Its time for another Clip of the Week! 13 year old, Michael Weber, plays The Doors’-“Light My Fire” on his Farfisa Compact Organ. There will be a new clip posted next week on Wednesday.
Farfisa Compact Combo Organs
Farfisa’s first line or portable organs released in the 1960s. The quintisential red Compact Combo organ was the star of the line, but it was surrounded by the more feature rich Compact Deluxe, the dual keyboard Compact Duo, and the smaller entry level Mini Compact.
The Silent Farfisa
Hey, check out this cool video from the mid sixties of an unknown group playing a house party. This is a silent film, taken on 8mm film, but it is very cool to see the boys groovin’ and the girls dancing. I wish there was a better shot of the organ, but I am terribly happy to have found this piece of history!
A Blast from long long ago. My first band from the mid 60’s features Russ DeFilippis and John Zias on guitars,(Rickenbackers) Rich De Simone on bass.
Silent was taken from old 8mm film.
Jerry LaRosa on Farfisa organ and our dear wonderful friend the late Tony Corbiscello playing wipeout on his gold sparkle Ludwigs.
Also seen dancing my cousins Joyce Castle and Lois Schneider-Novak
Brooklyn Soul in Perth Australia
Check out this great performance by Charles Bradley backed up by The Menahan Street Band at The Leedervile Hotel in Perth, Australia. “Just carve yourselves a corner of the floor to set up boys, the kids will dig it.” Hells yeah they will. I am so stealing that to the sky, drop to the knees move from you Charlie! I’m pretty sure that I spy the Budos Band Farfisa in the background.
Tara Busch on her Farfisa Compact Deluxe Combo Organ
You probably know Tara Busch from her famously singing Somewhere Over The Rainbow backwards or her ridiculously awesome analogsuicide blog. Here is a great video where she is playing her Farfisa Compact Combo Deluxe through a Moogerfooger Low Pass Filter, something that I have been known to do, just not as well!
The Greatest Farfisa Compact Combo Demo Of All Time!
Check out Paul’s sexy new Farfisa and his sensitive man music. Don’t worry, he also delves into the darker side with what he calls increasingly irritating sounds, although they sound better and better to me, so I don’t know what to say about that!
Seriously though, this is one hell of a great video if you didn’t get that from the title. There is like math and and science and history and stuff, and super extra awesome bonus points for including the cat!
Farfisa Abuse! Who invited The Mummies to Valencia???
Holy crap! If you have never seen The Mummies, get ready for something else! Doing high kicks and tumble salts on a Farfisa Mini Compact sure adds to it’s durability cred though.
Farfisa Mini Compact Organ
This was the simplest of Farfisa Compact Organ. It is by far the most common Farfisa available on the market today. It’s list price in 1968 was a mere $495, something every suburban garage rocker could possibly talk their parents into buying for them. How could they resist this 49 key, C to C keyboard, with a little of that Farfisa bite.
The Mini had just three tabs for sound, but it did have Vibrato, the Multi Tone Knee Booster, and the ALL Booster tab all wrapped up in a fantastically awesome avacado green tolex covered plywood case.
Farfisa Compact Combo Organ
This is THE Farfisa spoken about when someone mentions Farfisas! It was introduced in the late Sixties and made a splash on the scene immediately. Boasting loud colors, a rough sound, and a price the touring musician could afford, The Compact Combo quickly became one of the prominent combo organs of the late Sixties. The biggest reason why this organ sounded so different from the other organs of its day was from the Multi-Tone Booster. The Farfisa Multi-Tone Booster gave the organs a rougher, dirtier sound, what many called the Farfisa bite.
- Keyboard:
- 1 Tier, 61 Key C to C
- Lowest Octave Split for Bass
- Features:
- Vibrato Light/Heavy, Slow/Fast
- Reverb On/Off, Short/Long
- Booster 16′, 8′, 4′
- Multi-Tone Booster
- Knee Booster
- Sounds:
- Bass 16′
- Strings 16′, 8′, 4′
- Flute 8′, 4′
- Oboe 8′
- Trumpet 8′
- Piccolo 4′
Compaction! Farfisa Compact Electronic Organs
They Swing… Where The Action Is
The live instruments with compact portability for today’s young action groups!
Today’s action groups swing to a modern sound with a driving beat. The FARFISA Compact Electronic Organs match the go-go tempo of their arrangements.
Easy to play, Farfisa Compacts have the sound and the excitement you’ve been looking for!
The exclusive Tone Booster knee-lever produces an attack sound that puts teeth in an arrangement and power in a combo! The easy portability of the Compact Electronic Organs makes them perfect for the active musician because they can go anywhere.
Each Compact organ folds into its own rugged, self-contained carrying case covered with heavy, colorful vinyl. Handsome and lightweight, the Compact cases resist mars, scratches and wear.
Farfisa Cromwell Organ
Check out the one and only (no, seriously, there is probably just one of these) Farfisa Cromwell. Or is it the Farfisa Foyer like it says in the last picture? In an incredible engineering feat, someone took a Mini Compact Deluxe and mounted it into a wood console with 2 – 10″ Speakers, and a sweet built in volume pedal. In addition to the Multi-Tone Booster, it looks like someone snuck in an extra tab for a Chorus effect!
