Dirk Star
Group: Members
Posts: 1331
Joined: Sep. 2007 |
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Posted: April 29 2009, 05:36 |
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Jim,I`m right with you on ELP there,those guys were crying out for a "proper" guitar player imo.I guess they probably thought there were enough "big egos" in there already I suppose.And of course it did make them unique in some respects for the time.But I actualy prefer to listen to The Nice than ELP,who of course did have a guitar player.Albeit not a very good one admitedly.But coupled with keith`s Hammond you can kind of hear what ELP could`ve been for me but never quite became.I get kind of the same feeling listening to early King Crimson as well.
I think I first started getting into Hammond players listening to Ian McLagen on the early Small Faces records many years ago now.And then it was probably Tony Kaye on the first three Yes albums who really took my interest.Looking Around is still one of my favourite songs with a great big hammond riff in it.Plus all those "sunshine" harmonies,and Chris Squire`s rumbling bass,that song never gets old for me somehow.Despite the fact it sounds so dated I guess.
Then around about the mid-late 80`s over here,there was a kind of underground movement called the Medway scene.Where a number of young bands who were heavily influenced by people like the Small Faces & 60`s garage music really took my interest at the time.Unfortunalty it never really took off in the way that Britpop did a few years later.But a lot of those guys made some really exciting and fun records I felt.And then out of one of those bands(The Prisoners) came a guy called James Taylor(not the aor/you`ve got a friend dude).Who recorded a lot of revved up mod type versions of things like Mission Impossible,Blow Up and The Cat etc.Anyway Taylor has done all kinds of stuff since then,not always to my tastes I must admit.But he`s still probably my favourite and most consistent hammond player that`s out there.And it was through Taylor that I got into people like Jimmy Smith,Jack McDuff,Jimmy McGriff and Charles Earland etc.As well as a lot of old library and soundtrack music,and hammond players such as Alan Hawkshaw who is another favourite of mine.I mean a lot of their stuff can be quite cheesey,and just plain dull at times I guess.But when any of those guys are really "on",and in the right musical setting I could listen to them all day.And much to the annoyance to my wife I quite frequently do in fact.
In recent years the hammond has kind of been revived again through people like The New Matersounds,Speedometer and Cookin` On 3 Burners.These guys are more kind of rare/groove soul orientated,rather than the Acid Jazz based stuff of the 90`s.Kind of like The Meters or Booker T and The MG`s except much more ferocious and musicaly talented to put it simply.But yeah I love a lot of their stuff.Oh and Captain Hammond or The Men From Spectre those guys are superb.The kind of music that always puts a great big smile on my face...Play it loud!
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remember when the first moog synths came out? really phat sound, my friend blew out a window! too much reverb! deb 
i love the distinctive sound of the hammond, the newer organs just dont have that...whatever it is@ jim lol just picturing that guy running for his life! bet there were strained conversations the rest of the tour, fancy letting him walk! not nice,deb