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Billy Joel on a Hammond


Outkaster

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I am not the biggest fan of Billy on here but this is interesting because you don't see him play organ all that much and he is actually pretty good at it. I read years ago that he wanted to play Hammond B-3 in a blues band and just kind of be in the background doing it. This is a cheesy arrangement from 1985 but check him out he is not bad:

 

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikdlrl8LTs4

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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I used to wear the whole gold suit. Pre British Invasion, (think Sha Na Na) Rock n Roll Review show. Don't wish to wear that again but I wish it still fit.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Most of his bands have Hammond players and most of his music has Hammond in it.

'55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D

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Most of his bands have Hammond players and most of his music has Hammond in it.

True you just don't see him perform on one that much is my point.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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Personally I really dig Bonnie Raitt, maybe my favorite female rocker and singer.

Rich Forman

Yamaha MOXF8, Korg Kronos 2-61, Roland Fantom X7, Ferrofish B4000+ organ module, Roland VR-09, EV ZLX12P, K&M Spider Pro stand,

Yamaha S80, Korg Trinity Plus

 

 

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In 1964 - 1967 by brother's band(s) would rehearse in our basement. My bro is a drummer. They were all 4 1/2 to 5 years older than me. I was still a kid of 12-13 in between studying accordion and discovering Hammond/Piano at the time ('67). Anyway the bass player brings down an album called the Hassels to play for the band to listen to for material. He kept going on about their singer and keyboard-player - Billy Joel. They played locally on Northern Blvd which runs from Cold Spring Harbor all the way into Flushing/Whitestone Queens where we lived. He just kept going on about Billy Joel. . .anyway this was the track I heard then from that Hassel's album: w/ Billy for most of the album as I recall on Hammond/Leslie:

 

Kind of a Vanilla Fudge/Rascals hybrid clone of sorts. VF were from Long Island also for the most part . . .

 

BTW the 'Parkway Diner' (from the BJ song) is a real diner in Bayside on N.B. and was a go to after gig diner for a lot of bands in the 60's and 70's including my old band . . .

 

Full Hassels Album w/Billy Joel . . .

 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

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I am not the biggest fan of Billy on here but this is interesting because you don't see him play organ all that much and he is actually pretty good at it.

 

looks like he's really enjoying himself behind the B3

:nopity:
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I was 21 going on 22 when I learned how to play a Hammond for the first time. Before that I didn't even know how to start one. I was a decent piano player but listening back my early organ stuff was absolutely horrific.

 

It aint cool to suck on an organ.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Funny,unlike most folks my first exposure to Billy Joel was as an organ player. Saw the Hassles on the Clay Cole show on WPIX out of N.Y. on a Sat. night. They lip synched "You Got Me Hummin' and the single from the first album "Every Step I Take Every Move I Make". Being a big Rascals and Vanilla Fudge fan I hightailed it to Caldor on Monday and got the album. Darn near wore it out in the ensuing years but it does still play. Searched for the follow up album ,"Hour of the Wolf", and finally snagged a copy in the mid 80s only to be really disappointed in it. It didn't have that stomping New Yawk feel that the first one had.

 

I naively searched for that Clay Cole clip for a few years online till I found out that WPIX had destroyed or discarded pretty much all of the tapes of their old shows. This was a very common and unfortunate practice at the time which has left loads of entertainment history lost to the ages.

 

Billy had and has some prodigious Hammond chops. After The Hassles he and Jon Small founded Atilla which struck me as a kind of Lee Michaels on acid attempt which tried too hard to be ultra heavy. Hits me as a little ironic since I'd bet that Lee actually did more delics than Billy,but who knows for sure? When he re-invented himself as the Piano Man I was a little bummed,but you can't argue with success.

 

Oh yeah,my Mom found the "uhhhhh"s in You Got Me Hummin' to be the epitome of obscenity. This,of course,meant I had to play the album louder and more often. :-) She's 94 now and to this day if I sing 4 uhhhhhs followed by an "Oh Lord" she knows exactly what it is and will most likely call me a dirty hog,a favorite expression of hers.

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looks like he's really enjoying himself behind the B3

 

This. He's quietly getting on with the job in hand, and taking pleasure in doing it well. Daryl's singing is great, but he looks bit too smug for my liking. Always liked Bonnie's singing - shame she didn't get a slide-guitar solo, that would have been interesting.

 

And (way-OT) that's the first time I've seen T-bone playing bass fingerstyle. I prefer him on acoustic guitar FWIW, loved some of his work on Live From Daryl's House. RIP.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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Pa Gherkin . . wow, great post, enjoyed that!

 

 

Hey,thanks. Really glad you enjoyed it. Those late 60s /early 70s NY area bands had a signature sound that I'm still crazy about. I played a lot of the clubs in the NY/LI area at that time and as you, know it was a great time and place for live music. It certainly was a great jumping off point for Billy.

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looks like he's really enjoying himself behind the B3

 

This. He's quietly getting on with the job in hand, and taking pleasure in doing it well. Daryl's singing is great, but he looks bit too smug for my liking. Always liked Bonnie's singing - shame she didn't get a slide-guitar solo, that would have been interesting.

 

And (way-OT) that's the first time I've seen T-bone playing bass fingerstyle. I prefer him on acoustic guitar FWIW, loved some of his work on Live From Daryl's House. RIP.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Smug was actually an integral part of Daryl's technique at that time I believe....

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