Big influence on me and probably the reason I dragged a B3 around for so many years. Actually named my first dog Rascals Enjoy


Bill

That is such up beat, energetic, and "feel good" music. There a lot of great music from that era for sure. I like Ray Manzarek,
of The Doors. He had some very creative musical ideas and and gave the band such a unique sound. Thanks for sharing your influences!

Thanks for that Rascals link Bill. Forgot how good they were...and still are!!!

And yea Felix Cavaliere, on the Hammond and vocals is awesome

Ain’t no substitute for The King... the Mighty B3!

It was the core of most jazz and pop music for 30-40 years, until synths, really. Nailing that warm sound is an essential part of being a well rounded player. And one thing so many of us forget...

You absolutely CANNOT nail it without a swell pedal, preferably long throw. And no sustain pedal! Velocity sensitive organ sounds are terrible, as are organ sounds that are always overdriven. The swell pedal took the Hammond from sweet and smooth to snarly and rough, and without one of those, it really doesn’t matter if your arranger’s Hammond sim is accurate or not..!

Pump it up! 🎹😎🎹

Bill, as you know, I too am a "Hammond" fanatic - been playing one for 50 years (and still haven't gotten any better ). To add to what Diki was saying about the Expression pedal (yes, definitely MUST be 'long-throw'), in addition to adding those 'special' dynamics to the main organ tones, it (along with the pedal tap) is essential for those trying to get that 'Jimmy Smith/Jack McDuff/Jimmy Mcgriff' bass sound when playing this kind of 'Fatback' music. It's just a simple shuffle beat really, but with an extra dose of syncopation (aka 'groove'). It sounds best on a real Hammond (naturally) but you can come close with a high-quality clone w/pedals that you can configure like a real B3.

I threw something together to try to illustrate my point. Just straight blues changes and roughly based on a tune by my third cousin, Count Basie with the great Joe Williams on vocals - called 'Every Day I Have The Blues'. It's a little sloppy, one overdub, no corrections, no mixdown. Sounds best through bass-heavy monitors or headphones.

https://app.box.com/s/66pdsgzrb2nxjsf56vjhw7k2x8lhfnus

chas

That was sweet!
I had a B3 years ago, playing in bars and restaurants, but never really learned it well. All of these years later(45), I bought a Suzuki Hammond SK1. with a Yamaha FS6 pedal. I would love to have the registration to get close to the sound if I can.

Bernie

My man....SWEET! I still use a B that's parked at the Alumni Club. Maintenance and moving costs about equal the income generated, but there's nothing better. Luckily, a country preacher and his son work part-time at the club, and they move the equipment between floors and even turn the stuff on. They have an M-1 at the church. I gave them one of my old 145's.

Felix was supposed to play for a client of mine at a summer NAMM in about 2008. Was going to work with John Sebastian the endorser of the client's amplifier (Burris amps)and the guitar player from Conan O'Brian. Felix got delayed...I rally looked forward to meeting and playing with him.

Got a serious love/hate thing for B's.

Russ

Chas- very nice swinin' feel! But wait, Count Basie is your cousin ?!?
No wonder you can swing! But, yeah, I'd love to hear more about your relation to Count Basie. Definitely one of my favorite big- bands!

Chas --- Cousin to count Basie! ever meet him ? I do that tune too as a vocal. really nice comping on the organ and backround horn lines as well as the solos, but how come you didn't give the organ some solo love !
Years ago I went to a few of the organ jams at Symphony Hall in Newark NJ. Got to see Jack MCduff who had the new B3 ) , Charles Erland ( who used Jacks new B3 but couldn't work it at first ) Trudy Pitts, I believe Rhoda Scott was also there, and a few lesser known but very good Hammond Players.
Yes I think you can do great things with todays clones. Wish we had them back in the day. Even my BK9 with pedals does a decent job, one of the reasons I like it so much.
Thanks and give us some more, never get ehough B3 grease.

Capt.
Nice that you get to still play a real B3. I'm passively looking for a church with one and maybe look into doing some services. I love Gospel.
I've met Felix a few times when he was touring with his own group "Felix's Rascals" I lent him my B3 for one of the gigs at a dinner theatre where we were the house band in the lounge. At the time I was leaving the leslie home and was playing the B through one of the first leslie clones the "Full Rotor", to an Ampeg 4X10 bass amp. Great power and really kicked out the bass (I played pedals) as well as handling my Rhodes. Felix didn't like it but he was very gracious and gave me a nice signed program after the show. Met him later at another show in Atlantic City and we laughed about the infamous Club Bene in NJ.
Its a shame that tour died so quick, it was sold out all over and people went crazy at the show, 2.5 hours of pure fun. I feel it all over again looking at that video. Is Dino the coolest drummer you've ever seen ? Read Gene's Cornish's book "Good Lovin" and he explains what happened along with the whole Rascals history. Good read.

Yeah Bill, we lived about three or four blocks away from him in St. Albans, Queens (NY). Mid to late 60's if I recall. My aunt, Ellen Basie, was his first cousin so I'm not sure what that makes me...but something?? I guess . Probably distant but just enough to brag about . I have been to gatherings at his house though, and seen him many times in clubs in NY (in small combo format). I was always a fan of his big band work but not necessarily of his 'one-finger' piano work. It must have taken a lot of courage for him to do that album with Oscar Peterson. That would be like me pairing up with Joey D. for an album.

I felt like I'd travelled back in time hearing you mention my friend Charles Earland (I used to play in his Aunt's club in suburban Philly where he'd stop by occasionally; and Trudy Pitts - we used to always say that she was the only female organ player at that time that played like a man (whatever that meant). In any case, Trudy could lay down a groove with the best of them. I didn't know Rhoda Scott but I knew Shirley Scott very well. Philly, especially that area around Germantown, was loaded with great players at that time, probably as a result of the Settlement music school (Grover Washington, Jimmy McGriff, numerous others). Glad there are guys like you around that still remember the great music and musicians that came out of that era (when the B3 was KING). sigh', guess I still live in the past. Hold on to those memories, Bill, and talk about it with your students if you're still teaching.

chas

Bill, since you mentioned Trudy (if you lived in the greater Philly area I'm sure you've probably seen Trudy and hubby Mr. C, do their thing....but just to refresh your memory....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWx7sa5JgH0&ab_channel=MaddyTube

I said she played 'like a man', truth is, she could play most men under the table. She was one of the few jazz organist around that time who was classically trained.

chas

Trudy was great but didn't get to see her back in the day. Just the organ jam and when this llittle lady go behind the B she cooked. I do have picture or two of her at the concert.
BTw there is a Shirley Scott and Rhoda Scott. Rhoda went to Europe and hit it bigger then she ever would have in the states. Her doing an in house concert at a music dealer got me a great sale of a B3 we had. Had it shipped to the Netherlands, (guy had big bucks) He had it totally refinised and gone over and then I find out he DIDN'T PLAY jazz organ , just a bit of classical !! He just saw Rhoda and wanted THAT instrument.

BTW looked at the Rascals concert again and I don't think Felix was playing much organ. Organ jsut didn't sound right. The backup keyboard player was covering that and Felix did some piano on the keyboard on top of the B. Better for him to concentrate on vocals. Also no bass duties for him and three backup singers to help out, but it sounded great.
Highlight was Eddie doing "How Can I Be Sure" Great song and it was a show stopper. He actually did it better when we saw them and stopped the show for a good 10 minute ovation, and I believe the song list was also edited. One of my greatest concert memories.

Great post. I know my opinion is based largely on nostalgia but it just seems like both the music AND the musicians were BETTER back then .....and they did it without the help of computers. But hey, back then whiskey seemed stronger, girls were prettier, food tasted better, and we all played REAL music . Ahhh, I love how memories can enhance what life was REALLY like 'back then'.

chas

I think that, just like Rhodes, or clavinets, or Wurli’s etc., you stand a MUCH better chance of getting a clone to sound close to the real thing if you have ever played the real thing in the first place..!

Fascinating stuff from both of you about some of the greats. Sad I missed much of it except on vinyl!

My B3 days were a mixed blessing... LOVED the sound, HATED moving it! Damn thing nearly killed me on several occasions 😂