Daily Doings at the Line of Death Bar & Grill

I'm always looking for sounds that I'd like to include in my "sonic palette". Whereas a painter has a set of colors to work with, a musician like me can have a set of sounds to work with. Several of the sounds I want to have stored on my keyboard would be for other classic keyboards of the past. I think I thmay have already covered piano and organ sounds I want: grand piano, Rhodes electric piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, detuned piano, tack piano (thumb tacks placed into the hammers), Hammond organ (with "drawbar" like controls), pipe organ, and theater organ.

And tonight, someone on Facebook posted one of my favorite songs from the late 60s: "Incense and Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock. Many of the bands of the 1960s featured a person playing a portable "combo organ". Two of the best-known manufacturers of combo organs of the era are Vox and Farfisa. These were a lot more portable -- and probably less expensive -- than other organs at the time (notably Hammond). There are many other manufacturers, but Vox and Farfisa are the two brands I remember most.

The folks at combo-organ.com have put together a discography of famous 1960s and 70s songs that featured combo organs. I'm sure many of you are familiar with those songs -- "96 Tears", 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", "Whiter Shade Of Pale", "Light My Fire". And you're probably hearing the organ lines in your head as I mention the song names. (I am.)