For all practical purposes, the Hammond B3 is what we mean when we say “organ” in the context or rock, blues and jazz music. Coupled with its walk-in closet-sized companion, the Leslie rotary speaker, the monolithic, ultra-versatile Hammond has driven almost all biodiversity out of the organ ecosphere. Surely, a touch of Farfisa here and there is cool in a winking and cheesy way, and reed organs, pipe organs and pump organs have their uses, like the rarest spices on the rack. But all you really need to know is that Hammond = organ and organ = Hammond.
This is just one of the many curious facts about Bob Dylan sideman and solo artist Augie Meyers: He plays the Vox Continental, a bright and thin transistor-based organ with a reversed key color scheme and a sound that says, “I am a British kid in the 1960s and I can’t afford a Hammond.”
But it is Meyers’ axe, and he has been making it sing since the early ’60s, when the Sir Douglas Quintet – his partnership with the legendary songwriter Doug Sahm – rolled out of San Antonio. Meyers went on to contribute substantively to several of Dylan’s best-loved “later” work (Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft) and to do memorable session work with Tom Waits and John Hammond, among many others.
A master of many styles and a man with an utterly distinctive voice, Augie Meyers visits (where else?) the Falcon on Friday, March 24 at 7 p.m. He’ll be joined by Frank Carillo and Cindy Cashdollar. Per usual, there is no cover at the Falcon, but generous donation is encouraged and understood. The Falcon is located at 1348 Route 9W in Marlboro. For more information, visit www.liveatthefalcon.com.
Join the family! 
