From k2mojo@groovedaddies.com Sun Oct 30 09:23:28 2005
Subject:Re: The Great Gimme Some Lovin' Debate

I don't know whether this helps or hurts this discussion, but when I saw Winwood perform this song at SummerFest in Milwaukee this
last July, he pretty much stayed in the middle octave of his Hammond, and not reaching up to the top octave for either the trademark
riff or the chorus (and because we play this song sometimes, I was looking for this specifically). I was fairly close and could see
him quite well from a slightly behind and to the side angle, so I was able to see where on the manual(s) he was playing things, but
unfortunately I couldn't make out any drawbar settings.
It was also amazing to watch him kick bass (no bass player this tour), comp with his left hand, solo with his right, and sing with
feeling, all at the same time! And he also plays guitar - really, really well. I always liked Winwood a lot, but I have to admit
that I had no idea at just how accomplished a musician he really is. Go out of your way to see him if you get the chance.

Ed Fliege
k2mojo@groovedaddies.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce Wahler"

Hi All,

I did some playing around with the song and the registrations today, and I learned some things:

1. To my ears, the sound of the upper manual isn't quite the simple formula that was mentioned a couple of days ago (white drawbars
on 8, black drawbars on 4, brown drawbars on 0) -- but it's close. After a lot of playing around, I settled on 00 8888 444. You
need more of that third harmonic to make the sound fill, and the 1' drawbar is too screechy on 8 for my liking. YMMV.

2. Obviously, overdrive plays a part in the sound, but not as much as I thought. Part of the reason for the overdrive is that the
bass hand is playing a line that parallels -- but doesn't copy -- the guitar/bass riff (da-da-da-da da-dum). The lower manual is on
either 88 8000 000 or 88 8800 000 (I'm not sure), and is alternating between an octave G (or whatever your root note is) for two
beats, and then just the bottom G for the next two beats (G8---, G---, G8 ---, G---,). This adds the signature growl, without
resorting to using two hands, which I've seen players do. Two hands provides too much beating between the notes, IMHO. If the
overdrive is too heavy for your particular setup, try dropping the left hand values to 7's.

3. Two lines feel more natural to me when they're only an octave apart (on the keys). More like a piano player, which was what
young Stevie Winwood was really, back in the mid-'60s.

4. If you just GOTTA use the top octave -- because it feels more natural, or because it looks cooler -- then you have to remember
that the balance between the drawbars isn't exactly 1:1 on a Hammond. Even though 88 8800 000 played an octave higher SHOULD sound
just like 00 8888 000, it doesn't. The closest approximation to 00 8888 444 that I could find was 68 6854 2000 on my BX-3. And
it's not perfect, because the damn 1-3/5' drawbar has no lower counterpart. But it's close. Again, YMMV.

Regards,

-BW