My (and Your) Favorite Minimoog Solos

[Esus]

OK, IMHO, the best sounding, most expressive portable monosynth ever is the Minimoog Model D.
I spent the last few days going through my tunes, and I came up with some personal highlights (please feel free to add to the list/disagree, etc.):

Sorceress, Romantic Warrior, Return To Forever (Chick Corea)
Sky Blue, Ataraxia, Passport (Hendrik Schaper)
Away Go Troubles Down the Drain, Venusian Summer, Lenny White (David Sancious)
Ritt Mickley, Refugee, Refugee, Patrick Moraz
Enchanted Pool Suite: Prelude Pts 1 & 2, Big City, Lenny White (Jan Hammer)
Play With Me, Wired, Jeff Beck (Jan Hammer)
Reviviscence, Time And Chance, Caldera (Eduardo del Barrio)
For Love (I Come Your Friend), The Aura Will Prevail, George Duke
East India, Forest of Feelings, David Sancious
Country and Eastern Music, Like Children, Jan Hammer & Jerry Goodman
All of Electronic Realizations for Rock Orchestra, Synergy (Larry Fast),
and pretty much any Jan Hammer & David Sancious solo recordings.

Any others?

[sqweebking]

This song is one of my favorite uses of a Minimoog, solo bit @ 4:45 its hypnotizing to me.

[JJQ]

Havent listened to all, but realy like:
Play With Me, Wired, Jeff Beck (Jan Hammer)

[Sir Nose]

Bernie Worrell- oh so many cuts but I'll go with Funkadelic's "Nappy Dugout"

[tim gueguen]

It's a song that in retrospect he and the others didn't like much, but I've always liked Geddy Lee's solos on Rush's "Countdown."

[steveman]

Lunar Sea - Camel from their 1976 album Moon Madness. Remember spending ages trying to recreate this on a Mini in one of Chase Music's (remember them?) shops. Very distinctive use of the Noise/Osc 3 mod mix control. (sorry I'll take my Anorak off now...)
In The Wee Small Hours. Steve Winwood playing on John Martyn's album 'One World'. My top one - Incrediby expressive, really doesn't sound like a synth solo, real use of dynamics. `this track really needs to be listened to at the time suggested in the title, preferably with the lights low and a few whiskies inside you...
Shine on You Crazy Diamond (part2)and Welcome to the Machine. Nothing too clever really but always loved Rick Wright's Minimoog playing on 'Wish You Were Here'.
Waiter There's a Yawn in My Ear - Manfred Mann from Earth Band's 'The Roaring Silence'. pretty sure it's a Mini...

[ninja6485]

Lunar Sea - Camel from their 1976 album Moon Madness. Remember spending ages trying to recreate this on a Mini in one of Chase Music's (remember them?) shops. Very distinctive use of the Noise/Osc 3 mod mix control. (sorry I'll take my Anorak off now...)

+1 i found this album in my dad's old record collection. had no idea what it was, but i remember thinking: "huh - this song kicks a*s, what song is this...oh, lunar sea..." lol.

[ZeeOne]

Shine on You Crazy Diamond (part2)and Welcome to the Machine. Nothing too clever really but always loved Rick Wright's Minimoog playing on 'Wish You Were Here'.

I don't know about "Wish You Were Here", but I'm pretty sure "Welcome to the Machine" was all EMS VCS3...

[Micke]

Shine on You Crazy Diamond (part2)and Welcome to the Machine. Nothing too clever really but always loved Rick Wright's Minimoog playing on 'Wish You Were Here'.

I don't know about "Wish You Were Here", but I'm pretty sure "Welcome to the Machine" was all EMS VCS3...

Rick Wright did use a Minimoog on "Wish You Were Here" but not on "Welcome to the machine", that's all
Synthi A & AKS (afaik, they used the original VCS3 aka "the putney" for the last time on 1972's "Obscure by clouds"). The Mini can also be heard on "Shine on you crazy diamond" pts. I-V and VI-IX and quite possibly on "Have a cigar" as well, at
least according to some sources.

I've also read somewhere that Wright used the Moog Taurus bass pedals on this album but I can't tell whether that's true or not. If so, he must have had access to one of the prototypes or pre-production units because afaik the Taurus wasn't released to the public until well into 1976. The oldest Taurus unit I've seen pics of was assembled as early as March '75 and it was #1081.

[zoomtheline]

Journey to the centre of the earth is where I fell in love with the Minimoog sound and this was before I was even aware of synthesizers so my favourite usage of it is Rick Wakeman on this album purely for nostalgia as a kid.

[bizness80]

I don't listen to prog too much anymore but I must say, Rick Wakeman simply owns the Minimoog solo. Both with Yes and especially on his solo albums (the "Six Wives..." album is just riddled with classic Minimoog solos).

[Esus]

Yeah, I totally spaced adding Wakeman to the list--although IMO he used a bit too much portamento.

[Syn303]

Keith Emerson (ELP) - Hoedown

[Micke]

Afaik, the intro sounds and solo on "Hoedown" were played on the Moog modular. If I recall correctly the Minimoog
was used for some bass parts.

[Syn303]

Afaik, the intro sounds and solo on "Hoedown" were played on the Moog modular. If I recall correctly the Minimoog
was used for some bass parts.

i knew that, but does it really matter, a moog is a moog, still basically a mono synth, modular or mini.