Understanding "Green Onions": A Hammond Classic

Introduction to "Green Onions"
"Green Onions" is one of the massive Hammond classics. It's what a lot of people might think of when they think of a Hammond organ. Another popular association is with a Leslie speaker; however, "Green Onions" didn't use a Leslie speaker at all. The sound is actually produced through the internal speaker of the M series organ, resulting in a completely static tone with a different vibe altogether.

Tones and Settings
So, first, we're going to discuss the tones and how to achieve them on this organ:

• Drawbars: It's primarily about the first four drawbars. This setting is quite standard for Booker T.
• Bass Settings: This is a bass-heavy organ, so the first four drawbars are all the way out. However, I've adjusted the bass drawbar slightly back in for more definition, avoiding an overly boomy sound.

Main Theme Setup
For the main theme:

• Percussion: There's no percussion setting. This is how the main theme is created, characterized by a pure and straightforward tone.
• Vibrato: No vibrato is added, maintaining the simplicity of the sound.

Lead Lines Configuration
For the lead lines:

• Third Harmonic: We want to add the third harmonic with a soft percussion setting.

• Performance Note: During the video, I was holding down the bass line. In a live setting, Booker would have simply added this harmonic himself because he wouldn't have been playing a bass line, leaving his left hand free.

• Lead Tone: For the lead tone on the bass, I was using the 8 drawbar.

Spinet Organ Limitations
On any Spinet organ (like M's, L's, or T's):

• The bottom two drawbars are absent, limiting your ability to produce proper bass.
• However, this is somewhat irrelevant; typically, for gigs requiring deeper bass, you'd probably be using a C3 or B3 anyway.

While there are amazing sounds available on these Spinet organs, they are slightly more limited in terms of tonal depth.

Conclusion
These are the two tones that we use for the track "Green Onions."