The use of keyboard playing in live shows is awesome. But what kind does Chuck use?

I don't think profanities are allowed in here.

i know chuck has a hammond B 3 organ that he uses .he can play the heck out of it !

I think it's a Schoenhut.

Casio..

It's the Plinkety Plink brand.

In answer to the question, I believe it is a Korg keyboard that Chuck plays.

A Yamaha CP series, atleast at the Toronto concert on the 25th.

You can make it out in the video.





[usa.yamaha.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-01-19 00:23 by MingSubu.

Sounds like Fisher Price.

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ryanpow
In answer to the question, I believe it is a Korg keyboard that Chuck plays.

Yes it is a Korg that Keith likes to finish Chuck's solo on when performing Honky Tonk Women.



Clear view of Chuck's setup.

Man, Korg should sue Chuck for depreciation of commercial brand...

I hope these cheap, gratuitous comments about Chuck made the people who wrote them feel better about themselves, because they sure don't bother him.

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Long John Stoner
I hope these cheap, gratuitous comments about Chuck made the people who wrote them feel better about themselves, because they sure don't bother him.

Gotta say I'm surprised he uses an M-Audio keyboard -- I thought (still think) it's a budget brand for hobby players. (I have two M-Audio products and they work great, but I'm not in the same league as Chuck.)

This is what I dont get about Leavell: a band the stature of Stones can easily haul or demand a grand piano and a B3 at all locations. I mean, the Faces did it in 70s when they played for beer money. And he CHOOSES to play a Korg? Stones music?

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Palace Revolution 2000
This is what I dont get about Leavell: a band the stature of Stones can easily haul or demand a grand piano and a B3 at all locations. I mean, the Faces did it in 70s when they played for beer money. And he CHOOSES to play a Korg? Stones music?

I don't play piano beyond a one-finger version of Layla. However, a friend of mine who used to tour with a B3 and now plays a Korg onstage told me once that it's a major pain touring with heavy, cumbersome old school keyboards. Robert Fripp (see liner notes of King Crimson's Great Deceiver box set) and Bill Bruford (see his autobio) note the inconveniences of touring with Mellotrons and B3s. All was not bliss for musicians who toured with grands and B3s. There were frequent complaints about the difficulties of miking a grand piano for a large venue. Many keyboard players switched to those awful Yamahas and other smaller, more versatile electronic keyboards as alternatives. Even Mac used a Yamaha in 1978!

Chuck probably uses a Korg for reasons of familiarity, consistency, and ease of transport and setup, as well as its ability to get a lot of sounds out of a single instrument. Adapting to a different grand piano or B3 at all locations requires becoming familiar with a different instrument (with its attendant quirks) on short notice at every stop, tuning and miking the piano, etc. With electronic keyboards, it's a known quantity that you set up, and it's ready to go.

It's hardly perfect, but my guess is that Chuck does not make this call by himself. The Stones apparently believe that it suffices for a large venue setting (where bad sound is the rule, not the exception) with a lot less headache than a different grand or B3 in every port.

The Stones touring operation is a machine that depends on the smooth running of thousands of parts. They probably prefer to minimize the number of variables that might interfere with the smooth running of that machine.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-01-19 21:16 by ab.

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Long John Stoner
I hope these cheap, gratuitous comments about Chuck made the people who wrote them feel better about themselves, because they sure don't bother him.

I agree.

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ab

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Palace Revolution 2000
This is what I dont get about Leavell: a band the stature of Stones can easily haul or demand a grand piano and a B3 at all locations. I mean, the Faces did it in 70s when they played for beer money. And he CHOOSES to play a Korg? Stones music?

I don't play piano beyond a one-finger version of Layla. However, a friend of mine who used to tour with a B3 and now plays a Korg onstage told me once that it's a major pain touring with heavy, cumbersome old school keyboards. Robert Fripp (see liner notes of King Crimson's Great Deceiver box set) and Bill Bruford (see his autobio) note the inconveniences of touring with Mellotrons and B3s. All was not bliss for musicians who toured with grands and B3s. There were frequent complaints about the difficulties of miking a grand piano for a large venue. Many keyboard players switched to those awful Yamahas and other smaller, more versatile electronic keyboards as alternatives. Even Mac used a Yamaha in 1978!

Chuck probably uses a Korg for reasons of familiarity, consistency, and ease of transport and setup, as well as its ability to get a lot of sounds out of a single instrument. Adapting to a different grand piano or B3 at all locations requires becoming familiar with a different instrument (with its attendant quirks) on short notice at every stop, tuning and miking the piano, etc. With electronic keyboards, it's a known quantity that you set up, and it's ready to go.

It's hardly perfect, but my guess is that Chuck does not make this call by himself. The Stones apparently believe that it suffices for a large venue setting (where bad sound is the rule, not the exception) with a lot less headache than a different grand or B3 in every port.

The Stones touring operation is a machine that depends on the smooth running of thousands of parts. They probably prefer to minimize the number of variables that might interfere with the smooth running of that machine.

That was probably true in the 70s, but with the apparatus around the Stones, as well as all the resources they have, transporting a grand piano is a walk in the park - especially for Chuck, who won't have to oversee anything - just playing it on stage.

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DandelionPowderman

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ab

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Palace Revolution 2000
This is what I dont get about Leavell: a band the stature of Stones can easily haul or demand a grand piano and a B3 at all locations. I mean, the Faces did it in 70s when they played for beer money. And he CHOOSES to play a Korg? Stones music?

I don't play piano beyond a one-finger version of Layla. However, a friend of mine who used to tour with a B3 and now plays a Korg onstage told me once that it's a major pain touring with heavy, cumbersome old school keyboards. Robert Fripp (see liner notes of King Crimson's Great Deceiver box set) and Bill Bruford (see his autobio) note the inconveniences of touring with Mellotrons and B3s. All was not bliss for musicians who toured with grands and B3s. There were frequent complaints about the difficulties of miking a grand piano for a large venue. Many keyboard players switched to those awful Yamahas and other smaller, more versatile electronic keyboards as alternatives. Even Mac used a Yamaha in 1978!

Chuck probably uses a Korg for reasons of familiarity, consistency, and ease of transport and setup, as well as its ability to get a lot of sounds out of a single instrument. Adapting to a different grand piano or B3 at all locations requires becoming familiar with a different instrument (with its attendant quirks) on short notice at every stop, tuning and miking the piano, etc. With electronic keyboards, it's a known quantity that you set up, and it's ready to go.

It's hardly perfect, but my guess is that Chuck does not make this call by himself. The Stones apparently believe that it suffices for a large venue setting (where bad sound is the rule, not the exception) with a lot less headache than a different grand or B3 in every port.

The Stones touring operation is a machine that depends on the smooth running of thousands of parts. They probably prefer to minimize the number of variables that might interfere with the smooth running of that machine.

That was probably true in the 70s, but with the apparatus around the Stones, as well as all the resources they have, transporting a grand piano is a walk in the park - especially for Chuck, who won't have to oversee anything - just playing it on stage.

I know zero about keyboards, but ab's points sound valid even nowadays. Especially considering that the used keyboards are good enough for more than 99% of the audience.

Apparently, there are more than a few of us who miss the real piano sound.

Listen to Stu on 20 Flight Rock in 81 and Chuck on HTW on any tour from 1989 and on to compare.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-01-20 21:58 by DandelionPowderman.

Nord keyboards make a very realistic piano sound and have sensitive weighted keys.

Why he doesn't use them I don't know!

(I think Jagger does in Worried About You?)

Would people prefer that he used a Vox Continental like Brian did?

[www.elviscostello.com]

Apparently, Mick Jagger is less than fond of Vox organs, or at least he was thirty years ago.

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His Majesty
Would people prefer that he used a Vox Continental like Brian did?

Or he could come front stage like Billy Preston:

Looks like a B3 to me

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latvianinexile
Looks like a B3 to me

Is that Stones stage?

Most acts have to make concessions because of size, weight, miking issues. But this is the Stones. They did it with a lot less money.
there are many acts a lot poorer than Stones who insist on touring with the real deal.

A real piano

This is only a theory:

Could the fact that there is no "real" piano on stage be due to the fact that the only person who ever told the Stones what to do is no longer around to tell them that they NEED a real piano? The person I'm thinking of is Ian Stewart.

Am I correct in thinking that, on all the tours where The Stones brought all of their own staging/equipment/etc there was always a "real" piano up until 1989/AFTER Stu died? (Surely there is someone here who can verify/deny that & I am not that person.)

Chuck, in his role of hired-hand, is in no position to push back against a desire to save space/time/technical difficulties by using electronic pianos as opposed to a real one (if that scenario even exists). In fact, he's far more likely to agree to using something that's "good enough" to please his employers.

I have no problem imagining a scenario where, if asked/told, Stu would tell his "three chord wonders", exactly what the difference between a real piano and an electric keyboard is. I've seen many pictures of Stu on stage playing piano with the Stones but I don't know that I've ever seen him playing a keyboard. (Experts?)

Bottom line: I wonder if the lack of piano is directly related to the lack of Ian Stewart. When cost is no object, there has to be another reason. Original band member/friend Ian Stewart gets a real piano on stage. Very important hired keyboard player/employee Chuck Leavell gets "good enough" electronic keyboard.

Plausable enough for my brain. Maybe some historical accuracy department IORRians can let us know if there are examples to proove/disprove the theory.

Peace,
Mr DJA

I don't get the hate for Chuck, he plays a great @#$%& piano and conducts the band because they're either too old or just don't give a shit anymore, Stu and Nicky are dead, get over it he's been with them for 32 years, they seem to like him, and they probably know better than a bunch of opinionated message boarders.

A real piano might not make that much of a difference sonically.