Organ Hi Fi, Presenting the Unique Organ Styling of Jerry Mendelssohn Vol 3 Halifax Records HFLP 70
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- LIVING PROOF, Thouest Hammond needn't have a Leslie swirling Speaker to sound Grrrreat!!
ORGAN Hi-Fi Jerry Mendelssohn Vol 3 Halifax Records HFLP 70
Jerry Mendelssohn at the Hammond organ. As usual Jerry gives a very riveting performance, whether he is live or in the studio. What separates this record from many other Hammond organ records ( save Jerry's great playing) is that the record company decided to experiment a little bit, and so on certain sections of the recording the Hammond organ is recorded directly into the studio's mixing board and onto the tape, bypassing the speakers. The reason was to give the listener the experience that the organist gets when playing the organ and listening at the speakers. They proposed that because the organ was recorded direct that the speakers in the home of the listener would 'act like the speakers of the organ'. This recording method came with much criticism from those who contend that it is the rotating sound of the Leslie speaker which gives the Hammond it's signature sound. These folks missed the point...
The record is not recorded throughout this way, but only in a few places. The liner notes even describe when this happens in the song. It's actually a very well recorded and well played album. Personally I love all of those quirks that make a Hammond a Hammond. The key click sound on this record during the directly recorded sections is so alive! I'm certain it made plenty of new fans out of new listeners even if it didn't sit well with the purists.
Wow, I love this, thanks for posting this Paul ... great stuff.
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I used to have all three volumes in the series. One is red, one is green, one is yellow.
I think I have one other of his. I'll have to look. There is an Ep of his from early on , it's FS on E the bay. Tempted to pick it up. Jerry was with us until just a few years ago. He played out into his 90s! He made it to 99!
Yes indeed...recording directly from a Hammond amplifier is a really good way to get the true sound of a Hammond, and adding just a hint of the original Hammond fluid column reverb as I notice here adds just a touch of nice ambience. Jerry Medelssohn's playing style is excellent, a very welcome change from so much of what we hear on line today regarding the Hammond organ. His many varied sounds and his artistic use of the drawbars is a welcome change from the overused 88 8800 000 with the Leslie on chorale and the Hammond vibrato set on maybe C1 or C2 and the percussion on fast, third. For that matter the lack of a Leslie is also a nice contrast even though a Leslie is nice to have, but so often, it's overused. But I would guess that the Hammond that we hear on this recording may be an older instrument, perhaps a BCV or a CV without either selective vibrato or percussion, but Jerry's playing shows that neither of these features is necessary to sound great on a Hammond if you have a good understanding of what Hammond drawbars actually do, and if you have the keyboard technique and musical imagination that good Hammond playing requires. as the next commenter says "...great stuff."
I'm wondering if this is a Hammond G, government model. I see him pictured in his Navy uniform behind the Hammond. Although that Vibrato is pretty heavy, and the BC and G's had a second TW generator for Chorus. Did it get a Vibrato sound? Seems it wouldn't since no real wide modulation is happening to the main TW generator. Or is it? This pre-B3 playing has appealed to me the past 20 years or so. I find it far more expressive than B3 Jazz, which I used to like. Maybe I got burned out on it. I got the Jesse Crawford theatre organ bug and then found Pax41 ch..
I'm an early 1930's through 1940s movie fan. I guess that all adds up to the passion. Plus I have some older organs. A '58 Conn 815-Classic. Which in the 50's and early 60's it was Conn's multipurpose organ since the Conn Theatre organs weren't out yet. It really can get very theatre sounding. Especially when I have Leslies and two Wurlitzer Brass Horns going. I also play it through my Wurlitzer 310 Vibrato cabinet. It actually goes to my Wurlitzer 'Orgatron. A 1948 electrostatic keyed reed organ. I have about 9 organs. Had to pair down. lol My only Hammonds now is a 55 S6 Chord organ and a '72 Hammond X-66.
Oh' I keep forgetting I just was basically given a 2005 Lowrey Stardust recently ( pd 450). My brother thought of me one day when a friend whose dad it belonged to mentioned it to him. I still have to get it from my sisters up in Columbus. I almost passed on it, but then I heard Dennis Awe on the Lowrey Stardust. It sounds amazing to me. I never thought I'd care for digital. They came a long way that's for sure. The vid is:
*Dennis Awe - Sentimental Journey*
The Hawaiian song he plays sounds beautiful. You'll see a Hawaiian dancer he invited to dance to it.
@@paulj0557tonehead The sound of a Hammond chorus generator is very distinctive and not at all like vibrato. If you have or can access certain records by Ken Griffin, particularly one that I think was called "Romantic Waltzes," you will hear that effect when he uses an early Hammond with both vibrato and a chorus generator. The effect of a chorus generator is a little like Leslie Chorale, but different on every pitch and does not have any definite repetitive pattern. Interestingly, the chorus generator on a Hammond only generates from the second G above Middle C and up, so it has no effect on lower frequencies. It is rare these days to find a Hammond with a chorus generator, but today the effect can be done using digital pitch shifting, and shifting by +- 4 cents and combining this with the direct signal from the Hammond. This effect is much better than either Leslie chorale or an early Hammond chorus generator and affects all frequencies differently and its effect on lower frequencies is very subtle. I use it in some places on my UA-cam "Hammond Guy" videos.