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Legend has it that the late George Harrison used a Hammond Chord Organ to compose the song "Blue Jay Way". Take a look at the instrument in question (probably an S-6) as pictured on Electric Earl's nifty Blue Jay Way page.
It has recently been brought to my attention that the instrumental group Johnny and the Hurricanes toured and recorded with a Hammond Chord Organ in the late 1950s and early 1960s. John Panteny's excellent Johnny and the Hurricanes discography contains several photos and album covers which clearly show the chord organ in all its glory, along with keyboard player Paul Tesluk.
I knew the name "Johnny and the Hurricanes" from the Kink's song "One of the Survivors". But I always thought that "Poppa Johnny Thunder" mentioned in the song was the (fictional) leader of this (fictional) band. Wrong. The chorus of "Jerry Lee Lewis...Dion and the Belmonts...Johnny and the Hurricanes" might have been a clue. Pappa Johnny was just a (fictional) fan of these three (real) bands. Just goes to show you that rock lyrics don't usually bear up well under analysis and interpretation. Ray Davies would probably tell a funny story at this point.
I found quite a few "Johnny and the Hurricanes" hits in a web search, including this page titled American Beatles, which claims Johnny and the Hurricanes were the first American band to record with the Beatles, and the first rock act to record with an electric organ...meaning the Hammond chord organ they used was the first Hammond used by a rock act.
The Hurricanes' founder, sax man Johnny Paris, ended up in Hamburg for a while (see more....) around the time the Beatles were there...on the other hand, there was a guy named Johnny Guitar who played with an English group, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, who likewise did the Hamburg scene back in that era (see more....). The English Hurricanes at one point had a drummer named Richard Starkey, who later jumped ship to join another Liverpool band, after changing his name to Ringo Starr.
Perhaps the only Transatlantic Chord Organ somehow made its way from L.A. in 1958 to England's green and pleasant land today, where it was acquired by the Premier Organ Center. The folks at Premier assure me that it even plays, somehow having adapted itself to 240 Volt "mains".
Also across the water, the factoids assembled here are partly echoed by this Danish Chord Organ page! I am so flattered! The author is nice enough to cite his source, although I'm a little troubled that it says "(Text Partly taken (and rewritten) from The Hammond Chord Organ Page". (Is my English really that poor?)
A search reveals that Jay Geils (of J. Geils Band), Lucida Williams, and Don Ho all include the Hammond Chord Organ in their musical portfolios. (Although Lucinda's sounds more like a Magnus from her description, I'll be glad to let her inspect mine to resolve any doubt....)
And who can forget, make that who can remember? If your recollection of the 60's is a little foggy, check out the story of how Scots keyboard legend Eric McWhirter burned down the Fillmore East with a an overamped Hammond Chord Organ, resulting in great loss of life.
There's also a nice S-100 chord organ pictured on the Hammond page at the theatreorgans.com site, along with Hammond's original sales pitch, touting the "three-dimensional" sound of the the "stereo-reverberation".
Check out some nice pictures of a chord organ, or some nice pictures of two chord organs in an artifact-rich environment, or a large picture of a chord organ in a very artifact-rich environment. (Note: chord organs seem to accumulate artifact-rich environments around them.)
Here is another fine description of the chord organ, and also the Solovox, Novachord, and Extravoice.
Hammond published a magazine called Chord Organ Comments, scanned here for your consideration by Dean Marines.
The chord organ apparently evolved into the Hammond Sounder shortly before the demise of the Hammond Organ Company.
Finally, it's not a Hammond, it's not exactly a chord organ, but it does have a following. Check out the Mattell Optigan site.
Despite never needing oil, chord organs can and do go out of tune, and so Hammond included instructions on retuning with early models. I've scanned an original Owner's Service Suggestions for the Hammond Chord Organ, which came with a 1954 vintage organ, probably an S-4. Later models like the S-6 apparently did not include this information, and the tubes used in later models were also different, but basic the tuning process is the same.
Please read up on the perils of dealing with antique electronics before starting to tinker with your Chord Organ.
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