That Sound! : The greatest rock bands with that organ sound

In the 60s one distinguishing feature of the mainly guitar based bands was augmenting the group with an organ. These were the days when a keyboard player in a band would be constrained by hauling a piano around as electronic keyboards were still in their infancy. Despite that, the hefty Hammond B3, C3 and smaller M100 series were used in concert.

An alternative to the larger and richer sounding Hammond was the portable Vox Continental and the Farfisa with their economical, unique “tin can” sound. Along with the Hammond, the whammy bar, the 12 string Rickenbacker, the Fuzz Face, the Wah Wah, the Vox and Farfisa are the most distinctive sounds of the 60s.

The origin of the organ sound in the sixties can be traced back to the records of Booker T and MGs, Ray Charles, and Jimmy Smith whose organ sound emerged from black gospel and jazz. Taking the organ out of the church and into the arena of popular music, these artists’s work inspired aspiring musicians here in the USA and across the pond.

With the British Invasion of 1964, the Animal’s “House of the Rising Sun” predominant hook was the Vox Continental organ. Soon the sound of the Vox graced the recordings of countless garage bands, and featured on the string of hits by Paul Revere and the Raiders, Sir Douglas Quintet, and the recordings by the Doors.

In 1965 Al Kooper slipped into a Bob Dylan session and played the memorable organ riff on the Hammond. Dylan featured Kooper on organ to great effect on his classic rock recordings from 1965 to 1966.

Spooner Oldham’s organ work on “Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman”  in 1966 seems to have inspired the English keyboard based band Procol Harum’s Summer of Love hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale”. No other group in rock featured such inspired organ work, thanks to Procol’s Matthew Fisher; especially evident in their first two albums “Procol Harum” and “Shine on Brightly.”

Along with aforementioned Doors, the organ emerged as a prime instrument to the emerging American “underground” sound of Country Joe and the Fish, Iron Butterfly, and the Steve Miller Band. Dylan’s back up band on the 1966 tour emerged as the Band, and featured Garth Hudson on Lowrey organ. The band Santana used the Hammond as well as the vocal skills of Greg Rollie as a basis of their early sound. Another band noted for their guitar sound, the Allman Brothers, is really anchored by the Hammond of Greg Allman. Hard rockers like Deep Purple were powered by Jon Lord’s Hammond, and Led Zeppelins John Paul Jones bassist also doubled as their organ player on key tracks.

Invasion bands like the Dave Clark Five, Spencer Davis, Zombies, and Manfred Mann all featured the organ. Post invasion bands and progressive bands such as the aforementioned Procol Harum, Traffic, Brian Auger, Atomic Rooster, Gentle Giant, Rare Bird, Spooky Tooth, Strawbs, innovators Soft Machine and terry Riley, and powerhouses like Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Pink Floyd and Yes bathed their records in rich Hammond B-3 sounds.

In soul the afore-mentioned Booker T, Isaac Hayes, Sly Stone all played organ. And who can forget the ultra-cool organ on Al Green’s early 70’s mega-hits and the long organ intro to Timmy Thomas’s “Why Can’t We Live Together?”

By the late 70s synthetic sound and portable synth equipment began to replace the organ and attempted to copy the organ sound with samples. However keyboard players across the globe all acknowledge and crave that genuine “B-3” sound.

A list of notables- feel free to add.

? And the Mysterians

Al Green

Allman brothers

Animals

Argent

Atomic Rooster

Booker T. and the MGs

Brian Auger

Caravan

Dave Clark 5

Dave Mason

Deep Purple

Doors

Emerson Lake and Palmer

Genesis

Gentle Giant

Iron Butterfly

Isaac Hayes

Kansas

Led Zeppelin

Lee Michaels

Manfred Mann

Paul Revere and Raiders

Pink Floyd

Procol Harum

Rascals

Rare Bird

Renaissance

Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs

Santana

Sir Douglas Quintet

Sly and the Family Stone

Small Faces

Soft Machine

Spencer Davis Band

Spooky Tooth

Steam

Steely Dan

Steppenwolf

Steve Miller Band

Steve Winwood

Strawbs

Swinging Medallions

Terry Riley

The Band

Three Dog Night

Traffic

Vanilla Fudge

Yes

Zombies