Who's your favorite Hammond Organist?

Question

Dan C just reminded me how much I love the Hammond organ.

So who's your favorite Hammond organist (you really can't go wrong here....)

Mine is and probably will always be Pink Floyd's Rick Wright.

Yours?

Wow, great answers!

ghotir82 : Glad you mentioned him, he's work as a bassist often overshadows his work with all his other instruments.

Dan C: Ops... must have broken into your brain. Ah well :0)

Answer 1

You must begin with the master Jimmy Smith..one of the first to really blast that B-3 or B-4 into orbit;
Stevie Winwood from The Spencer Davis Group gave us "I'm A Man","Gimme Some Lovin' ","Keep On Running" etc as well as when he was in Traffic eg "Feeling Good","Medicated Goo","Shangai Noodle Factory" from "Last Exit" ..a much under-rated record;
Booker T. Jones from Booker T.&The MGs..."Green Onions", "Time Is Tight" and..my god.."She's So Heavy" from " McLemore Ave"..a recreation of "Abbey Road" by the 'Memphis Mafia';
Brian Auger & The Trinity...and perhaps best of all..Brian Auger & The Oblivion Express..there is a "Live" double that is brilliant!;
Keith Emerson from the Nice and ELP,of course;
Vincent Crane from The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster and others..RIP;
Dave Greenslade from Colliseum and Greenslade..they have a song called "Sundance" from the first or second album..!!!(The guy who played on Steve Miller Band's "Song For Our Ancesters" from "Sailor" (68) was no slouch either!) I think that's all for now...

Answer 2

Check out "Fifty/Fifty" by Frank Zappa & The Mothers. Some truly awesome B3 work on that track. It's kinda a parody of the styles of big bands of that era like Deep Purple and their ilk, but the musicianship, as always with Zappa's material, is outstanding. One of the few tracks where you can hear a Hammond, a guitar and a violin trade solos. Mind blowing stuff :) Enjoy !!

Answer 3

Some great players noted here indeed.

No one has mentioned Mike Finnigan for obvious reasons.
Being one of the top session players in rock music history, he's also the best kept secret in the music industry.

His recording credits are endless having worked with amongst others; Hendrix, Dave Mason, Rod Stewart, Joe Cocker, Maria Muldaur, Les Dudek, David Crosby, Stephen Stills, DFK,and CSN.

But seeing him play (and sing) live is the real clincher.

Answer 4

Rick Wright is a fine choice, but my favorite is the Late Brett Mydland of the Grateful Dead. Awsome keys and his work on the Hammond was an incredible fit.

Answer 5

Georgie Fame
Billy Preston
Steve Winwood
Alan Price
Elton John
John Paul Jones {Led Zeppelin}
John Evan {Jethro Tull}

Answer 6

You stole my idea!

Just as well, I'll keep my five points, I'm only relunctantly giving you a star (just kidding).

But unfortunately wikipedia doesb't seem to distinguish between keyboard players and and organ players, so I'll say Dave Greenfield of the Stranglers because he's the only one who I can find. Point is I love the sound in the right song, especially psychedelic songs, even though I have no idea who's playing them.

Edit: Changing my answer to Jerry Harrison of the Modern Lovers. His performance on the song "Roadrunner" alone is enough to make him legendary in my book.

Answer 7

Can't believe nobody mentioned Felix Cavaliere of The (Young) Rascals. He's a fantastic keyboard player, plus he can sing!
I seen him a couple of years ago and he is still playing his original Hammond from the 60's! It looked pretty beat up but sounded great.

Answer 8

Gregg Allman
Steve Winwood

Answer 9

I like listening to Jon Lord of Deep Purple play the most.

Answer 10

Tom Scholz