The Hammond B-3 organ is the most well-known of the Hammond organs. In the 1950s and 1960s, the B-3 was used in jazz bands and in organ trios, such as Jimmy Smith's organ trio. In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, the B-3 and C-3 were widely used in rock bands ranging from Latin rock groups such as Santana, to progressive rock groups such as Procol Harum, Yes, Styx, Kansas, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Boston, Pink Floyd, and Eloy to blues-rock groups such as The Allman Brothers Band, Deep Purple, the transcendant B-3 sound of "Gimme Some Lovin'" by Spencer Davis Group, and Elbernita Twinkie Clark of The Clark Sisters is dubbed as the "Queen of the Hammond B3".
In the 1980s and 1990s, the B-3 continued to be used by many churches and also bands from a range of styles, including gospel, rock, hard rock, jazz, blues, and "jam" bands. This organ was also a favorite of renowned Grateful Dead keyboard player Brent Mydland as well as Page McConnell of Phish, Danny Federici of The E Street Band, and Tom Scholz of Boston. In the 1980s and 1990s, lightweight "clone" organs that imitated the sound were increasingly used to digitally recreate the B3's sound as a more portable (and less back-breaking) substitute, especially in live touring settings. Nevertheless, in the 2000s, there are still quite a few performers that perform with vintage B-3 organs.
The Hammond B-3 we recorded belongs to John Nivello - Niacin, Chick Corea, Mark Isham. Using both solid state and tube Leslies, each drawbar was recorded in slow and fast modes along with numerous drawbar settings making for one of the most realistic simulations ever.
