Hammond Organ Dance Party: Duke Grant and his Trio - Stereo Galaxy 1974

"When Duke Grant turns on his instrument he turns on all within swingshot of his mammoth speakers. It's party time with the flying fingers and pounding pedals of a peer of the Hammond - Duke Grant" - so runs the sleeve blurb for this and, I have to say, it sounds good to me; to these ears a Hammond with the lid off can sound as joyous as a church bell at Christmas. Sexy too - that other 'master' of the Hammond Billy Preston knew how to get his entendres in a line when he called his 1966 album 'Wildest Organ In Town', but alas and alack, cold water meets ardour within minutes of needle meeting this particular piece of vinyl.

Actually, it reminds me of the scene in Powell and Pressburger's wartime film 'A Canterbury Tale', when titular cathedral organist Dr. Kelsey offers British Sgt. Peter Gibbs the opportunity to play the instrument with the caution, "Play something - anything - only, don't swing it." Because even though the cover shot suggests there's two sides of wild freakbeat on offer to get down with here, Duke's Hammond party defiantly fails to swing. At all.

The tracklist offers up a curious mix of the popular ('Delilah', 'A Hard Day's Night', 'Downtown') and the traditional ('Greensleeves', 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot', 'Down By The Riverside'), but in truth it doesn't matter all that much - some of the above are barely recognisable in these arrangements. As a case in point 'Light My Fire' (bizarrely listed on the label as 'Baby Won't You Light My Fire') and 'Dock Of The Bay' contain only fleeting references to their familiar melodies with the rest filled with random major chords and a rhythm section chugging along behind along to fill in any gaps like council workmen filling in potholes.  And what's curious is that, even though this is billed as a 'Hammond Organ Dance Party', the Hammond isn't even the lead on some of the tracks; the unaccredited guitarist takes the lead melody on at least half while Duke's Hammond burbles away in the background on a very low flame. Duke must have left those 'mammoth speakers' at home on recording day. 

What this ultimately results in is a bit of a muddy mess that's akin to a field recording of an impromptu Sunday afternoon jam session where only one member of the trio actually knows the tune that's called out, leaving the others to gamely follow the chords and fill in wherever they can. Whether this is a fair and accurate description of the actual talent or ability of the performers I cannot say; I can find no other info on about Duke Grant or his trio other than they seem to have released two other Hammond organ albums that promise a similar splendid time for all. On the evidence displayed here though, I shan't be bothering to track them down.