JSngry Posted March 9, 2003 Report Posted March 9, 2003 Pun intended. Ok, I've been on this Ann Peebles kick lately, and that means Hi records, Willie Mitchell, the Hodges brothers, and, specifically, the hipper-than-hip organ playing of Charles Hodges. Now, I've got no idea what kind of soloist this cat is, and don't really care either. The accompaniments he plays on all those Al Green, Ann Peebles, and other Hi sides just blows me away, even today. His seems to be a Gospel-rooted concept. You know, how the organist will accompany the preacher during the sermon with litle fills and masssive kicks, depending on what's needed. Also, a lot of the stops he uses seem to come out of the church, but that's something I really don't know anything about. However, this is R&B, not gospel, and as has been noted to the point of cliche, pretty much the only real stylistic difference is that one's about God and the other's about Sex (flip sides of the same coin if you ask me...), and Hodges' organ punctuations virtually REEK of sex. With his brothers Teenie & Leroy on guitar and bass (respectively) and either Al Jackson (simply, the greatest pure GROOVE drummer in the history of R&B, no slight to Clyde Stubblefield, Jabbo Starks, Zig, or ANYBODY else intended) or Howard Grimes (who was, in a sense, to Jackson what early Max Roach was to Kenney Clarke - similar yet different) laying down that deep groove that is nothing if not the rhythm of some really SERIOUS copulation, Hodges' organ functions as the soundtrack for what the rhythm is creating - he hums, he moans, he groans, he stutters, he whispers, he screams, he does everything but call your name and scratch the hell out of your back. Anybody else dig this cat? Or the Hi sound in general? Quote
Harold_Z Posted March 9, 2003 Report Posted March 9, 2003 Yeah...I definitely dig Charlie Hodges. Lays way back and grooves. Jim pretty well summed up context of his playing and how well he plays in that context. I'm wondering if it his Charlie on earlier Hi Records stuff involving Willie Mitchell, stuff like "20-75" and the resultant lp of the same name. If it is him...you get to hear a few solos. . Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted March 9, 2003 Report Posted March 9, 2003 Thanks Jim! I never knew the name of that cat! I LOVE his playing on those Al Green records. He just bubbles back there. Quote
JSngry Posted March 10, 2003 Author Report Posted March 10, 2003 Yeah, that kind of group playing is a whole 'nother bag than jazz soloing, but DAMN it's cool! Quote
Harold_Z Posted March 10, 2003 Report Posted March 10, 2003 Billy Preston functions really well in that role, also. Quote
Soul Stream Posted March 10, 2003 Report Posted March 10, 2003 (edited) Yeah, there's not a whole lot of guys who put their stamp on how to play soul organ. Booker T., Billy Preston, and Charles Hodges are about the short list. If you play Soul and R&B this is the way to do it. Charles really is about my favorite though. Those HI records are so super-hip. I like to try and keep to the tradition as much as possible when recording, whether it be jazz or soul. Edited March 11, 2003 by Soul Stream Quote
Harold_Z Posted March 10, 2003 Report Posted March 10, 2003 Soul Stream, God bless you for sticking to your guns. I agree with you that the rhythm tracks on todays R&B recordings have been castrated. This brings to mind a thread we had at BN about Solomon Burke's latest cd. I kinda panned the production 'cause I felt the rhythm section was stifled, but what I didn't say is that I thought the organist did a great job. I just felt that he was the ONLY guy that the producers let play. Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted March 10, 2003 Report Posted March 10, 2003 Yeah, the organist on that Solomon Burke record plays fantastic. Simple, but effective lines, doesn't get in the way, nice registrations on the drawbars. I agree, the art of soul organ is a lost tradition. I'm trying to hook up with a gospel organist I met at a gig awhile back to learn some of his voicings and such. That's where that sound came from. Quote
JSngry Posted March 10, 2003 Author Report Posted March 10, 2003 I'm trying to hook up with a gospel organist I met at a gig awhile back to learn some of his voicings and such. That's where that sound came from. No shit, my friend, no shit! Better look out for that Gospel music, man - it WILL turn you out! (experience talking here!) Soul Stream - you recorded with Doyle Bramhall? I work with his brother Ronnie every once in a great while. Is there a chance that our paths might have crossed? Quote
Noj Posted March 10, 2003 Report Posted March 10, 2003 I really dig Al Green and Ann Peebles, so count me in as a Charles Hodges fan. I've heard a bit of Solomon Burke that I liked. Ann's "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" is a personal favorite. Quote
John L Posted March 11, 2003 Report Posted March 11, 2003 (edited) Speaking of gospel organ players, I recall that we were having a related discussion a while back on the BNBB. Jim S was trying to identify a certain gospel organist who he used to hear in Texas. It struck me then that the information archive on gospel organ players seems to be pretty thin, at least in the public domain. Where does one go to get information in this area? In the "Golden Age of Gospel," Horace Clarence Boyer lists (in a box) who he believes to be the most significant gospel organ players, although he doesn't discuss them in the text. We have all heard of at least one of them (Billy Preston) and some of us have heard of several. But can anybody here identify everyone in this list? I can't. Alfred Bolden James "Blind" Francis Ralph Jones Alfred Miller Kenneth Morris Billy Preston "Little" Lucy Smith Gerald Spraggins Herman Stevens Louise Overall Weaver Willie Webb Maceo Woods Kenneth Morris is the Godfather here, having first introduced the Hammond organ into gospel music in 1939. Edited March 11, 2003 by John L Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted March 11, 2003 Report Posted March 11, 2003 Billy Preston is amazing. He does things with the Hammond I've never heard. I feel like I should upload mp3s of that solo gospel record he did on my server so you can all hear it. It's beautiful. Quote
mikeb Posted March 11, 2003 Report Posted March 11, 2003 Well whaddya waitin' for, Jim? An invitation? Quote
mikeb Posted March 11, 2003 Report Posted March 11, 2003 BTW -- Does anyone know how Mr. Preston is doing these days? He was touring with Eric Clapton last spring, and I think when the show hit Atlanta, Billy was sent ahead to Nashville to check into a local hospital. I believe it was a kidney-related illness. I've heard nothing since then. Can anyone provide an update? Thanks! Quote
JSngry Posted March 11, 2003 Author Report Posted March 11, 2003 John, the only name on that list I know of is Maceo Woods, and that's by name only. Agreed - gospel organ is a style unto itself. The organist whose records I used to hear on the radio would do things with volume and changes in stops mid-phrase that I've never heard ANY jazz organist do, and the vocalized attacks he/she would use could only be decribed as Holy Grease. A search for organ records from the Hard Gospel age has proved fruitless so far, but I'm determined to get some someday, some way. Quote
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