Rhodes54 Posted October 30, 2019 Share Posted October 30, 2019 Any of you ever play in a The Band tribute band or just know a lot about their Last Waltz gear? I"m playing a Last Waltz tribute this month, which I've done before but I want to get more authentic. This year, I"m in charge of ALL the parts EXCEPT for Garth"s Lowery, which another guy will be doing. So I"m looking for a comprehensive list of what keyboard parts (and on what gear) were played by BOTH Garth and Richard Manuel on EVERY song, even the guest artists. I"m lucky enough to own a real Clavinet ('Cripple Creek', 'Shape I"m In', etc) which I'm definitely bringing out but I"m hoping there"s a list somewhere of what synths, electric pianos, might have been used and on which songs (even the ones NOT in the movie) (I'll probably be using MainStage for everything else) Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 You can start here for gear lists: https://reverb.com/news/an-almost-complete-guide-to-the-gear-of-the-last-waltz Quote Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanczarek Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 There is some info here on which instruments were used on particular songs. Also some details about his accordions and saxophones. http://theband.hiof.no/articles/kerrin/ghs_keyboards_knz.html Quote C3/122, M102A, Vox V301H, Farfisa Compact, Gibson G101, GEM P, RMI 300A, Piano Bass, Pianet , Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, Matrix 12, OB8, Korg MS20, Jupiter 6, Juno 60, PX-5S, Nord Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Didn't Garth just not like Hammonds. I thought I read that somewhere or someone mentioned that here years ago? Quote "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Didn't Garth just not like Hammonds. I thought I read that somewhere or someone mentioned that here years ago?Yeah, he preferred the Lowrey, I think because of its pitch-bend capabilities, but also I think it had some idiosyncrasies that were closer to the church and parlor organs he grew up playing. The Band is one of my favorite, er, bands, and Garth is a virtuoso for sure, but his organ playing isn't always to my taste. Amazing, just doesn't always speak to me. He was doing some really crazy synth and effects processing on keyboards in a way that I think was really ahead of its time, though, especially when you realize that Big Pink came out in 1968! Maybe the Beatles were doing that, but in the studio, not onstage. Anyway, sorry to semi-derail the thread. I'll look over the gear lists shared here with great enthusiasm. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Threadslayer Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Didn't Garth just not like Hammonds. I thought I read that somewhere or someone mentioned that here years ago?Yeah, he preferred the Lowrey, I think because of its pitch-bend capabilities, but also I think it had some idiosyncrasies that were closer to the church and parlor organs he grew up playing. The Band is one of my favorite, er, bands, and Garth is a virtuoso for sure, but his organ playing isn't always to my taste. Amazing, just doesn't always speak to me... I just heard "The Shape I'm In" on the way in to work this morning and it made me cringe just like it always does when Garth gets his Lowrey fully enraged. His style is iconic and an integral part of all the Dylan and Band tunes of that era, but I just don't relate - at all. Particularly the weird warbling pitch bendy stuff. There. I've said it. I shall now be forever cast into the void. Quote Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Outkaster Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 No you didn't derail anything. He is a great musician but I feel the same way about his playing. Quote "Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello" noblevibes.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 My wife and I have listened to the "Rock of Ages" live album dozens and dozens of times (I think the summer of 2012 it was pretty much all that we listened to), and it remains one of our favorite records of all time. But every time we have it on the car and the eight minute organ solo comes up, we look at each other and wonder if we should just skip ahead to Chest Fever already. Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrokeys Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 Re: Garth Hudson and the Lowery. A few decades back I heard the story how Garth was asked how to be an original rock organist. He supposedly replied "Never own a Hammond B3 and never play a Jimmy Smith lick." Whether the story is accurate or not, his playing sure enforced the message. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PianoMan51 Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 Not sure I have a coherent view re: Garth, but over time I sometimes think that what he did gave The Band an almost spiritual foundation in Americana before gospel, blues, jazz, rock & roll, bluegrass existed. The organ is reminiscent of tent revivals. The horns seem to come from regimental bands of the civil war. The clav is a jaw-harp. And then season with some late 60s mind-bending craziness. A lot of the time what he"s doing is akin to taking a recently made b&w film, then adding sepia tone and flicker. And all this from a man who to all appearances might well have been better suited to a much earlier era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuelBLupowitz Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 Not sure I have a coherent view re: Garth, but over time I sometimes think that what he did gave The Band an almost spiritual foundation in Americana before gospel, blues, jazz, rock & roll, bluegrass existed. The organ is reminiscent of tent revivals. The horns seem to come from regimental bands of the civil war. The clav is a jaw-harp. And then season with some late 60s mind-bending craziness. A lot of the time what he"s doing is akin to taking a recently made b&w film, then adding sepia tone and flicker. And all this from a man who to all appearances might well have been better suited to a much earlier era.Love this. Great point. What you"re sort of saying is that Garth did for The Band what The Band did for the rest of the music community when they came on the scene! Quote Samuel B. Lupowitz Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legatoboy Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 Not sure I have a coherent view re: Garth, but over time I sometimes think that what he did gave The Band an almost spiritual foundation in Americana before gospel, blues, jazz, rock & roll, bluegrass existed. The organ is reminiscent of tent revivals. The horns seem to come from regimental bands of the civil war. The clav is a jaw-harp. And then season with some late 60s mind-bending craziness. A lot of the time what he"s doing is akin to taking a recently made b&w film, then adding sepia tone and flicker. And all this from a man who to all appearances might well have been better suited to a much earlier era.Love this. Great point. What you"re sort of saying is that Garth did for The Band what The Band did for the rest of the music community when they came on the scene! In 'This Wheels on Fire', Levon's book... it's made very clear Garth came from such an old world music family in Canada that he couldn't help bring that to the table ... I' m a software developer by trade, in Intl Banking years ago I had worked with a consultant who's parents were Classical Organists and tenured Professors at a University somewhere and he was a player also... one day in work he had taken a phone call from his Mom and a small argument had occurred on the call... The cat was making good dough programming a machine in Assembly Language... pretty esoteric stuff.. he must have been making a bundle programming the Chip's/Swift interfaces that the Ultra Richs $$ flows on worldwide and some of ours of course... I asked him if he every played a Hammond B3/Leslie.. and he said "Of Heavens No, I never touch anything Electronic''..(like I had said "Please Pass the Jelly"). So he was deep deep into the Classical Organ shed and then some, and his folks of course! Like '5 Easy Pieces' level of study! His folks were like 'What the F are you doing Son' he told me....why aren't you behind your ax... he said they didn't understand the computer jockey gig at all.. told me that he loves music but this was an opportunity to make some serious dough...nice guy, very tall, like Chewbakka and hairy.. he could defiantly physically get around on a big Classical Organ like he was made for it ... That's pretty much where Garth's family was, I'm pretty sure from Levon's writing... they were French Canadian....Big European influence, Kerouac and his French Canadian Mom...Garth had to tell them he was giving the Band music lessons to get away from them. Garth's Sax playing and his Blues induced stuff on piano is fairly modern... he understand how to 'blow' and all that great American heritage jazz knowledge and traditions... he understands the Be-Bop lexicon coming out of NYC especially on sax I noticed...I think it's just where things were at when The Band made it in the late 60's with Virgil Fox doing 2 shows a night at the Fillmore East/West and such and Walter Carlos...Chick coming in w/ synths and Joe Zawinul I consider Garth and early pioneer in synth/organist with the best of them from the late 60's..... I think he saw the Lowery through that context,,, because a lot of those 'Stops' were very synthy ...and he used synths like that too later on a bit.... 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...
Threadslayer Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 The organ is reminiscent of tent revivals. The horns seem to come from regimental bands of the civil war. The clav is a jaw-harp. And then season with some late 60s mind-bending craziness. A lot of the time what he"s doing is akin to taking a recently made b&w film, then adding sepia tone and flicker. Love this. The only note I'd alter is that to me, the organ is reminiscent of a steam calliope. Quote Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect. -Mark Twain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Music Bird Posted November 2, 2019 Share Posted November 2, 2019 The Lowrey organs were big in Europe and SE Asia (there along with Farfisa Professional/VIP and Yamaha YC/Electones) during the 70"s. I always thought the organ in some songs I listened to was a Lowrey. Lowrey was a popular organ brand in Germany apparently. Quote Yamaha MX49, Casio SK1/WK-7600, Korg Minilogue, Alesis SR-16, Casio CT-X3000, FL Studio, many VSTs, percussion, woodwinds, strings, and sound effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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