(There is more music linked at the bottom of this post.)

So i'm listening to Dory Previn's studio version of Mythical Kings & Iguanas, and as the intro plays i realise i can't recall the last time i heard a Fender Rhodes piano.

Synths may be more versatile, but the Fender Rhodes has such a pretty sound when played by someone who really knows what she's doing...

(Wikipedia says that they're undergoing a renaissance recently - or rather, synthesised versions mainly are, i suspect.)

A partial (very partial) list of Fender Rhodes tracks (from the Wikipedia article linked above:

Probably the first use of the Rhodes piano on a mainstream recording was by Herbie Hancock at the insistence of Miles Davis for the "Miles in the Sky" album in 1968. In fact Herbie had never even heard of the Rhodes piano and thought it was some kind of toy. However he admits to being blown away by the big, rich sound of the instrument, and would go on to be one of its most recognisable exponents. The Rhodes was particularly popular from the early '70s-mid '80s, and many of its signature songs date from this period: "Top of the World" by The Carpenters, "I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You" by The Alan Parsons Project, "Freeway Jam" by Jeff Beck and the Jan Hammer group, "Just the Way You Are" and "James" by Billy Joel, "Ride Captain,Ride" by Blues Image, "Still Crazy After All These Years" by Paul Simon, "Babe" & "Don't Let It End" by Styx, "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" by Stevie Wonder, "Peg" by Steely Dan, "Just You 'N' Me" & "Call On Me" by Chicago, "Gotta Serve Somebody" by Bob Dylan, the intro to "Sheep" by Pink Floyd, "I Can't Tell You Why" and "New Kid in Town" by The Eagles and the theme from Taxi by Bob James. Also, Billy Preston played one on the Beatles' "Get Back". The Rhodes also features prominently in the song "Incommunicado" by Jimmy Buffett. Michael McDonald of The Doobie Brothers also played a Rhodes on, to name just a couple of hits, "You Belong To Me" and "Minute By Minute." The instrument was also featured in Peter Frampton's best-selling Frampton Comes Alive album. Other songs include "Who Will Save Your Soul" by Jewel, "Dig" by the Christian band Adam Again, and "Riders on the Storm" by The Doors.

Ray Charles played "Shake a Tail Feather" on a Rhodes during the music store scene in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, and was seen playing "What'd I Say" on a Rhodes on a late 1970s Saturday Night Live appearance (although he played a Wurlitzer electric piano on the original 1959 recording).

The Rhodes was also used in jazz-fusion throughout the late 1960s and '70s. Chick Corea's album Light as a Feather and Miles Davis's In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew featured the Rhodes throughout the whole album. Joe Zawinul of Weather Report, Jan Hammer of the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Herbie Hancock also used the Rhodes. Steely Dan used the Dyno-My-Piano modified Rhodes on many recordings such as "Hey Nineteen", "Kid Charlemagne", "My Rival", with a phaser on "The Fez", and on most of their newer recordings. Bill Evans used the Rhodes (often together with a grand piano) on different recordings (including "The Bill Evans Album" and "From left to right").

A site that sells a Rhodes module for synth programs has a demo of their synthesised Rhodes it sounds pretty good, but the real piano is probably more versatile...

One of my own favourite uses of the Rhodes piano is the opening of the track Eat that Question on Zappa's The Grand Wazoo. (I included a bit after the Rhodes intro because i like the way Frank wrote Big Band charts...)

(Huh - two Zappa-related posts with music clips in a row...)