Organs…Not Just For Church Music

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

During my growing up years, I attended church at least 3 times a week. Always associated with church for me was the music. And organs have always been a big part of that. But somewhere in the mid-60’s rock-n-roll bands discovered organs and added them to the traditional instrumentation of guitar, bass and drums. Oftentimes, this combination provided some of the most powerful music of the 60’s. So today, I’d like to take you on a trip down memory lane with the organ.

Throughout I’ll provide wiki links to the songs because each of them was such a breakthrough in music that they are surrounded by intrigue and mythology.

The first is from The Animals and was recorded in 1964. Here’s House of the Rising Sun.

Next is The Doors from 1967 with Light My Fire.

The next one is perhaps my favorite. Recorded in 1967 by Procol Haram is A Whiter Shade of Pale. This song, more than any other, reaches in my soul and brings up the deep feelings of distress that are associated with those turbulent years. As a young sheltered 13 year old at the time, I was not provided with the opportunity to process what was happening in our country at the time. But listening to this song reminds me that I felt it all nevertheless.

I’ll need two youtubes to cover the last one because it is the classic 17 minute song released in 1968 by Iron Butterfly titled In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. This song is mostly remembered for the ground-breaking drum solo. But I love the organ solo as well. Funny story about this one…As I was listening to it one day in my room my mother walked in. Now mind you, if she heard the whole song and saw the title, that record would have been history!! But she walked in during the organ solo and commented “That’s a nice song, NL.” So my mom was into Iron Butterfly…who knew?!!!

The organ solo starts at the beginning of the second video. But if you skip to there, you’ll miss the drum solo. So I say, take a 17 minute break from your day and listen to the whole thing.