cphollis Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 We've established that there's a reasonable number of folks here who appreciate the Grateful Dead from a keyboard perspective. But this summer, I landed with a Jerry Garcia Band group. Not the same thing, at least from a keyboard perspective. Bring serious B3 action, or suck. For most of the later JGB stuff, Melvin Seals was the man on B3. That's all he played. And Jerry went for it. Classic four piece. Just sayin' Jerry was the star, naturally. But when it was time for Melvin to bring game. he did. Very inspiring stuff in my genre Check it out at 6 minutes. Quote Want to make your band better? Check out "A Guide To Starting (Or Improving!) Your Own Local Band" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyn Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 I'll jump in on this... "The Master of the Universe," as Garcia called him, was the reason I fell in love with the B3! He's also a great guy and really easy to talk to.. I've met him like 3 times. Care to share any of his riffs, drawbar settings, or any quick tips you use in your JGB band? Also, with all due respect, I think there are many, much better solos that do Melvin more justice with regard to how incredibly freakin intense and soulful he is. He makes the B, C (and even Nords) scream and sing simultaneously Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legatoboy Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 My Buddy Michael Falzarano (Hot Tuna and New Riders) uses him a lot for his recordings and CD's. Michael was a sit-in player for almost 2 years with my old band, we played a lot of gigs together. I was supposed to do a gig with Mike and Melvin on one of Michael's gigs...I was going to be on piano, Melvin on Hammond of course! Never happened, but I still occasional get a call from Michael so maybe in the future at some point.. I really wanted to play that gig... the date fell through! Melvin and Pete Sears (on piano Starship, Rod Stewart solo +) are both mainstays from that SF crew ... there is kind of a NYC(and Woodstock Records)/SF connection . . . Quote CP-50, YC 73, FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrissey Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 I love Melvin Seals! This video may not be his greatest solo but you can't get more up close and personal than this! Solo starts around the 4 minute mark. Cross-referencing the thread last week on using multiple leslies, dig Melvin's stack of two behind him. [video:youtube] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottasin Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 he's an absolute monster. He's my absolute favorite thing to come out of the dead existing, I've never been able to get into them, but he's otherworldly. Had the pleasure of seeing him in person for the first time a few weeks back playing with Terrapin Flyer. My friends convinced me to... uh... 'get into the spirit of the Grateful Dead' for the show, if you will, and lemme tell ya, standing 15 feet away from that man's howling Leslie speaker is a beautiful experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyn Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 That video is sweet! Awesome close up. Thanks Scott And actually Melvin was who I was thinking of when I started that dual Leslie thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wineandkeyz Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 My introduction to Melvin Seals was Elvin Bishop's "Raisin' Hell" live album in 1977. The whole band cooked, but his work on B3 was amazing. Quote Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4: IEMs or Traynor K4 Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffKeys Posted August 14, 2017 Share Posted August 14, 2017 Melvin (and Brent Mydland) are the reason I play keys today, with an emphasis on B3! Legatoboy, I'm playing with Michael Falz in a band with some frequency these days. What was your band in which he used to play? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cphollis Posted August 14, 2017 Author Share Posted August 14, 2017 My piano chops are good, but I'm learning from Master Melvin on the B3. I'm not worthy. Yet. Quote Want to make your band better? Check out "A Guide To Starting (Or Improving!) Your Own Local Band" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrissey Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Would you folks please post some killer Melvin solos? This thread has prompted me to revisit JGB material, and much to my chagrin, I'm finding a lot of Melvin's soloing to be sloppy and/or unsophisticated. Melvin was a huge influence on my interest in the B3. But I have a strong emotional bond with JGB and want to make sure I'm not a victim of rose-colored glasses when it comes to praising him. I mean, I love Jerry Garcia, too, but I'd be hard pressed to post videos of him singing well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicale Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 He plays from a different place maybe the heart maybe the gut and I love listening to him especially with the JGB. Not a jazz player like JOS but in his own way a master. Musicale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffKeys Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 One of my favs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrissey Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Thanks, Jeff. That's soulful playing. I think I may have misremembered Melvin having Brent's chops. But I didn't misremember Melvin's soul, emotion, and visceral relationship with his Hammond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffKeys Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Maybe a better version: https://m.soundcloud.com/undermind1978/jgb-1989-09-06-nassau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrissey Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Yes, more tasteful varying of Leslie speeds, drawbar settings, etc. in the second version, although it is strikingly similar to the other solo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyn Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 I'll have to upload some. I can't right now. Maybe tomorrow. He is a beast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Tonewheel Posted August 15, 2017 Share Posted August 15, 2017 Saw him last year at the Ardmore Music Hall. Great show, and he's such an excellent and tasteful Hammond player. Talked Hammond with him at the break. A really friendly and nice guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyn Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Anyone else play with this type of style? Almost everyone here and when I look up videos plays Hammond mostly jazzy with really fast runs and scales and cool riffs and all but Melvin's style is so incredibly soulful with BIG chords and smears and such. I feel like he just unleashes the power of the B and the Leslie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Anyone else play with this type of style? Almost everyone here and when I look up videos plays Hammond mostly jazzy with really fast runs and scales and cool riffs and all but Melvin's style is so incredibly soulful with BIG chords and smears and such. I feel like he just unleashes the power of the B and the Leslie. Everybody has their own style, but I would give a listen to some of the usual rock/soul suspects - Steve Winwood, Gregg Allman, Booker T. etc. Also check out the gospel players. [video:youtube] Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cphollis Posted August 20, 2017 Author Share Posted August 20, 2017 For some reason, I seem to be drawn to the informally-trained play-from-the gut crowd. Maybe because I'm the same, dunno? Quote Want to make your band better? Check out "A Guide To Starting (Or Improving!) Your Own Local Band" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legatoboy Posted August 20, 2017 Share Posted August 20, 2017 Melvin (and Brent Mydland) are the reason I play keys today, with an emphasis on B3! Legatoboy, I'm playing with Michael Falz in a band with some frequency these days. What was your band in which he used to play? Jeff, It was 'The Kerry Kearney Band'...Michael would just be on the gig. I wouldn't know often till I got to the gig. Kerry and Michael I think knew each other from SF. But possibly Brooklyn.Manhattan prior. For about 2 years on and off actually a bit more and Michael was involved a bit with production of our (Kerry's )CD;s. .Played a few gigs with Buddy Cage also in that scene w Michael and KK. This was right after he left Jorma and Jack's HT in and around NYC and the Tristate sometimes Woodstock where Harvey Sorgum lives. ...Kerry was Marty Balin's guitarist for 5 years or so and played a few Starship tours with all of them Kantner and Slick etc ...tell Michael I said hello please Jeff. He was playing close to my house a few weeks back @Beau's Pub in Greenlawn LI, NY with 'Dead Sage'. My wife and I went down to say hello and hang.. told me the next time they were there to bring a DP! Michael such a great guy and easy going! I'm on this (Planet Blues), one of Mike's tunes he brought into to a KKB recording session. Tried to do my best B.Payne on it but my CP-300 action was so heavy, I have soso feeling about my playing on this track. This was a while ago, 10 years or so maybe: [video:youtube] I'm on Accordion on this on from The King James Sessions with Pete Sears on piano from Starship/Rod Stewart/Hot Tuna fame. Pete is Michael's long time bandmate from HT and good buddy. Pete and Melvin are his go to players for recording at least then they were! [video:youtube] Quote CP-50, YC 73, FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cphollis Posted August 20, 2017 Author Share Posted August 20, 2017 I've been playing and listening to Dead music for a long time; now I've started to become a JGB convert. For one thing, Jerry is more Jerry, and Melvin does the roots stuff justice. Brent playing B3 in the Dead had flash; Melvin brought soul. Put together a playlist and lovin' it. Quote Want to make your band better? Check out "A Guide To Starting (Or Improving!) Your Own Local Band" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrissey Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 I've been listening to a lot of JGB this past week, mostly to confront my concern above Melvin's soloing. I think I stand by my assessment. Melvin played solos infrequently in JGB, and when he did, he utilized a surprisingly small bag of tricks. BUT his comping is out of this world! So creative... so many different ideas. Jerry takes a 3+ minute guitar solo in almost every song. Melvin's organ is the only non rhythm-section instrument supporting him, and Melvin makes it sound super thick and, even more impressively, not repetitive or boring. Here is one of my favorite Melvin solos in JGB, starts about the 4:20 mark: [video:youtube] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legatoboy Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 that's a great album! Quote CP-50, YC 73, FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwyn Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 On that same album, you're not blow away by the lucky ol sun or Dixie down solos? They are mad intense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LX88 Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 I heard him with a so- so Dead tribute band a year or so ago and was impressed with his sound, which was top notch. He carries one of the best sounding road rigs I have ever heard. Nice chop and a couple leslies.... He handled the Dead material in a very crafty way. I would like to hear what else he can do in a different setting that featured him more. A major player , obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legatoboy Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 On that same album, you're not blow away by the lucky ol sun or Dixie down solos? They are mad intense I am blown away by Melvin...I don't play that way anymore on Hammond, I had a similar 'scream' to my Hammond playing in a previous life (still do a bit). But 25+ years of piano study have changed me up a bit.. I can really relate to Melvin though.. and believe me I wish I had played that gig with him. Quote CP-50, YC 73, FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morrissey Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 Resurrecting this thread to say this year I'm thankful for Melvin Seals. Dig that comping under the verse about the 2:15 mark! [video:youtube] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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