By: Joe Lang
 |
| John Hammond - Publicity Photo |
John Hammond is the baddest. If you can name another performer out there who can fill more room with just a guitar, a voice and a harmonica, I’d love to hear them. Last Thursday at the Cedar, you almost had to remind yourself that this was one guy. Tom Waits has said, “John Hammond learned from the masters: Muddy, John Lee Hooker, Skip James, Son House, Johnny Shines, Sonny and Brownie, Albert King, Hendrix, James Cotton, and now he is a master. He's a great force of nature. John sounds like a big train coming. He chops them all down.”
And so the train pulled out of the station, full blast. Maybe the biggest strength of Hammond is never taking on worn and wearied blues covers. He always mixes it up with obscure songs by unknown practitioners, or deep cuts by the big names. And so it was on that evening as Hammond covered Son House, Buddy Guy (actually Robert Geddins), Tom Waits, Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson and others. And between each, the audience was privy to old stories Hammond told about hanging out and playing with legends like Sonny Boy Williamson, Big Joe Williams, Muddy Waters, Mike Bloomfield, and Hoyt Axton. And beyond those, he told tales of growing up and traveling the country in his “slick Crowne Vic,” pumping gas as a teenager, and traveling from New York to Philadelphia and back.
Hammond made his stop at the Cedar in support of his new album, Push Comes to Shove. The album was produced by G. Love, who added not only production to the album, but his own talents; be it rapping or sampling of old blues standards to the mix. Strangely, Hammond only played a handful of tracks from the new disc, including “Mean Ol’ Lonesome Train,” and “If You Wanna Rock & Roll.” The former was one of the highlights of the evening, with Hammond coaxing out a slow, sulking melancholy dirge. The other big highlight of the evening came in the form of a rather well known blues standard, Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “See That My Grave is Kept Clean.” The song was originally recorded with the Blind Boys of Alabama, but never made the cut for the album. According to Hammond, the label said he could have the song for $10,000. Hammond grimaced as he told the story and told the label he would be passing, eliciting one of many laughs from the crowd. Hammond altered the tone and structure of the piece into a darker, smokier, morbid and morose reflection on death.
Tom Waits said it best: “John Hammond with his guitar and a slide, a harmonica and a voice that can make a sound like a whole train going by at night or like he’s tryin’ not to wake the baby. The road, the song, one is plugged into the other and they are both plugged into John Hammond and it’s the same thing, it’s the same thing.”
Location Info:
Cedar Cultural Center
Artist Info: John Hammond
Share this story:
Article comments powered by Disqus