TOP 55 GREATEST RHODES and WURLI INTROS
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 พ.ค. 2024
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Electric pianos, like the Fender Rhodes, Hohner Pianet or the Wurlitzer, are not synths or digital keyboards. They produce sound like an acoustic piano would, with a hammer, but rather than striking a string, the hammer strikes a tuned piece of metal. That sound is then picked up and sent to an amp in a similar way as an electric guitar.
Thanks to Devon Yesberger for helping me identify the original e. piano used on some of these tracks / yesbergerplease 🙏
And, an extra special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Yu Kyung Chung, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
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0:00 What is an Electric Piano?
0:56 Medley
7:54 HDpiano
8:41 Medley
Damn, nice job nailing that descending scale from "Riders On the Storm" flawlessly!
Influenced by Advice to Medics (1957) by jazz genius Sun Ra.
@@lupcokotevski2907 or maybe Hanon basic exercises that classical piano students have been doing for over a century? I'm not looking to be insulting, Ray Mazarek was a great creative keyboardist. But as far as that one descending phrase goes, I was doing it cleanly when I was nine.
A side note to your post --- I saw Sun Ra twice in NYC. Once as a solo piano guest artist playing brilliant improvisations on "somewhere over the rainbow" at Radio City Music Hall, The other was with his whole Arkestra in a small space called Soundscape. There was one break where his two or three saxophone players played as loud as they could with as high pitches as they could, that pretty much seemed too rearrange my eardrums. It was all I could do not to cover my ears and embarrass them, and I should have because it may have caused permanent ear damage. Louder than any rock and roll arena show I've ever been to.
Congratulations on making a list that isn't just Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan. I imagine that would not only be feasible, but tempting.
Speaking of "tempting," The Temptations had a follow up track to their big hit "My Girl." It was called "It's Growing," and it charted fairly high also. The intro is a TOY piano! Yes, I really mean toy, like something you get in those days for $9.95 (US) at Toys R Us or K-Mart. I think in the demo a kid actually played the toy piano but in the studio the house musician Earl Van Dyke (Funk Brothers) played it, but he still used the same toy piano. They all liked the novelty of the effect. The original young player may have had some labor/union issues or labor laws I don't know. The intro is kool. Of course it indeed SOUNDS like a toy, but that was what was so funky then about the intro, and what is a piano under $10 going to sound like, ha ha! Vladir Horowitz was probably already booked up for any additional studio work!😬
And supertramp!
I wouldn't object if you made that list tho
Quite normal since Steely Dan and Stevie Wonder have pianists as leaders. Lot of their songs start with electric piano.
So into you by Atlanta rhythm section
You know - as a fellow TH-camr, I’m watching for cuts (not seeing cuts), watching your eyes to see if you’re reading music (you’re not) and I’m floored. Great idea for a video and beautiful playing. What a celebration of the electric piano!! Congrats David❤
Thanks Aimee! 😊😊😊😊
AND I assume changing sounds with a foot pedal!
@@garycitro1674 could have recorded midi and then edited the sound switching post recording. Either way, very impressive stuff
Yea, he's good, ain't he...wow a comment from Aimee Nolte Music, I certainly can't add anything
@@garycitro1674 was wondering that too. I was thinking the change in sounds might have been done post production. Especially if MIDI connected.
Supertramp's "The Logical Song" would be my first suggestion - absolute classic. A bit more obscure would be "The Holy Drinker" by Steven Wilson, which I think is also a Wurlitzer.
PS: "How Deep Is Your Love?" - Bee Gees
Perfect, good choices
That was absolutely MY first suggestion also.
As a keyboardist, I've played "How Deep is Your Love" as a solo keyboard player many times (in the past) and never even thought of it...great catch, that one.
That jump from 1981 to 1994 really shows how much digital keyboards made the electric ones obsolete for such a long time
The sound very much lived on in most of the synths, especially the Electric Piano patch on the DX7. That alone drove most of the decade's power ballads!
@@pmberry True, those Whitney ballads always get me
@@sydneydyens325 Also "Live To Tell", Madonna's most underrated song.
@ghost mall it's the main reason stuff from the 80s sounds sooooo CHEESY
Did that guy seriously do the whole thing in a single take, and nail every single one of those bad boys?!?! Nice work, DB
Of course he didn't .. Any video with different sounds and songs require editing..
He may have done a cut after the Mii theme but I don’t think it’s much more than two takes. Just recorded MIDI and changed the patches in post, or had the patches lined up and switched them with a foot switch. Pretty impressive playing.
DB is legit. If he didn't, he could.
A few honorable mentions:
1) Brandy by Looking Glass
2) Dream Weaver by Gary Wright
3) Summer Madness by Kool & The Gang
4) In The Name of Love by Bill Withers/Ralph McDonald
5) Mr. Magic by Grover Washington/Bob James
6) Angela's Theme by Bob James
7) Brazilian Rhyme by EWF
8) One Hundred Ways by Qunicy Jones/James Ingram
Definitely #5 and #8
I thought David’s list was great, but the comments have come up with so many more. Thanks for your list - I was glad to see theme from ‘Taxi’
Great job! The Fender Rhodes is an iconic keyboard instrument. And even though I don't own one, my Korg M50 does a very good job at emulating it. Has a good Wurly as well. It's not the latest and greatest, but it's still an excellent synthesizer, (the 88 key version).
I've been impressed by David in the past, but this takes the cake. Such a great performance and inspiring to re-listen to all these songs. Thanks for all the work you put into this!
You played a few other Supertramp songs, but I was waiting to hear "Logical Song".
When I think of Fender Rhodes, “Just the way you are” always comes to mind.
Supertramp comes to mind every time.
Riders on the Storm brought tears to my eyes
I'm a huge fan of the Wurlitzer electric piano. A song I would include is one that a young Brit might not be aware of: "So Into You" by Atlanta Rhythm Section. It was a hit in the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (but not the UK).
That makes me think of Spooky too.
The inclusion on Zep's No Quarter was spot on. I wouldn't have guessed it would be on the list (though it certainly deserves to be). However, you did miss Light My Fire which should be on there with the properly identified Riders.
I just looked it up -- it wasn't played on an electric piano, but rather on a Vox organ, which uses oscillators to produce tones. As David explains here, electric pianos still produce sounds acoustically/mechanically, but it's just amplified, analogous to how an electric guitar works.
You do make a good point: it's weird on its face that there are two Led Zeppelin songs on this list and only _one_ Doors song. But, as Victor points out, maybe there are technicalities at play.
Fun Fact: David plays it in C#m because that's how it sounds on the album, but Led Zeppelin actually recorded it in Dm but decided that it was too fast so they slowed it down before it was mastered. That change brought the key down to C#m. If you listen to any of the live versions it's in the original Dm
Didn't Ray Manzarenk use elecyric organ rather than electric piano most of the time?
@@sirB0nes as others have pointed out, Light My Fire's melody was played on an organ, not electric piano. As recognizable is that intro is, it shouldn't be on the list because of that technicality.
Riders on the Storm ia definitely the song that comes to mind for "Electric Piano Intro", so thanks for including that. :D
You should do a medley of songs with organ/harpischord/other keyboard intros
Good idea. "Megalomaniac" by Muse comes to mind for organ. Could include celesta in there with songs like "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" and "Hedwig's Theme" coming to mind.
@@jspihlman Megalomania* and samee
Awesome list! lml, if you ever did a part 2, I'd include "Dreamer" by Supertramp, that was the song that made me fall in love with the electric piano
And made me fall in love with Supertramp!
Gosh.. takes me back. Thanks :)
Excellent! I didn't realize just how essential the electric piano was to that classic rock sound until you laid out all these intros back-to-back. It just sounds so smooth and instantly nostalgic.
True dat! Neither did I!
The giggle you gave me when you played the Mii Channel theme and the editing you did with it
Absolutely nailed it, once again!
After your and Paul's performances, I really can't wait for Adam Neely's take on the 55 (or even 80?) greatest bass intros of all time.
Rick Beato has one on that
@@StarQueenEstrella Uh, you're absolutely right! What I was actually aiming at was one of those chronological one-take medleys, just like David did above, or Paul Davids with his medley on guitar intros. But thanks for your recommendation!
@@StarQueenEstrella name 2 guys more insufferable than neely and beato.....i cant
The intro to the Carpenters version of "Can't Smile Without You" comes to mind as one that you've missed.
You can’t just make the whole thing Supertramp but I would include Child of Vision.
Yes!
Rick Davies absolutely made the electric piano his own instrument.
@@multi-purposebiped7419 Roger Hodgson was no slouch either. He played the wurly on the aforementioned Child of Vision.
OMG, Child of Vision blew my mind the first time I heard it.
In the last year, this has become my favourite channel on TH-cam! Well done David! Great performance.
Killing me Softly by Roberta Flack.
Dreamer by Supertramp.
L.A Woman by the Doors.
Boppin’ the Blues by Blackfeather.
Babe by Styx
The Logical Song by Supertramp.
Anything! by Three Dog Night.
Ahh what the heck we could go on forever.
Great video great selection all the same.
Such talent! I can't imagine how much prep went into this vid. Well done again, David!
I’ve enjoyed all your videos for some time now, David, but this is by far my all time favorite!
Oh this is truly exceptional! Absolutely sublime. Thank you David!
A testament to the range of your musical knowledge. Thanks, David, wonderful.
This is awesome, David, liked it even better than your piano piece a bit ago. Only one missing is Lovin' Spoonful "Summer in the City" intro, very iconic.
Agree. That's a great one.
Two minutes in, and I'm already loving this video. David, it's really nice to just hear you play. I know that you're a great music educator, but the encyclopedia of your musical knowledge really shines in your playing.
Let's do this all day.
Another great video, thanks! I’ve been playing the piano for 50 years, love the electric piano sound, and the 70s were my formative years so great to hear so many classics from that era. Your videos always make me happy!
You have it all - the memorization, perfect sounds, the playing, the encyclopedic knowledge of music, the personable presence, and probably a hundred other positive qualities I didn't think of.
i was not at all expecting the mii channel theme but it works so well.
i'll be having this on repeat now, thank you
amazing job!
I love how the same instrument can sound bright and optimistic, dark and mysterious, or just downright funky. I love several of the tracks the Charlatans used the Wurlitzer on, and I'm a big fan of both Zero 7 and Air that make great use of electric piano.
Very Impressive list of songs. Great job, as usual David.
Loved seeing Snarky Puppy and Vulfpeck in there! I also love the simple, yet effective intro to Smile Meditation by Vulfpeck too!
Fantastic medley and video!
I'd never given much thought to the electric piano as an instrument, much less how it works or how ubiquitous it is. Cheers for expanding my appreciation. Great playing as well!
Found it interesting to see the almost 15 year gap from early 80's to mid 90's when synths were king! Awesome playing as always!
What an excellent selection. The best ‘best of’ of this genre so far.
That was such a great song list, I actually listened to the ad about HD piano. And I’m a drummer 😂. Keep up the good work. 👍 Had no idea the Wurlitzer was used in so many songs.
I've always liked David's work for the theory stuff. But this one, musically, I love it, he's just great.
Nice selection.
Though not here, "With A Little Luck" by Paul McCartney and Wings is a personal favorite of mine that I thought of immediately.
And Waterfalls of McCartney 2.
@@MatiuPirihimana _Waterfalls_ - agree. _With A Little Luck_ - um, that quickly gets drowned in synth, so it's just barely an electric piano intro, actually I wouldn't call it one.
Or "London Town" for that matter.
She's My Baby is also a great one.
Just got my Rhodes working last week and the thing that stood out in this video was that you didn’t stop at the 70’s! All the other compilations end so soon and I never knew all these recent tracks were on a tine machine! Cheers
The Wurlitzer EP was my first keyboard in 1973. I went out and bought the sheet music for "Joy to the World" and my band played it. It always gave me a rush to play it; and the crowd loved it, it was a big hit. It's not in the intro, but the Wurlitzer EP break on the intro "Stay with me" by Rod Stewart and the Faces was really fun to play as well.
For me Crystal Silence by Chick Corea is my immediate go to for what it sounds like.
Electric piano has this almost soporific quality, it's so soothing to listen to many of the timbres of several iconic ones.
Great list! The 70s was definitely the heyday of the EP, since then it's been a conscious decision by a musician to evoke that particular sound, rather than the default keyboard instrument.
This is so great, David. Brilliant playing 👏👏👏
Thanks!
That you can list 55 great Electric Piano Intros is a feat in itself 🔥and then you have them memorized! More of these please.
An interesting one that comes to mind is Van Halen’s “and the cradle will rock”. It’s a Wurli through EVH’s Marshall Plexi. Pretty hard to replicate the sound but it is unusual.
Nothing gives me frisson like the sound of a Rhodes or Wurli. Great job David! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
You got my head swaying from side to side, I like that you really took advantage of the pan feature.
Wow! 'Sheep' is my first Pink Floyd memory, and I think the reason is its tendency to feel constantly wandering, specially those tiny chords at the intro, with no full resolution in sight...you need to enjoy the rest of the song 'til Gilmour's final phenomenal progression to find out where was it all going! PF's rocking at its finest. Great selection, David.
Wurlitzer and Rhodes having such recognizable sounds (for the most part) that they are part of what makes the songs sound so good. But I never thought that, especially in the 60s, electric pianos from Hohner were a thing. I only knew the Hohner Clavinet and the Hohner Strings Ensemble. That‘s where the next challenge comes in: Please do a 55 greatest Clavinet Intros (and not only Bach) 😊 (Or 55 greatest Strings Intros 😉)
Love these videos! Hoping to see even more in the future!
Great medley!!! Hearing all those one after the other created for a rather dreamy experience.
Amazing, thank you so much. I’m starting to recognise the various electric pianos after watching this. I think I can now describe the difference in words of the Fender Rhodes. To me it has more kind of bright attack noise to the sound. I’m guessing that must be the sound of the hammers hitting the metal, but it almost sounds string like.
I now know that I have loved the sound of the Wurlitzer for years without knowing what it is.
Yeah, I think I prefer Wurly to FR
It's criminal to stop at the intro for some of these, we need full versions
This, David, is the definition of a 'tour de force' -- the piano is apparently an extension of your soul.❤
You've inspired me to check out the electric piano voices on my Yamaha. Grazie!
I'm so happy you included Sheep!! One of my favorite Pink Floyd songs
F-n awesome! Great job, I am so satisfied with that sound right now, thank you!
PS panoram is everything :)
Don't know how you pulled that off Dave, amazing playing! I was waiting to hear the start of Mida's Shadow (Al Stewart), a great intro on E Piano. Best regards from Argentina.
A great selection. I note the density of songs from the early seventies. And great to see Supertramp - it's their trademark sound.
Would have been great to hear something by the late Christine McVie who has just passed. For example, You Make Loving Fun from the Rumours album.
Would have been good to hear something from Keane too. As they are a keyboard based rock band, I'm surprised to not see them featured more on your channel.
And Good Enough by Dodgy would have been a great Britpop addition from the 90s
Also, I really liked the stereo tremolo effect for the Rhodes playback. I used to own one of these keyboards, but I sold it a few years back. I just love the sound.
It's pretty cool with headphones on, the way it sounds like it's rotating around your head
What keyboard is it?
@@tmoto272 A Fender Rhodes 73 stage piano, bought in 1971
Are you talking about the phaser effect?
@@Bluman2 It's the stereo tremolo on the Rhodes Suitcase. The suitcase has two amps and four speakers, so the 'tremolo' is really a stereo pan effect. Used in stereo on Still Crazy After All These Years.
Side note, despite having two speakers the Wurlitzer only has one amp so the tremolo is actually just tremolo, not a pan.
Great list and playing. Love the transition between You are the sunshine of my life and Livin' in the city!
Inspirational stuff yet again; thank you.😊
Great songs. Great playing. Great video. Maybe a part 2?
Not only superb job playing, but cueing the midi patches as well! Seamless! Two songs come to mind: “Babe”, by Dennis DeYoung (Styx), and “ Midas Shadow”, by Peter Wood (Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat” LP).
YOTC! Absolutely! Yeah baby!
The tremolo of the white noise in the background of No Quarter really compliments the song!
WOW! Thank you for that, I had no idea so many songs I liked were using e-pianos!
great vid as always man! always make my day!
MAYBE WATCH IT FIRST
@@gyrobyte626 you really think he’s a bot just said he said great vid?💀
Great list! Would’ve been nice to have seen some early Roxy Music make it’s way in there, particularly from the first couple of albums. Editions of You, Beauty Queen and 2HB spring to mind. Keep up the good work, very impressive!
I second that!
It’s interesting to see how there was a massive leap from the early 80s to the mid 90s. I was wondering what more modern songs would have an electric piano intro and I was stumped - until I heard them! (except the Beck track, which I was waiting for) Really great to be able to play them all one after the other like a recital. Respect!
Amazing how many great songs were written with the use of these classic keyboards
Ah, thanks for the reminder of what a genius Ray Manzarek from the Doors was.
I always love to stun people - who don't already know - by dropping the truth bomb on them that the Doors didn't have a bass player (well, I mean, they hired people on some of the studio recordings, but no bass player in the band).
And then they go "but, wait, I heard a bass line". And you drop the second truth bomb: "No, what you hear is Ray Manzarek's left hand... and, yes, he totally is playing all those amazing melodies with his right hand as well".
One of the best concerts I was privileged enough to experience was Manzarek/Krieger about a year before Ray's passing. Truly phenomenal!
Light My Fire needed to be on there as well.
@@zimmejoc The lead keyboard for "Light My Fire" was recorded using a Vox Continental organ with a Fender Rhodes being used only for the bass.
Loved this. Savoy Truffle! Haven't listened to that in years...
The Ella Fitzgerald version has a great intro too and is probably the best cover of it I've heard.
At the risk of sounding redundant - love your videos and thank you so much for making these!
You are inspiring and so talented. Thank you, super enjoyed this video
A bit of an EP desert in the 1980s! I guess that was the synthesiser taking over.
Apart from artists like Supertramp and Stevie Wonder, who are strongly associated with the instrument, EP flies a bit under the radar; a lot of the tracks I knew but wouldn't have instantly remembered that they have an EP intro.
*David:*
*The 80's: "Are we a joke to you?!"*
80s was all synth really 😅
@@DavidBennettPiano Just joking, dude. I love your channel and its content
Loved this, thanks David ❤️
What a walk down Memory Lane! Great idea and excellent execution. Thanks for the trip.
That’s all by genesis always sticks out to me, one of there more iconic beats
Good call!
Yamaha electric piano...as featured on a lot of Tony Banks/Genesis/Phil Collins stuff as well as Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds stuff
@@nick326697 UK also. Indeed, in its time it was the closest thing to an actual piano.
Great video! Thanks for explaining how the electric piano works!
Presetting all those presets and nailing every riff is impressive well done
Glad you had "Bloody well right" in there, one of my favourites!
It's changed my understanding of electric piano, differentiating between the Rhodes and the Wurlitzer. I like the Wurly more than I realise - it's a bit more grunty.
Another instant gem, DBP.
😊😊
Great stuff,so effective and evocative, who would have thought that with so relatively few notes SO many iconic ( & different) tunes coukd be written.
Many thanks, David, this means that you listened to all that music despite your youth. Congratulations.
Is Everything In It's Right Place not played on electric piano? I thought it was which makes its exclusion a bit baffling, especially knowing how much DB loves Radiohead. To me, it's the most iconic E-piano intro
It's a synth I think so that might be why. I'm not done with the video so idk what Radiohead song he did pick but I know ones coming. I thought it'd be that one also, but they only play it with an electric piano live so I guess it didn't count idk
@@jordanestes1997 yeah it's gotta be a synth.
@ghost mall I saw them in 2016 when they started using the prophet 5 on stage and it sounds really rezzy, so if it is that there must have a been a different setting on it (patch right?) for the studio version. the studio version sounds really smooth and droney compared to how the prophet sounds live
@@jordanestes1997 It’s definitely a Prophet 5, though.
@@danpreston564 cool
Interesting to see the emergence of the Fender Rhodes, led by Stevie, in the 1970s.
I was very pleased to hear in Limbo! It's such a simple but very interesting part of the song. Some great intros in the Zero 7 catalogue as well, like Destiny, I Have Seen and In the Waiting Line.
“Mary” by Supergrass has one of my favorite intros to a song of all time, the mix of the ebow guitar and the electric piano sounds so neat.
“English Way” by Syd Matters has a lot of cool chords and chromatic notes and I have no idea how to play it
Supertramp is the essential electric piano band
Kudos for including "Eat That Question" by Frank Zappa.
Love that song. A great but very welcome surprise to the list. George Duke was so good on electric piano
I just heard All Those Years Ago just several hours ago on separate channel. Nice to hear the intro separately here. Just wonderful.
Greatest synth intros next? Love this, super well done!
The Mii Channel Theme ohmydayssssss