La Fin de la Semaine Essay Question: Special "Heh Heh -- He Said 'Organists'" Edition

So as I'm sure you're aware, the great Garth Hudson passed away at the age of 87 last week. I have little to say about him that hasn't been said by better scribblers than myself, but in his honor I thought I'd adapt something he figured in that I originally posted here back in 2019 (two great Hudson audio clips at the link, BTW).

Which leads us to today's business. To wit:

...and your favorite organ part/riff/solo on a post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/soul record is...???

In case you're wondering, mine can be heard, by Alan Price (the genius who made The Animals), below.

I gotta tell you -- back in my musical youth, I killed many frustrating hours trying to learn how to play that solo, without success.

I should add that my plan was gonna be to make today's post a Listomania of Best Organ Players, which I have not specifically done before, but in the end I decided not to because (1) there are, frankly, too many to choose from and anyway (2) I didn't want to rank my choices. (If pressed, BTW, and in no particular order, my Top Five fave organists are the aforementioned Hudson and Price, plus Felix Cavaliere of the Rascals. Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum, and Bob Andrews of Brinsley Schwarz).

And speaking of Bob Andrews...

...therein lies one of my favorite true tales, which I have told before, but which behooves repeating in honor of the recently departed.

The short version: So Andrews -- seen in the clip above covering himself in glory with some of the most lyrical keyboard work imaginable -- was, not surprisingly, a huge fan of Garth Hudson, and was constantly updating his gear in emulation of the Great Man Himself; if there was an effects pedal or amp Hudson used, Andrews would immediately add it to his arsenal, trying to get that elusive Hudson sound. Only problem was, no matter what he did, he couldn't quite achieve total Garth-ness and it drove him nuts.

Anyway, sometime in the early 70s The Band toured the UK and at one point wound up rehearsing at the Brinsley's studio and using their equipment. Garth walked in, said nothing to anybody, turned all of Andrews' keyboards and other equipment on, put his fingers to the keys, and immediately sounded just like himself.

And Andrews, who had been lurking in a corner too awed to even say hello to his idol, literally wept. 😎

Alrighty then -- what YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!