The legacy of John Hammond plus other blues musings.

"I so hope it's true (that blues is coming back into fashion), Paul. I can't imagine growing up without the Blues." 
nora j mckiddie (@mckiddie_j) October 20, 2013.

BLUESMUSE40. Is blues coming back into fashion? Call me an optimist, but I think it definitely is, especially in America. There, a host of great blues guitarists like Dan Auerbach, Joe Bonamassa, Gary Clarke Jnr. and Jack White have been searing the ether for a while now.

Ana Popovic

From Serbia, there’s that great female blues guitarist, Ana Popovic, now based in Memphis, Tennessee. Check Ana out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WfKtdFiO2k 
Ana was inspired by her father’s collection of blues records as was top British guitarist, Davey Knowles. 

Australia, too, has always had its fair share of blues talent, headed by that perennial schoolboy Angus Young, with guys like Geoff Achison following in his wake. Since Geoff is probably the lesser known of those highlighted, here’s a quick link to enable you to see him in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ht__0COHkU

It’s taken quite a while for blues to start coming back in vogue. The last great blues boom, as most of you know, was almost 50 years ago, way back in the 60s, when white British bands like the Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin and the original Fleetwood Mac were in their prime. Somewhat overshadowed, but still well known in those days, were white American blues outfits like the Paul Butterfield Blues Band who were performing as early as 1963.

One of my particular favourites was the boogie band Canned Heat, formed in Los Angeles in 1965. I later found out they took their name from a 1928 song called ‘Canned Heat Blues’, a song about drinking alcoholic cooking fuel written by a teenage itinerant alcoholic called Tommy Johnson. The 18-year-old Johnson, from Chrystal Springs, Mississippi, was accompanied on second guitar by another teenager, also from Mississippi. This was Charlie McCoy, 19, also known (when playing slide guitar) as the Tampa Kid and, when he was older, as Papa Charlie McCoy. Another Canned Heat classic, ‘On The Road Again’, was inspired by another Tommy Johnson song: ‘Big Road Blues’.

As a blues fan since I discovered many Eric Clapton licks were similar to Albert King’s, I was in seventh heaven when I landed a job with America’s biggest record company in the early 70s. Many artists who are now legends were actually on our label, like Janis Joplin, and I was lucky enough to meet blues guitarists like Jeff Beck, the late Johnny Winter and Al Kooper, not that they’d remember

The late, great blues guitarist, Johnny Winter.

me. Another American blues guitarist, John Hammond, was also on the label, although he was somewhat overshadowed at the time by his father, the legendary record producer and talent discoverer, also called John Hammond. It’s not an over statement to describe John Hammond Snr. as one of the most influential figures in 20^th century popular music, yet he hardly rates a mention in the music media today.

It was John Hammond who introduced the white bandleader Benny Goodman to the black bandleader, Fletcher Henderson, the maths and chemistry graduate who once worked for blues pioneer, W. C. Handy, and, later, Black Swan Records. In 1934, Goodman secured a spot on radio but only had a few songs. So he bought 36 musical arrangements from Fletcher Henderson to expand his repertoire. Goodman also appointed Henderson as his musical arranger and pianist. It’s said John Hammond persuaded Goodman and Henderson to “swing” the current jazz hits of the day so they could play in an unconfined manner, like New Orleans blues and jazz players. It’s also said

John Hammond (1910 - 1987).

Hammond suggested Goodman include other black musicians like Charlie Christian and Lionel Hampton in his orchestra. In this way, Benny Goodman was instrumental in introducing popular black music to the white masses and setting in motion the big band swing era.

Hammond not only influenced Benny Goodman, he discovered Billy Holiday, Count Basie, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan amongst others; and signed such unknowns as Pete Seeger, Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen to Columbia.

Famous son of a famous father. John Hammond Jnr.

Indeed, I was listening to Springsteen’s Greeting From Ashbury Park way back in early 1973 and recently gave a copy in mint condition to my eldest son, together with the rest of my vinyl collection.

While I was at CBS, we released five double-album Bessie Smith re-issues for which John Hammond received a Grammy Trustees’ Award. Clive Davis, another music industry legend, was running the show at the time.

They were golden days. Let’s hope we are entering a new era that's just as golden.

More about the history of the blues can be found below:

How Blues Evolved in the UK is on the following link:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital- text&field-keywords=how+blues+evolved+volume+one

In the USA, please follow this link:http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=how+blues+evolved