Best keyboard player, rock-n-roll era?

[Bossy Monkey]

A poll may result. I don't really have a horse in the running. I guess Rick Wakeman is a strong choice. The egregious Dennis DeYoung, whatever his singing and songwriting sins, could (and presumably still can) certainly bang the keys, though.

[voter x]

1. Ray Manzarek

early rock era...:hippie:
Trent Reznor..modern keyboard impressario:headbang:

[idgiehkt]

43. yeah, I agree with both of those

Ray Manzarek is a little creepy...but right on.

[maveric]

2. Jan Hamner, Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman.

I also liked Leon Russell and Greg Allman

[benny05]

25. Good choices

Probably Keith Emerson first. He was classically trained, along with Rick Wakeman.

Tony Banks good one too, along with Jimmy Greenspoon of Three Dog Night.

Stevie Wonder great as well.

[alarcojon]

44. Stevie Wonder deserves a second

[Nickster]

3. Jon Lord hands down. n/t

[FredScuttle]

56. Amen

Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman may be more flashy, but Jon Lord fuckin' rocked with DP.

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. Keith Emerson

He was from the era, but didn't play rock 'n' roll.

For rockers, I'd go with Jon Lord.

[Ryano42]

14. Seconded!

Best hardware too! Can I borrow a cable?

[benny05]

26. Good pic

I love Keith. Damn he was so connected...yep, a pun..

[midnight armadillo]

33. AMEN

No one could touch Keith Emerson for rock keyboards, whether for technique, showmanship, and musicality.

[seemunkee]

59. I'm in agreement and he's on tour now as is Rick Wakeman

unfortunatly he'll be in the DC area when I'm on vacation and playing in Mass the day after I leave to come home.
http://www.keithemerson.com/TourInfo/TourInfo2006.html#2006TourSchedule

Edit to add that Rick Wakeman is on tour
http://www.rwcc.com/live.asp#tour

[Dees]

5. Bill Champlin, Billy Preston....n/t

[txwhitedove]

23. Billy Preston

[Tikki]

6. Steve Nieve........n/t

[CrownPrinceBandar]

13. Good choice....

and unexpected too. :thumbsup:

[peekaloo]

34. I'll go with him, too.

especially for his work on 'Imperial Bedroom'.

[taterguy]

7. ahem, Jerry Lee Lewis

[Floogeldy]

8. It is Wakeman, hands down.

Not only for skill and technique, but creativity. The organ solo in "Close To The Edge" is the greatest in rock history. And his work with Yes, taken as a whole, outshines everybody else.

Don't argue with me. ;)

[Nickster]

9. I already said Jon Lord hands down, so it obviously can't be Wakeman

hands down. Sheesh.:evilgrin:

[Floogeldy]

10. Aaaargh!!!

:banghead:

[MissMillie]

48. Wakeman gets my vote too

but whoever said Jerry Lee Lewis is on to something.

[michreject]

11. Don't forget

Lee Michaels and his buddy Frosty on drums.

Chic Churchill was a good one too.

[Bossy Monkey]

22. Hell, I thought I was the only one who remembered Lee Michaels

I got both his 1971 singles at the grand old age of 9. Various sites indicate that these tunes were out of character from the rest of his work, though they do sound kinda like a guy playing the organ and a guy playing the drums. Good records, at least for a nine-year-old.

[michreject]

28. He was a sight to see

I saw him at the Eastown in Detroit. No more though. The ballroom days are over.:-(

[nytemare]

12. John Entwhistle, Tony Banks, Richard Wright.

Oh, and Nick Rhodes.

Yeah.

[Gatchaman]

15. JON LORD

Close the thread. This is the correct answer.

[Nickster]

24. Can I get an amen?! n/t

[WritingIsMyReligion]

16. Jerry Lee Lewis

Duh.

:eyes:

:P :P

[SacredCow]

39. Seconded...

My Mom is from the same area of Louisiana as The Killer, grew up with him and cousin Swaggart, and knows all of the dirt!

:evilgrin:

[Vidar]

62. Objectively, I'll sign on for the killer too (though I prefer

Billy Joel's songs.)

[no name no slogan]

17. Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke or Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music

Two players who use the instrument to augment and enhance the song, not totally dominate it or turn it into a wanky gimmick (a la Emerson or Wakeman). Underrated and underappreciated, but true craftsmen.

[haele]

18. Heh

Laz says Dennis DeYoung is, indeed, a fine piano player. The big three to him are Emerson, Jerry Lee Lewis, and DeYoung.

[GCP]

19. Alan Price of the Animals HANDS DOWN

Best blues organist EVAH.

[Bossy Monkey]

20. Goddammit folks they're keyboard players! "Hands down" is redundant

How they gonna play them keyboards hands up? Huh? Huh? :P

[GCP]

21. LOL!!

:rofl:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

37. Fuck that.

Play 'em with your toes!

:silly:

[catbert836]

27. Rick Wright of Pink Floyd

[robertarctor]

29. Need you ask? Johnnie Johnson.

Johnnie Johnson played piano with Chuck Berry. He pretty much invented rock'n'roll.

[saltpoint]

30. Keith Emerson for cosmic fire, Nicky Hopkins for plaintive rhapsody. /nt

[pokerfan]

31. Nicky Hopkins

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicky_Hopkins

[wildhorses]

49. my personal favorite, too!

[pokerfan]

51. Never underestimate the studio musician!

Few people know Nicky because his disease made touring difficult.


I love the scene in "That Thing You Do" where manager Tom Hanks introduces the replacement bass bass player.

Guy, say hello to Wolfman, Mr. Scott Pell. He's your New bass player.

Mr. White, no offense... we've been together for a while.

There aren't a lot of options here, Guy.

Can he handle our tune?

I think I can handle it, junior.



Ok. All right. (The kids quickly walk away.)

[Squeech]

32. Dunno if it's exactly my favorite

but I like Dave Stewart-- not the Eurythmic, but the guy who used to write the "Inside the Music" column in Contemporary Keyboard magazine.

He came to my attention in a group called Hatfield and the North, who IMNSHO were the best of the so-called Canterbury bands. (And what was Canterbury, you ask? It was a school of jazz-rock, or jazz-influenced rock, spawned by a group called Soft Machine, who formed in Canterbury. Characteristics of Canterbury music include prog-style complexity in melody, harmony and rhythm, but a prominent sense of humor that prevents Canterbury musicians from the pomposity of the better known proggers. Hatfield and the North exemplified these qualities better than anybody else besides Soft Machine founder Robert Wyatt, especially the humor.) After that Stewart put together an even more ambitious band called National Health, then he helped Bill Bruford run his eponymous group, then he gave up rocking out and he and his partner, singer Barbara Gaskin, now spend all their time in the studio tweaking their "pop songs for grownups." It's all way cool stuff, but the Hatfield material is the best of it-- more likely to make me smile than any other music in the world.

Stewart played organ with the heaviness (including distortion) of Jon Lord, and then he turned around and played Fender Rhodes with the light touch of Chick Corea back in the early RTF days.

Re Emerson v. Wakeman, I think Keith rocks harder than Rick, but also I think has more prominent limitations. Have you ever noticed how often his music ends up as a sea chantey? Wakeman may be overly fond of arpeggios and similar ornamentation (all too common among proggers), but it doesn't seem to me that he has a specific genre or vibe that he keeps coming back to.

Also I have this really silly tape, "Keith Emerson Plays the World's Most Beautiful Melodies," a parody where pop bromides like "Alley Cat" are set to the left hand ostinado from "Tarkus." I got it from a record company publicist, years and years ago. It's very funny, in a really stoopid geeky way.

[Bossy Monkey]

38. Was Pip Pyle in Hatfield?

When we were on junior year abroad, in fact in Canterbury, my best friend there (also American) ,who was a huge Hatfield fan, more or less dragged me to a pub at Kennington Oval in London to see Pip Pyle and somebody playing jazz. Cool show as best as I can remember all these decades later.

[Squeech]

52. Yup

The story as I heard it was, it was his idea to start the band. Stewart was the last one to join-- before him, they had David Sinclair, who of course had played with Richard in Caravan, and for a bit they were also playing with Steve Miller (not the guy who sang "The Joker"), who was mainly a jazzbo but took Sinclair's chair in Caravan for one album (Waterloo Lily).

There is some material extant by that version of the band, on a duo album Miller did with saxophonist Lol Coxhill.

And did you hear the story that, when Stewart was touring with Bruford, he said that fans would come up to him and ask if it was true that Pip Pyle was made entirely of metal? (It's in Stewart's liner notes for The Compleat National Health. I suspect he actually made it up.)

I loved Hatfield dearly. It seems they've gotten back together (without Stewart) and have a new recording. I should get it.

[kwassa]

35. The sixth Rolling Stone, Nicky Hopkins

played on many of their classic recordings.

[Ferretherder]

36. My personal favorites, for the most part,...

....have all been listed, however, I felt the need to mention Jan Hammer, who played keys with John McLaughlin , circa "Birds of Fire", and yes, the one who wrote the 'Miami Vice' theme music.

Also, had to mention Kerry Minnear, of Gentle Giant, who, I feel, was an excellent pianist AND organist, and could sing like a songbird!

I like all the others that have been listed, too.

[argyl]

40. Nicky Hopkins. The inspiration for Ray Davies's "Session Man."

[Aiptasia]

41. Chick Corea, George Duke, Herbie Handcock

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

42. Even though it was just 1-2 albums, I liked Tom Scholz' work on the

original "Boston" album.

What is "the rock and roll era"? Is it over?

[lildreamer316]

45. Peter Rachon.

Saga

[Cocoa]

46. Garth Hudson

party on, Garth!

[Rabrrrrrr]

47. Since he's not mentioned enough: Tony Banks. But Wakeman is tops.

At least, I think Wakeman is tops.

Also Emmerson and Jan Hammer.

Rick Wright from Floyd gets a nod, but mostly he just lays down chords. Goddamn good chords, always perfectly placed within the music and sustaining the total insane bitchin'-ness of the music, but still, mostly just long sustained chords.

[Atlas Mugged]

50. Nicky Hopkins

I'm stunned that only 2 other people mentioned him.

[sendero]

53. Unfortunately "rock" and "rock era"....

.. are pretty ill-defined terms :) If you are talking the real, early rock and roll era, it was dead by the time a lot of the folks mentioned in this thread came along.

Being a dyed-in-the-wool prog rock fan, I'd have to go with Keith Emerson. Just as umpteen annual Keyboard Magazine reader's polls have.

Why - because the guy can play ANYTHING and play it fast and play it flawlessly. He can rock out with a B3 as well as anyone, turn around a play a piano concerto convincingly, play ragtime, blues, was the first person to get a serious synth lead into a popular charting song (he was warming up and wanted to record a "real" ending for Lucky Man, Lake and the engineer talked his in to going with his first take) - he just outclasses his contempories including Wakeman who really has only a few styles to draw on.

Yes, I've seen them both in concert :)

[no name no slogan]

54. That guy from "Europe"

"The Final Countdown" is the greatest song ever recorded

[Floogeldy]

55. Hands down, Rick Wakeman.

In comparison, Keith Emerson is a drunk old man trying to mow his lawn.

[britpopper]

57. NICK RHODES!!!

Come on, that's an easy one...

[Burma Jones]

58. Johnny Johnson

Duh.......

[B3Nut]

60. Emerson, Wakeman, Billy Preston, Booker T. Jones

Hard to find a single "best". There are a LOT of top-notch players who all bring something different and unique to the table. And now Billy Preston is gone and I hope I can catch Booker T. Jones live before he heads to the great gig in the sky, too. :(

Garth Hudson is another underrated great and the late Peter Bardens of Camel was fantastic and tasteful.

Todd in Beerbratistan

[Bossy Monkey]

61. The poll's up now; you can vote for three of those at least

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5244865
(for one of three of those; my syntax has gone straight to hell. Beerbratistan?)

[B3Nut]

63. Beerbratistan = Wisconsin

A pet name of mine, since we're awash in beer and brats! :toast: :beer:

:D

Todd in Beerbratistan

[fleabert]

64. I nominate this guy- but I have no idea if he played in the 80's

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=5247886&mesg_id=5247886