Jimmy Smith: The Hammond Pioneer Who United Soul and Jazz

Far Out Magazine ^ | Tue 29 April 2025 | Ben Forrest

[nickcarraway]

Before the sounds of the swinging sixties broke into the mainstream, the more individualistic youth of England’s capital city danced all night to the sounds of American jazz and soul music. Dark nightclubs and backstreet jazz bars saw an influx of sharply dressed youngsters, arriving on Italian scooters, hopped up on amphetamines, all hoping to hear the latest sounds emanating from the States. For many of them, it was the music of Jimmy Smith that they were desperate to hear.

Smith was instrumental in the development of the mod subculture, with his albums on regular rotation in clubs like The Flamingo in Soho. Although bands like The Who, The Kinks, and, much later, The Jam tend to dominate the popular view of ‘mod music’, the original wave of the subculture was concerned almost exclusively with jazz, soul, and blue beat. These records represented the cutting edge of modern, inventive music, and no figure summed up those qualities better than Jimmy Smith.

Hailing from Pennsylvania, Smith got hooked on music at a very young age, winning talent competitions at age nine for his impressive piano playing. The young pianist continued to study music throughout the 1940s, but it was during the early 1950s that his trajectory changed forever. In 1951, Smith stumbled upon the B-3 Hammond organ, which had been introduced a few years prior.

A pioneering invention which forever altered the history of electronic music, the Hammond organ was originally marketed towards churches as a cheap alternative to pipe organs, but budding young musicians like Jimmy Smith quickly adopted the instrument for their jazz potential.

Smith’s adoption of the Hammond organ quickly earned the attention of Blue Note – a now-iconic jazz label – and its co-founder Alfred Lion, who signed Smith to the label upon seeing him perform at a local club in Philadelphia. Quickly, Smith released his debut solo album, The Champ, via Blue Note, and that album marked Jimmy Smith as a unique new sound in jazz, and he found a cult audience among America’s jazz junkies and beatniks.

Between 1956 and 1964, the organ master recorded around 40 sessions for Blue Note, producing a plethora of albums, each more groundbreakingly original than the last. This constant barrage of infectious music, all driven by Smith and his B-3, had a colossal impact on the rest of the jazz and R&B scene, so much so that even young people on the other side of the Atlantic began to take notice.

Albums like Back At The Chicken Shack and Midnight Special were seminal releases for the mod subculture in England, but their wider impact was far greater than a few cult nightclubs full of teenagers on speed. If you look back at the R&B and soul sounds which dominated the US charts during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, thanks to labels like Motown, Stax, or Atlantic, virtually all of those iconic tracks feature a B-3 organ in some capacity.

Without the pioneering efforts of Jimmy Smith in adopting the B-3 Hammond Organ, not only would England be robbed of one of its most enduring subcultures, but the entire landscape of American pop, soul, and R&B would be virtually unrecognisable. He was essential in bridging the gap between underground jazz and mainstream soul and pop music.

Everything from the infectious instrumental tones of Booker T’s ‘Green Onions’, to the Earth-shattering nature of Bob Dylan’s ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ relies heavily on the B-3, but they might never have existed were it not for Smith’s early adoption of the instrument, or his extensive discography of organ-driven jazz masterpieces.

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TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: jazz; jimmysmith; organ

[nickcarraway]

Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack

Jimmy Smith - The Sermon

Jimmy Smith, Cannonball Adderley, Dave Brubeck and Charles Mingus live • 31-10-1971 • World of Jazz

[chajin]

I discovered Jimmy Smith in the vinyl library on the Yokosuka NB, back in the late 60s. I wanted to learn jazz organ, but it was one of the few things my parents adamantly refused: looking back, I think it was probably because they didn’t want me involved in the heroin/jazz crowd. I ended up a church organist, but still listen to Jimmy Smith on Spotify.

[Mr. Mojo]

He did some outstanding work with guitarist Wes Montgomery. Like this one:

13 (Death March): https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k7Ddc63Ycoo

[SaxxonWoods]

I was enthralled with Jimmy Smith when he started getting airplay. I got one of his albums and tried to wear it out. He was one of the roots of my interest in playing bass.

[Joined2Justify]

Spent many an evening learning learning Kenny Burrell lines.

[Starboard]

I have “The Cat” album by Smith, with big band arrangements by Lalo Schifrin. Some great jazz/blues music.

[A Navy Vet]

As a kid I used to repeatedly listen to my mother's Jimmy Smith albums. I did and still do love the sound of it. The brilliance of Jimmy Smith was incorporating pop type melodies and jazz.

Which organ had a separate box for a turning horn?