List of Hammond organ players

A Hammond C-3 organ

The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert. The instrument was first manufactured in 1935 and contains two manuals along with a set of bass pedals. A variety of models have been produced; the most popular is the B-3, produced between 1954 and 1974.

The instrument was originally designed to replace the pipe organ in churches, and early adopters included Henry Ford and George Gershwin, but was not a popular replacement for classical music. However, it was used in African American churches, and its use spread to gospel music and then to jazz in the 1950s. After losing popularity in the jazz world in the 1970s, it subsequently regained its use in the genre and has become the second most used keyboard instrument in jazz after the piano. Jimmy Smith popularised the Hammond organ, and its technique of using drawbars and pedals.

Having found success in jazz, the Hammond organ became popular in rhythm and blues, including Booker T & The MGs and other Stax Records artists. From there, it became used in rock music, with users including Ian McLagan, Matthew Fisher, Steve Winwood, Mike Finnigan, Gregg Allman and Jon Lord. It became a significant instrument in progressive rock during the early 1970s, and became a featured instrument in ska and reggae. Although the original Hammond Organ Company collapsed, it was purchased by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation who continued to manufacture the instrument using several former staff for research and development. Jazz organists including Joey DeFrancesco and Barbara Dennerlein have continued to feature the Hammond organ in 21st century jazz.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

A

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Don Airey	b. 1948	C-3 A-100	Rainbow Ozzy Osbourne Deep Purple	Used Jon Lord's old C-3 upon joining Deep Purple, but prefers the A-100.
100px	Gregg Allman	b. 1946	B-3	The Allman Brothers Band	Was given a brand new B-3 and Leslie 122RV when the band was formed.
100px	Tori Amos	b. 1963	B-3	Y Kant Tori Read	Played a Hammond on her 2005 album The Beekeeper.
100px	Rod Argent	b. 1945	B-3	The Zombies Argent	Solo on 1972 hit single "Hold Your Head Up" cited by Rick Wakeman as "the greatest organ solo ever".
	Brian Auger	b. 1939	L-100	Julie Driscoll	Played without a Leslie speaker.

B

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
100px	Tony Banks	b. 1950	L-122 T-102	Genesis	Bought an L-122 when the band was formed, which was replaced by a T-102.
100px	Hugh Banton	b. 1949	E-100	Van der Graaf Generator	Played a Hammond E-100 organ that he personally modified with customised electronics.
	Graham Bond	1937–1974		Don Rendell Quintet Blues Incorporated The Graham Bond Organisation	An early adopter of the Hammond in the UK, playing it on stage as early as 1962.
	James Brown	1933–2006
	Milt Buckner	1915–1977	B3	The Hammond Organ Trio	Pioneered the use of the Hammond organ in jazz. Always played alongside a bass player because he was simply too short to reach the bass pedals.
	John "Rabbit" Bundrick	b. 1948	C3 XB-2	The Who Free	Used a Hammond on loan from Pete Townshend when he started touring with The Who. Has since used an XB-2.
	Jerry Burke	1911–1965		Lawrence Welk	Organist for Lawrence Welk from 1934 until his death. Published several volumes of organ arrangements.

C

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Felix Cavaliere	b. 1942		The Young Rascals Steven Van Zandt's Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul Ringo Starr's All Star Band
	Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark	b. 1954			A US gospel singer, composer, musician, and evangelist dubbed "the Queen of the B-3". Has performed in The Clark Sisters and as a solo artist.
	Rob Collins	1965–1996		The Charlatans
100px	Tom Coster	b. 1941	B-3	Santana John McLaughlin
	Vincent Crane	1943–1989	C-3	The Crazy World of Arthur Brown Atomic Rooster
100px	Jesse Crawford	1895–1962			A US pianist and organist well known in the 1920s as a theatre organist for silent films. In the 1930s, he switched to the Hammond, and also used the chord organ.

D

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Jackie Davis	1920–1999	B-3
	Wild Bill Davis	1918–1995			American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger.
100px	Lenny Dee	1923–2006	A B-3 transistor models		An American pop/easy listening/boogie-woogie/jazz organist whose career spanned six decades and 56 albums; he had a Top 20 hit in 1955 with "Plantation Boogie". Used various tonewheel and transistor Hammonds, and was a strong critic of the company.
	Joey DeFrancesco	b. 1971	B-3		An American jazz organist and trumpeter. Down Beat's 2003 Critics Poll selected him as "top jazz organist". Mentored by Jimmy Smith, he has performed with Miles Davis and John McLaughlin.
100px	'Papa' John DeFrancesco	b. 1940	B-3		Father of Joey DeFrancesco.
	Barbara Dennerlein	b. 1964	B-3		Has achieved particular critical acclaim for use of the bass pedals, and mixing the Hammond with samples. Has won the Down Beat "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition" title five times, and is a three-time recipient of the German Critics Award.
	Tyrone Downie	b. 1956		Bob Marley & The Wailers	Used on "No Woman, No Cry" on the album Live!

E

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Charles Earland	1941–2000		Grover Washington, Jr.
	Keith Emerson	b. 1944	L-100 C-3	The Nice Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Powell	Infamously abused an L-100 on stage, sticking knives in the instrument.
	John Evan	b. 1948	C-3	Jethro Tull

F

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Georgie Fame	b. 1943	M-100	Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames	Pioneer of British rhythm and blues through his performances at the Flamingo Club, London in the mid-1960s.
100px	Danny Federici	1950–2008	B-3	Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band
	Mike Finnigan	b. 1945		Jimi Hendrix
	Matthew Fisher	b. 1946	M-100	Procol Harum	Co-wrote and recorded A Whiter Shade of Pale.
	Dan Fogel	b. 1948	B-3
	Henry Ford	1863–1947	A

G

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Mick Gallagher	b. 1945	C-3	Ian Dury, The Blockheads, The Animals, Peter Frampton, The Clash
	George Gershwin	1898–1937	A
100px	Larry Goldings	b. 1968	B-3
	Dave Greenfield	b. 1949	L-100	The Stranglers
	Dave Greenslade	b. 1943		Greenslade Colosseum	Focused on Hammond organ in Greenslade while Dave Lawson played synthesizers.

H

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
100px	Jon Hammond				Endorsed by Hammond-Suzuki.
100px	Bo Hansson				Between 1967 and 1969, with fellow Swede Janne Carlsson, he released three albums of up-tempo, Hammond organ-based music. The duo became immensely popular in their home country and in Europe.
	Atsuko Hashimoto		B-3 with one or two Leslie speakers		Plays in jazz trios with a drummer and either a saxophonist or a guitarist.
	Alexander Hawkins	b. 1981			As part of the trio Decoy.
	Isaac Hayes	1942–2008	B-3	Stax Records	Used on Hot Buttered Soul.
100px	Ken Hensley	b. 1945	B-3	Uriah Heep
	Milt Herth	1902–1969
	Christopher Holland				Brother of Jools Holland.
	Richard "Groove" Holmes	1931–1991	B-3,Concorde
	John Hondorp	b. 1964	A-100/B3/HX3	Unit Records

I

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Doug Ingle			Iron Butterfly	Started with a Vox organ and later moved to Hammond.

J

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
100px	Booker T. Jones	b. 1944	M-1 M-3 B-3	Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Stephen Stills, Otis Redding, Drive By Truckers, The Mar-Keys, Rancid	Played an M-3 on the 1962 R&B hit "Green Onions".
100px	John Paul Jones	b. 1946	C-3 SK-1	Led Zeppelin	English multi-instrumentalist, best known as a bass player
100px	Lonnie Jordan	b. 1948	B-3	War

K

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
100px	Tony Kaye	b. 1946	M-100 C-3	Yes Badger
	Al Kooper	b. 1944		Blood, Sweat and Tears Bob Dylan	Played a Hammond on Like A Rolling Stone.
	Joe Krown			Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown	Played with Brown from 1992 to 2005.

L

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Eddie Layton	1925–2004			Promoted the Hammond as a touring demonstrator and played at the Yankee Stadium for years.
	Ron Levy	b. 1951	B-3
	Jon Lord	1941–2012	C-3	Deep Purple	Founding member of Deep Purple, played a C-3 through a Marshall amplifier.

M

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Hank Marr	1927–2004	B-3 X66
100px	Page McConnell	b. 1963	B-3	Phish
	Jack McDuff	1926–2001	B-3		Also known as "Brother" Jack McDuff. An early collaborator with George Benson.
	Jimmy McGriff	1936–2008	B-3		Bought a B-3 in 1956, having already accomplished several other instruments.
	Goldy McJohn			Steppenwolf
	Ron "Pigpen" McKernan	1945–1973	B-3	Grateful Dead	Upgraded from a Vox Continental to a B-3 in 1968.
100px	Ian McLagan	1945-2014	M-100	Small Faces Faces Rolling Stones)
100px	John Medeski	b. 1965		Medeski Martin & Wood
100px	Lee Michaels	b.1945			Often played as a duo, with the Hammond covering all sounds except drums.
100px	Money Mark			Beastie Boys
	Brent Mydland	1952–1990	B-3	Grateful Dead

N

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
100px	Christopher North	b. 1951		Ambrosia	North is listed three times on the All Time Hammond Hits list for his Hammond solos on the Ambrosia songs "Holdin On To Yesterday", "Biggest Part of Me" and "You're the Only Woman." Keyboard magazine on the make of Biggest Part of Me

O

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Mike Oldfield	b. 1953			On Tubular Bells, and Tubular Bells II.

P

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Don Patterson	1936–1988
	Big John Patton
	Billy Preston	1946–2006	B-3	The Beatles The Rolling Stones
	Alan Price	b. 1942		The Animals Alan Price Set	Started off with a Vox Continental organ.

R

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Doug Riley	1945–2007			Known as "Doctor Music".
	Billy Ritchie			1–2–3 Clouds
100px	Gregg Rolie	b. 1947	B-3	Santana Journey

S

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Merl Saunders	1934–2008		Jerry Garcia
100px	Rhoda Scott
	Shirley Scott	1934–2002	B-3
	Paul Shaffer	b. 1949	B-3	Blues Brothers David Letterman
	Dave Sinclair	b.1947	A-100	Caravan
	Ethel Smith	1902-1996	A		Known as the "first lady of the Hammond organ".
	Jimmy Smith	1925–2005	B-3		Influential recordings for Blue Note in the late 1950s inspired several organists who became successful in the 1960s and 70s.
	Johnny "Hammond" Smith	1933–1997	B-3
100px	Dr. Lonnie Smith	b. 1942
100px	Mark Stein		B-3	Vanilla Fudge
	Dave Stewart		L-100	Egg Hatfield and the North National Health Bruford

T

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
100px	Mick Talbot			Dexy's Midnight Runners Style Council
100px	James Taylor		C-3	James Taylor Quartet
	Chester Thompson		B-3	Santana Tower of Power

V

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Earl Van Dyke	1930–1992		The Funk Brothers	Backed many Motown hits.
100px	Thijs van Leer	b. 1948	L-100 XB-3	Focus

W

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Rick Wakeman	b. 1949	L-100 C-3	Yes, Strawbs, English Rock Ensemble
	Fats Waller	1904–1943	A		Started his career on pipe organ, then became an early adopter of the Hammond.
	Peter Weltner	b. 1952	New B-3	soloist Organ-drums duo
100px	Steve Winwood	b. 1948		The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, Blind Faith
	Rick Wright	1943–2008	M-100 C-3	Pink Floyd	Founding member of Pink Floyd, upgraded from a Farfisa Compact Duo to an M-100 on stage in 1970.
	Klaus Wunderlich	1931–1997

Y

Image	Name	Lifetime	Models played	Associated acts	Notes
	Larry Young	1940–1978	B-3

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links

• Jazz Organ History at www.afana.org: includes a "Genealogy of the Jazz Organ"