuous, and they only had two speeds, fast and slow. When moving slow, which they most often do, is when the clean, pure organ sound comes through. But when the fast switch is activated on the console of the organ, the speakers pick up speed, eventually going as fast as they can, and that is the classic huge Hammond vibrato sound. A Leslie is really something to hear close up. It is a very loud and a very powerful sounding speaker. Someone at the controls of an organ has a lot of power at their disposal, not to mention the possibility of overdrive, which is a common sound used by organ players. This happens when you maximize the volume on the expression pedal and the Leslie distorts, which is very effective, but should probably only be used sparingly. Most organ players preferred the sound of stereo Leslies, but one would work just fine. Some other models were made that were smaller and more portable, and it often depended upon the tastes and needs of the players themselves. Some players preferred the sound of the Leslie if only the bottom horns rotated instead of both, or the other way around. Some players combined other speakers, like bass cabinets, in conjunction with their Leslie. The way you set up your Leslie was almost as important as the drawbar settings themselves.

The Hammond B3 with Leslie

One more Stones with an organ - "You Don't Have To Mean It".

It's the Leslie that makes it sound so special.

If you can stand Uriah Heep, listen to the organ in "Circle of hands".

Saint of Me is a more modern example of the use of Hammond by the stones.

Of all the keyboard instruments. my favourites are the Hammond, the clavinet and the piano. One of my friends plays hammond (very well) and al I can say is that the sound of a LIVE hammond with Leslie blows the socks off anything!

Except pedal steel guitar that is...

So true, sjs, 'live' they sound so awesome - a real Hammond played through a real Leslie.

Imagine The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" without the organ?

Also used to great effect and reinvented in the punk era of all things by The Stranglers

"I'll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon."

I used to see Jimmie Smith play every time he'd come to LA starting around 1999 (Catalina Bar & Grill)...and man could that man play. Here in San Diego, I had tix to see him in a tiny bar...got a call from the owner...Jimmie had his stroke...show was off. About two years later or so, I caught him again in LA...but he had totally lost his chops...he died about a year later. Jimmie Smith is one of the most underrated musicians ever...that man was pure magic. I recall an interview with Alfred Lion's wife (Blue Note owner...he & Francis Wolff) talking about how Alfred came home one day & said "I'm getting out...I'm selling my share of Blue Note". His wife said "what...why?". Alfred says "I just saw the most amazing musician I've ever heard, Jimmie Smith. I'm going to sell out & roadie for him, just so I can hear him play every night". Now THAT sums up how good this man was.

P.S. Catch Mose Allison as many times as you can...pure genious.

There's more organ on Stones music: Time is on My Side, She Smiled Sweetly, YCAGWYW, You Got the Silver, lots on Satanic. Jack Nitsche played organ on some early tracks, Nicky Hopkins played organ later on. Starting from '73 Billy Preston took a B3 with him on tour, and you hear all over Brussels Affair for example.

Mathijs

Blow a B3 through two leslies and it's starting to sound what it's supposed to sound like (requires a good musician). In my opinion it makes a big differences whether there are one or two leslies IF you working with a good organ player.

Are there any Stones songs that you wished were recorded with a Hammond B3? Or, is there an entire album that you think would have changed the entire sound on if a B3 was used?

MAC on the Faces "Sweet Lady Mary"

Great chirpin' B3

Thedre are some great feelings that come from playing music. Hitting a powerchord on a sixstring electric guitar througha Marshall stack with the tubes just screeching, a lot of Bass EQ; with the guitar itself so redhot that you only look at it and it already starts screaming. Another is sitting behind an authentic Hammond Organ that is hooked through a Leslie and go.

"...no longer shall you trudge 'cross my peaceful mind."

...... what about the farfisa ...

sdstonesguy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I used to see Jimmie Smith play every time he'd
> come to LA starting around 1999 (Catalina Bar &
> Grill)...and man could that man play. Here in San
> Diego, I had tix to see him in a tiny bar...got a
> call from the owner...Jimmie had his stroke...show
> was off. About two years later or so, I caught
> him again in LA...but he had totally lost his
> chops...he died about a year later. Jimmie Smith
> is one of the most underrated musicians
> ever...that man was pure magic.

we saw him a month before he died - at iridium in new york - i didn't know enough about him to know how good he was (or wasn't) sounding...

> P.S. Catch Mose Allison as many times as you
> can...pure genious.

i saw him in chicago in the late 80's - he was fabulously fun - i'm glad to hear he still tours a lot!

Hungarian Hammond Hardrockers:

P Box, P Mobil, Skorpio, Taurus
To some extent: L.G.T, Omega, Hobo Blues band

Will fill in more later.

Hungarian heavy rock from period circa 1973-1985
is like an echo from Western period circa 1966-1974,
only that Omega more walked in the Western pace 1968-73.

A must listen!!

"Chest Fever" - The Band

Hammond B3 really rocks when you can just - I mean just, make it out in a mix.
Chuck L. gives some tastefull examples on Black Crowes - Shake your Moneymaker