Trail of the Organ

[michelej1]

This is old stuff, but I didn't see it around. It's about Jon Lord buying Christine's Hammond.

This is an interview from Modern Keyboard, January 1989

Do you still have that Hammond?

No, it died in 1973. Then I bought the one I have now from Christine McVie. In the early seventies we were touring constantly, and Fleetwood Mac played with us constantly, and Fleetwood Mac played with us many times. They did about four tours with us. Christine needed money and, at the end of one tour, she decided to sell it. It had two Leslies, it was in perfect condition, and it was about 16 years old then. I can’t remember exactly what I paid her for it. I know it wasn’t much, probably about $15,000. of course, they were still being made in those days. I’ve had that one ever since.

[michelej1]

And I saw this on a Hammond message board:

I have 2 Bill Beer Leslies and their tone is great - compared to a stock
122. Listen to Eric Clapton or Santana or Fleetwood Mac and you'll hear
Bill Beer's stuff - Bill once told me that Christine McVie has written into
her contract that there would be a Keyboard Products Cutdown B3 - she owned
two of them - and 3 of Bill's High Power 122's - or she wouldn't play.

[michelej1]

When Jon Lord was replaced in Deep Purple by Don Airey, he left the hammond behind, Airey said in the Courier Mail, April 13, 2004:

"I made a conscious decision to get the sound Jon got in the early '70s. I was quite pleased, it's quite hard to record a Hammond."

The organ is question is the original 1963 C3, bought by Lord from Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie in 1974. "He's passed it on but I added the proviso that he could have it back if he wanted."

Now, some 30 years since kicking off his music career, Airey is relishing his gig with Deep Purple as icing on a very rich cake indeed, with a couple of individual projects up his sleeve as well.

[David]

Originally Posted by michelej1

And I saw this on a Hammond message board:

The cutdown B3 was probably suggested to Chris by others in the band. They wanted her to stand out more as the band became more famous. So starting with the Rumours tour, she had a B3 that was recased into a smaller, sleeker black carrier, & she cut out the mostly unnecessary ARP synthesizer (the one that blocks her in so obstructively on the Landover MD 1975 video). The ARP was allegedly there only for "Sunny Side of Heaven," but the only two "Heavens" we have on tape -- Rumours tour rehearsal & South Orange NJ 1975 -- use the B3 on it. Puzzling.

Interesting, too, that Chris played a C3 rather than a B3 in earlier years (pre-1975). Is it true that the C3 sounds exactly like the B3?

[michelej1]

It felt strange to read that she sold it because she needed the money though. Although, I know that they were far from wealthy in the early seventies. Michele

[David]

Originally Posted by michelej1

It felt strange to read that she sold it because she needed the money though. Although, I know that they were far from wealthy in the early seventies. Michele

Keep in mind it would have been a second (or even a third?) instrument. As a working musician, she'd have kept her primary equipment.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by David

The cutdown B3 was probably suggested to Chris by others in the band. They wanted her to stand out more as the band became more famous. So starting with the Rumours tour, she had a B3 that was recased into a smaller, sleeker black carrier, & she cut out the mostly unnecessary ARP synthesizer (the one that blocks her in so obstructively on the Landover MD 1975 video). The ARP was allegedly there only for "Sunny Side of Heaven," but the only two "Heavens" we have on tape -- Rumours tour rehearsal & South Orange NJ 1975 -- use the B3 on it. Puzzling.

Interesting, too, that Chris played a C3 rather than a B3 in earlier years (pre-1975). Is it true that the C3 sounds exactly like the B3?

When I hear samples of both of them I can sort of tell... but if you were to blind fold me... no way...