Hammond B3x

Hammond's debut recording from 1964 - much of which remains in his live repertoire to this day.
John Hammond, Jr. is one of a handful of white blues musicians who was on the scene at the beginning of the first blues renaissance of the mid-'60s. That revival, brought on by renewed interest in folk music around the U.S., brought about career boosts for many of the great classic blues players, including Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, and Skip James. Some critics have described Hammond as a white Robert Johnson, and Hammond does justice to classic blues by combining powerful guitar and harmonica playing with expressive vocals and a dignified stage presence. Within the first decade of his career as a performer, Hammond began crafting a niche for himself that is completely his own: the solo guitar man, harmonica slung in a rack around his neck, reinterpreting classic blues songs from the 1930s, '40s, and '50s…

Although it kicks off with the first (and only) song John Hammond has ever written, Ready for Love is a worthy and unusually varied follow-up to the surprise success of 2001's Wicked Grin. It would have been easy and possibly expected for Hammond to churn out another album of Tom Waits songs to capitalize on the unanticipated momentum created by Wicked Grin. After all, at age 60, considering he's been chipping away at his craft for the past 40 years, Hammond has certainly earned the right to coast on some better-late-than-never success. And the Waits catalog is bursting with plenty more gems perfect for the singer/guitarist to wrap his throaty, emotional blues voice around.

Albert Hammond - When I Need You & Somewhere In America
EAC+LOG+CUE | WV: 470 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: BGO Records # BGOCD782 | Country/Year: UK 2007, 1977/82
Genre: Rock, Pop, Folk | Style: Pop Rock, Singer/Songwriter

When I Need You should have been a monster album for Albert Hammond. His label at the time, Epic, had just scored with Engelbert Humperdinck's After the Lovin' while Leo Sayer hit number one on both Top 40 and AC charts with Hammond's title track from this disc. Add to all the attention and label savvy the fact that this is an exceptional recording by a songwriter of note, and the fact that it failed to generate any serious renown on its own is a real mystery…