Benmont Tench

Hammond B-3 player for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. He has appeared on numerous other band recordings. Tench is a significant influence of Rami Jaffee. Jaffee notes:

"I've done some sessions where I went in and I didn't want to make a mark with an organ part, but I didn't want to be so bland, even though the producer was steering me that way. In those cases there are ways of being sneaky. Like what Benmont Tench did in Tom Petty's 'You Don't Know How I Feel.' There's a Wurly part that only happens once, and you expect it a second time in the song, which makes the first statement that much more impacting. That's just genius.

"Benmont has really inspired me in that way. I love playing Garth Hudson-type parts," he adds, "but I could only try to play like him. He's also great. When I go into sessions, I think about Benmont's sneakiness and Garth's obvious approach and try to combine elements of both.”(Keyboard Magazine 7.98)

Tench also admires Rami Jaffee's work, as Jakob Dylan points out:

“[Rami's]'s kind of like Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers. He loves Rami. He gives out Rami's number all the time if he can't do stuff. (Blackbook Summer 1997)