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Garth Hudson RIP

#22
I like the fact that he got all of the other members of The Band to pay him a nominal fee at the beginning so that he could reassuringly tell his parents that he was being paid to teach them.
I've got two Lowrey H25-3 organs which is the model he is playing in this clip. Anybody want one?
RIP Garth



He kept playing and producing after the Band. He's playing a CS-60 here. Got one of those too.



With Marianne Faithful featuring some tasty fretless work by Fernando Saunders

 
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#24
This man was a true original. I can honestly say that I can't think of anyone like him. Even among the others in the Band he was unique and the fact that they recognized this speaks volumes. Even his choice of instruments was unique. While so many were playing B3's he's playing a Lowery. I feel like he had so much knowledge and so much insight that he probably never got to express because the spotlight was on the other members. RIP my brother.
 
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#25
REV said:
This man was a true original. I can honestly say that I can't think of anyone like him. Even among the others in the Band he was unique and the fact that they recognized this speaks volumes. Even his choice of instruments was unique. While so many were playing B3's he's playing a Lowery. I feel like he had so much knowledge and so much insight that he probably never got to express because the spotlight was on the other members. RIP my brother.
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Yeah I remember getting into The Band a while ago and wondering *** on the "organ with the whammy bar"! Listening to him in recent years made me seriously consider taking piano lessons again, but alas I had to ditch my piano to move into a smaller place.
 
#27
winston said:
Yeah I remember getting into The Band a while ago and wondering *** on the "organ with the whammy bar"! Listening to him in recent years made me seriously consider taking piano lessons again, but alas I had to ditch my piano to move into a smaller place.
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Lowrey organs unlike the usual Hammonds have a switch next to the volume pedal that bends the pitch flat in its own distinct way when you lean left into it. It’s called a kick switch.
 
#29
In the late 80s I saw Garth play a solo concert in Worcester, MA at Mechanics Hall which was normally home to classical music and a popular spot for recording chamber music.

There was a grand piano on stage for him, on the back wall was a massive pipe organ. Garth walked out on stage to much applause carrying a pile of sheet music and a accordion, sat down, picked a sheet of music and started playing the piano. It sounded good but it was unclear what he was playing, sort of like a Keith Jarrett solo concert, improvising in hope of getting in the zone.. After a while he got up, walked over to the pipe organ and played the famous intro to Chest Fever, which got lots of applause. Then back to the piano and a few minutes on the accordion until after about 20 minutes without Garth saying a word to the audience, the promoter/MC came on stage and pulled the plug on the show.

I knew the promoter so I later asked him what happened. He said Garth showed up at the hall and asked him “What do you want me to play?” which was the first sign of trouble. Then Garth walked around the backstage storerooms where lots of sheet music was getting dusty on shelves, picking up whatever caught his fancy I guess. He was clearly not prepared to do a solo performance and the promoter probably expected instrumental versions of Band and Dylan songs. The promoter paid Garth who went out to his car and drove away. Drinking? Drugs? Eccentricity? Who knows. Oh well…

Definitely the oddest concert I have ever attended.

Pauly 4001 said:
Lowrey organs unlike the usual Hammonds have a switch next to the volume pedal that bends the pitch flat in its own distinct way when you lean left into it. It’s called a kick switch.
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My Mom bought a Lowrey that had that bender. The manual called it a steel guitar effect. There was a second kick switch that activated a wah-wah :woot: That organ also had the Repeat Marimba tab which is the sound you hear on the intro of Baba O’Riley by the Who (no, that was not a synthesizer!). Very interesting organs as long as you don’t need the sound of a Hammond. I couldn’t understand why it didn’t sound like Steve Winwood, Jon Lord, Keith Emerson, etc.
 
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