More Clavinet, Please
"You know your baby loves you, more than I love my Clavinet."
– Line from Sweet Little Girl by Stevie Wonder, 1972
"Dedicated to the preservation of the funkiest instrument known to man."
Tag line to the website www.clavinet.com
In my last blog post, “Horns: Credit Where Credit Is Due,” I wrote about how making music altered the way I listened to music. Specifically, I came away with a better appreciation of horn parts. And, I made the case that horns provide a more critical role across genres of rock than we often realize.
In recording my album “Lost Bags” last year, I had one other newfound insight: the clavinet is simply an awesome instrument, more so than I ever fully appreciated. On “Lost Bags,” the subtle, funky power of the clavinet became apparent to me as Akil Thompson added clavinet parts to two songs, Get Away and Blue Throat. I never realized how much those songs – which I wrote or co-wrote – beckoned for the clavinet until Akil put those tracks down. How fun is it to discover something that belongs so well that you did not imagine yourself?
In total, The Doc Project has recorded four songs with clavinet parts Get Away, Blue Throat, Beauty Blue and, just out today, One of These Days. In One of These Days, a cover originally off of Neil Young’s 1992 album Harvest Moon, I heard the potential of a much more upbeat version of the song with reggae elements. I worked on the arrangement last fall and we recorded a final version at the Smoakstack in Nashville in March. The guitar lick that I added to the opening (and that follows each chorus) keeps a bit of the country twang from the original song, although by itself the lick sounded a bit too country on the first pass. Once Akil doubled the lick on the clavinet, we knew we had what we were looking for. Beauty Blue is a Doc Project original that is as yet unreleased. I’m really stoked about this original but some tweaks are still needed. However, the chorus, which features a clavinet in the background, is all set. You can find a short preview here.
To be clear, I don’t want to overstate the case for the clavinet. It’s a niche instrument. It doesn’t belong in every song. Today, not that many clavinets even exist. In total, about 40,000 clavinets were ever produced worldwide by the German instrument company Hohner over a fairly brief eighteen year stint from 1964 to 1982. By contrast, nearly 3 million electric and acoustic guitars are sold in the US alone each year. Despite this small production footprint, the clavinet plays outsized role in rock, funk and reggae, especially during the seventies and first half of the 1980s.
Below, I highlight some of my favorite songs that feature the clavinet. Some of these are well known “clavinet” songs, like Superstition, but others may surprise you until you hear them again, such as “You Make Loving Fun” by Fleetwood Mac. To make all these songs easy to access, I compiled this short playlist (yes, brazenly including my own productions with clavinet alongside all-time hits). Enjoy. Lastly, for those interested in the knitty-gritty of what makes the clavinet a clavinet, this video provides a nice summary and history of the instrument.
Select Clavinet Favorites:
Superstition: This 1972 soul/funk masterpiece by Stevie Wonder may be the most famous song featuring the clavinet, and Stevie Wonder is also the instrument’s most recognized proponent. While you may not think there’s much new to discover here, I would encourage you to take a close listen to the clavinets at the start – yes plural! Two bars before the vocals kick in, it’s a second clavinet kicking in that puts this timeless groove over the top.
Higher Ground: Another Stevie Wonder classic. Not much to add, but it’s fun to revisit with the clavinet in mind.
Use Me: It’s hard to imagine this 1972 soul classic by Bill Withers without the clavinet.
You Make Lovin’ Fun: This 1977 Fleetwood Mac rock classic is neither reggae, soul, nor funk, and yet it’s the clavinet right at the start that gives this rock ballad a unique groove. Love the song, and you love the clavinet as there is no way the song could be the same without it. Two other rock classics with indispensable clavinet parts include The Rolling Stones’ 1973 Doo Doo Doo Doo (better know as Heartbreaker), and of course The Band’s 1969 classic Up On Cripple Creek where Garth Hudson playing the clavinet through a Wah Wah pedal was clearly ahead of his time.
Could You Be Loved, Coming In From the Cold, Buffalo Soldier: Check out these three Bob Marley hits with an ear toward the clavinet parts. In each case, the clavinet is both subtle but also critical. Specifically, check out this youtube video of Could You Be Loved where the clavinet part is highlighted over the course of the song. By bringing the part to the fore, you get a good sense of how one subtle part contributes to the whole. Another reggae classic with a critical clavinet part is Peter Tosh’s Downpressor Man.
Running Out of Steam, a blues song by Albert King (1972) is not well known. In putting together my “clavinet” playlist, I found that was difficult to even find the song on the major streaming services. However, the song can be found on youtube here. The full song is not necessarily one of my favorites by Albert King, but the introduction featuring a clavinet might be one of my favorite introductions of any blues song ever.