I've Heard That Song: So Funky and Smooth.. It's Gotta be a Hammond Organ!

So last night, I was offered to go see The Roots at Highline Ballroom in NYC. I have seen them a couple of times, so I didn't think I'd be missing anything. Oh, but I did. And it's quite ironic too. I started yesterday's SOTD on the Hammond Organ. Well lo and behold, the special guest last night with the Roots was, Booker T. Jones, of Booker T and the MGs fame. One of my favorite bands. He plays a Hammond M-100 and is quite famous for it. Just my luck.

So here is the dedication to the Hammond Organ.

If you've ever listened to any soul or prog rock from the 60s and 70s, you've definitely heard it before. It was originally designed in the 30s as an altertative to the big bulky pipe organs used in churches, but made it's way into jazz in the 50s.

It's not completely electronic, but electro-mechanical. The keys activate Tone Wheels that rotate over an electro-magnetic pickup to create the sound. Above the keyboard, Draw Bars are used to change the quality of sound by picking up or dropping the tonearms, much like a EQ on a stereo. There are two sets of alternate colored keys on the left side of the keyboard. These are uses as presets to adjust the tone of the sound being played.

The keys are not weighted and the earlier versions have keys designed in a "waterfall" fashion. Meaning, they have rounded edges, instead of a lip that piano keys have. This makes it easier for the organist to run up and down the keys and they developed Hammond specific techniques.

Some Hammonds have an internal speaker, but 99 percent of music recorded on a Hammond used the Leslie Speaker (picture and diagram below):

Looking at the diagram, the horns at the top produce the treble sounds and the speaker at the bottom is the woofer. The horn at the top spins as the sound is pumped from the treble speaker a nd the woofer pumps its sound into the wooden roater as it spins. The spinning creates an "chorus" effect if the setting is low, or a "vibrato" effect if set high. All of this adds to the distinctive sound of the organ.

Check out the videos below for the some good Hammond Songs. They are all the SOTD!!!

Booker T and the MGs - "Green Onion"
Booker T Jones (Hammond), Donald "Duck" Dunn (Bass), Steve Cropper (Guitar), and Al Jackson (Drums) were originally the house band for the Stax record label, an originator of Memphis Soul. They were integrated racially, which definitely caused some head turning in the early 60s. Their sound is so tight and smooth. "Green Onions" is one of those songs that you've heard before but never knew who performed it.