The Original Hammond Eggs: Milt Herth
(15 downloads)Saturday, Dec 15, 2007
Milt Herth (1902-1989) was perhaps the first significant artist to specialize on the Hammond organ, an instrument that he picked up on and has been associated with almost from the time of its introduction in 1934. The Hammond was originally marketed as a cheap alternative to pipe organs for churches on a budget. It's legacy across such genres as gospel, jazz, R&B, pop, rock and blues, to name a few, has turned out to be a lot broader than that. One of those truly iconic instrument models like the "Fender Bass". This number, “Shoot the Likker to Me John Boy” is an Artie Shaw tune jived up here by the Milt Herth Quartet.
Among the members of the Herth’s quartet was William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff Smith better known as Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith on piano. Which brings to mind the novel instrumentation of this group: Hammond organ, piano, drums and guitar (organ, piano and drums for the Milt Herth Trio); an uncommon configuration even by today’s standards. Back to Willie ‘The Lion’, he was an important stride pianist from the early days of jazz, who got his nickname from apparently being exceptionally brave during his WWI service. It has also been said that he was a notorious self-aggrandizer.
Decca 1868, 1938