John Hammond Plays The Blues

The blues lives in people of all shapes, sizes, colors and ages.  One of the great guitarists to play and sing the blues is John Hammond.  An article from the Sag Harbor Express quotes John Hammond as having “a textured voice and soulful guitar, Hammond could have come straight from the fields of the Deep South, but instead the Manhattan native grew into his own frequenting New York City nightclubs of the 1940s and 1950s.”  I’ve enjoyed John Hammond’s approach to the blues and I hope you have as well.  I wanted to share the article from which this quote came so you can get a little more history of the great guitarist, then enjoy two videos featuring performances from John Hammond.  The first being an audio track of the blues classic, “Sweet Home Chicago,” and the second an intimate live performance with blues guitar icon Honeyboy Edwards.  I hope you enjoy the performances as much as I did!

The Sag Harbor Express released an article featuring some of the rich history of blues guitarist, John Hammond.  Check out the full article at http://sagharboronline.com/sagharborexpress/arts/bit-of-blues-19887.

“I was seven years old when my father took me to see Big Bill Broonzy,” recalls Hammond, “one of the great country blues players from the 30s and 40s. I saw him in 1949, and was introduced to him after the show. I was so impressed, I remember it to this day.”

Soon after Hammond became aware of the blues, a folk music renaissance emerged.

“The folk music revival of the late 40s, spearheaded by Pete Seeger and Woodie Guthrie was very inclusive of the blues,” said Hammond. “For the first time, it was being acknowledged as part of America’s roots.”

Just as Americans themselves came from many backgrounds, so did American music.

“Blues music is distinctly American,” says Hammond, “[in part because it] originates from all sources like Africa and Europe, and every place that folks came from to the U.S.”

Hammond was right in the center of the blues music scene as it grew and artists like Josh White and Brownie McGhee started to get record deals.

John Hammond recorded a great take on the classic blues song, “Sweet Home Chicago.”  Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9sgUqc46SY.

[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/g9sgUqc46SY” height=”420″ rel=”0″]

Lastly, Hammond was featured in a live performance with blues guitar icon, Honeyboy Edwards.  Hear their performance of “Walking Blues” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xSYzlTkaII&feature=related.

[youtube_sc url=”http://youtu.be/8xSYzlTkaII” height=”420″ rel=”0″]

John Hammond is one of the great guitarists that have produced some killer blues tracks.  I hope you enjoyed this little feature on the classic blues guitarist, John Hammond.

Thanks,

Griff