My Life, My Journey

last week I received an e-mail from a cool guy who had come across an old post on my favorite rock organ songs. Back when I wrote that I had been chillin’ after a long week, listening to “Hold Your Head Up” by Argent on the way home from the office (I needed something to hold mine up). That got me started thinking about organ solos I’ve liked over the years, or maybe not solos per se, since Greg Allman really isn’t an organ soloist (but the man can flat out play the organ), so I thought I’d make a list. Me and lists! So I made the list, and eventually that MSN Spaces blog went up in smoke, but not before I preserved the post on our web site.

The list at the time was kind of off the top of my head but I remmeber at the time thinking…”What am I missing?”…Ten Years After? Moody Blues?  Boston? Jethro Tull?

Well, the recent e-mail reminded me of one totally obvious songs I was missing - Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” I am not sure the organ on that song would be called a solo, but the story of it is so cool, and its not-quite-on-beat sound really makes the atmosphere of that great song, so I was very bad in leaving it out. Very very bad. And I realized I left out “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” I listened to DP’s “Lazy” on my iPod walking the other day (september 200*). Yes, I dig that song, and yes, outstanding organ solo.

I’m leaving piano and “keyboard” out on purpose, so that excludes a lot, but still, these are songs on the edge of my mind from the old days.. I can hear that organ or synthesizer playing!

So, who is playing organ today, anybody? The Wallflowers do. Who else. Help me out here! Any suggestions?

Do It Again, Steely Dan, Can’t Buy a Thrill
Get Back, The Beatles (Billy Preston), Let It Be
Green Eyed Lady, Sugar Loaf Sugar Loaf
Hoedown, ELP, Trilogy
Hold Your Head Up, Argent, All Together Now
House of the Rising Sun, The Animals Absolute Animals 1964-1968
In A Gadda Da Vida, Iron Butterfly, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
In Memory of Elizabeth Reid, The Allman Brothers, Eat a Peach
Lazy, Deep Purple, Machine Head
Like a Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited
Mean Mistreater, Grand Funk Railroad, Closer to Home
Oye Come Va, Santana, Abraxas
Promenade, ELP, Pictures at an Exhibition
Riders on a Storm, The Doors, The Best Of The Doors
Roundabout, Yes, Fragile
Stormy Monday, The Allman Brothers Band, Live at Fillmore East
The Low Spark of High Helled Boys, Traffic, Low Spark of High Heeled Boys
Where the Streets Have No Name, U2, Joshua Tree
Whiter Shade of Pale, Procol Harum Procol Harum
Won’t Get Fooled Again, The Who, Who’s Next

OK, after I posted this, but before the aggregator could pick it up, I “You Tubed” “Great Rock Organ Solos” and got these two cool compendiums…

The Greatest Hammond Organ Solos I
The Greatest Hammond Organ Solos II