Keyboardist Performs the Intro to The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley’ on the Same Model Organ as the Original Song

Keyboardist Bill Blake sat down behind a classic Lowrey TBO-1 organ with bass pedals and performed the iconic introductory ostinato to “Baba O’Riley”, The Who‘s seminal 1971 anthem. This organ is the very same model that Pete Townsend played on the recording of the song. While Blake states that he goofed up, the truth is that he played an amazing cover of the original.

Forgive the botched playing, but you’ll get the idea. Picked up this elusive organ from the original owner – hasn’t moved from the living room corner since 1968. For as long as I can remember I’ve been trying to recreate the intro to this song, but thanks to the internets I learned it was actually done on this same exact year and model organ… not a sequencer. Tried to play the bass notes with my feet, as best as I could.

Here’s a live version of the song from 1978.

via Digg

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.