Customer Reviews

John Hammond

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Despite the date given by Amazon[.com], this album goes back to 1964 when it was released by Vanguard on a 33 Lp. It's John Hammond as John Hammond should be - blues; raw blues. Look at whose work he's doing: Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, Big Bill Broonzy, Lightning Hopkins, Eugene "Son" House. If you do folk blues at all this is the real stuff and Hammond does it as well as anyone this side of the original. The guitar is real, the harp is incredible and overall it sounds just like he does live.

I think this cd is one of John's greatest yet! He can really smoke the guitar and sing. He plays the harmonica very well. Someone that can do all three on a cd is terrific. I believe his rendition of crossroad blues is terrificly great. This cd tells everything you need to know about some of the origianals in blues like Robert Johnson. If you would just give this cd a listen too, I believe you would listen to it over & over again. It's got some great guitar, with that great blues sound. This cd is one of the few that promote the deep blues heritage anymore. Give it a listen, please.

Can a white kid play the blues with a feelin'? This CD certainly puts the question to rest. John plays it raw and staight. There's great harp and guitar work here. Not fancy, just genuine heartfelt blues. As informal as sittin'and howlin' on the porch. This CD is one you'll listen to again and again!

I'm a big fan of John Hammond but I don't have many of his CDs. The CDs I do have are mostly him with a band, and I feel like he's more in his element when he's playing solo with an acoustic and a harmonica rack. That is what he's got going on this album, but this is a 20 year old John Hammond making his first CD and it sounds nothing like the later/current John Hammond who I'm more familiar with. That being said, young John Hammond is good too.
This album sounds strongly of the sixties to me; Hammond's voice reminds me of Canned Heat's vocalist, and his guitar style on the fast songs reminds me of Richie Havens' Woodstock performance. But once I stopped expecting old John Hammond to come out of the speaker I got to really enjoy the sound of young John Hammond. This album has raw energy and feeling and I enjoy it very much.
Two more things I would have liked to know before buying, besides the fact that young John Hammond is a different animal, is that on the Hoochie Coochie Man track, Hammond sings and plays harmonica and there is no guitar. I've never cared for that, but that's just my opinion. Also, he doesn't play any bottleneck and the entire album, which is one of my favorite things about Hammond's sound; I got this album because I wanted to hear him play Crossroad Blues and I was a little disappointed that he didn't use a slide.
But again, I like this album very much. It's raw, emotional, and real blues. If you forget about current John Hammond and open your mind to young John Hammond I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

If you like blues John's a must have! He gives out more energy on the acoustic guitar than some electric blues bands! This is a must have for your collection. Great vocals, great guitar, great harp!