# Tell me your favorite clavinet songs! (other than Superstition) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 14, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271 "2026-04-14T17:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/41 "2026-04-15T18:18:36Z")
“Foreplay” by Boston [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TnwqUEelQjE/maxresdefault.jpg "Boston - Foreplay / Long Time (Official Audio)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnwqUEelQjE) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/42 "2026-04-15T20:22:08Z")
[Could You Be Loved](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ti2YCFgCoI) - Bob Marley and the Wailers ---
**Author:** ![Allecher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a6a055/32.png) [@Allecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Allecher)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/43 "2026-04-15T21:24:12Z")
Thanks for this thread - I am learning a lot! I found a YouTube channel “Digital Split” that isolates the instruments in various songs and they have a clear version of the clavinet in Free Ride that really helped me hear it better. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/44 "2026-04-15T23:13:35Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Oh, let’s also have a thread about the mellotron, the empress and diva of all keyboard driven instruments. Mellotron trivia: the flamenco guitar intro to _The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill_ was a mellotron. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/45 "2026-04-15T23:25:00Z")
It’s actually an electro-theremin. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2026, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/46 "2026-04-15T23:28:30Z")
Are there non-electro theremins? ETA: well, I googled it and found out what an electro-theremin is. Nevermind. > **[Electro-Theremin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro-Theremin)** > > The Electro-Theremin is an electronic musical instrument developed by trombonist Paul Tanner and amateur inventor Bob Whitsell in the late 1950s to produce a sound to mimic that of the theremin.It was also known as the "Tannerlin." The instrument features a tone and portamento similar to that of the theremin, but with a different control mechanism. It consisted of a sine wave generator with a knob that controlled the pitch, placed inside a wooden box. The pitch knob was attached to a slide The i... ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/47 "2026-04-16T05:39:41Z")
_Life During Wartime_ by Talking Heads features a clav but it’s not super-dazzling. Good, but not Stevie-Esque. So is it my favorite clav song? No, but I really like the song as a whole. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/48 "2026-04-16T06:01:27Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > _Life During Wartime_ by Talking Heads features a clav but it’s not super-dazzling. Well, speaking of Bernie Worrell who played that line, I’m partial to Funkadelic’s Red Hot Mama, here combined with ‘Vital Juices’, the second instrumental half inexplicably separated on the album. The clavinet keeps the song chugging, but whether this was Eddie Hazel (sounds like him) or Ron Bykowski playing the extended guitar solo (they were so fucking high all the time back then nobody can really remember), this is some damn fine funk guitar work: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ygUsrOC2PrI/hqdefault.jpg "Red Hot Momma + Vital Juices (Funkadelic)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygUsrOC2PrI) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/49 "2026-04-16T06:04:16Z")
That was Worrell on the studio track? He is awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/50 "2026-04-16T06:17:17Z")
Nah, that’s my mix-up. I identify him with it because of his live performance on Stop Making Sense. But the original recording must have been Jerry Harrison. Live version with Worrell for comparison: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/gn62IeXNTWY/maxresdefault.jpg "𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 - 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 - 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟒 - 𝟒𝐊 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 #talkingheads #stopmakingsense") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn62IeXNTWY) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/51 "2026-04-16T06:48:36Z")
Well, the _Stop Making Sense_ version is a lot better anyway. IMO, The _Stop Making Sense_ songs were _all_ better than their respective studio versions. It’s just a badass bunch of music (and a big part of that is Bernie Worrell. Especially on the Prophet-5 leads). ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/52 "2026-04-16T16:50:49Z")
> [@K364](#): > > Up On Cripple Creek by The Band. Oh yes, now I listen again. Clavinet with what sounds like a wah pedal. Funny, I’d in my mind I’d remembered it as a Jew’s (or Jaw’s) harp sound. I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/53 "2026-04-16T17:17:55Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Oh yes, now I listen again. Clavinet with what sounds like a wah pedal. I used to think it was a guitar. No, it was Garth Hudson being experimental with equipment, once again. He was the secret musical mastermind of the Band. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2026, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/54 "2026-04-16T18:02:13Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > It’s actually an electro-theremin. Sounds like the name of an instrument in Who-ville. Electro who cardio theremin floox. Oh the noise noise NOISE! ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/55 "2026-05-01T05:14:00Z")
Another fun clav song is _Rocky Mountain Way_ by Joe Walsh. I think the only clav is during the keyboard / mouth-modulated guitar solo. > [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Oh yes, now I listen again. Clavinet with what sounds like a wah pedal. The thing about clavs is they’re almost always soaking in effects. Synthesizers are always pretty effected and pianos and organs also generally have a good amount of FX, at least in pop/rock. But clavs usually have even more—plenty of wahwah, tremolo or phaser, as well as chorus and delay–because without that it only sounds like tuned clicks. Very dry and simple. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271.md?page=2)