Sons of legends never have it easy. Life is difficult enough without the burden of comparisons impossible to meet. Most either run screaming in another direction or coast in the slipstream of parental greatness. Perhaps most difficult of all is the attempt to achieve independence within the same field. Such has been the noble pursuit and ultimate success of John Paul Hammond (JP), first son of the most important record producer of all time, John Henry Hammond Jr. (JH).
The Hammonds have been in the news of late as JP is on tour now behind his W.C. Handy Award-winning CD, Wicked Grin, with songs written and produced by Tom Waits; and JH was instrumental in hooking up the recently deceased Lionel Hampton with Benny Goodman live, helping to break the race barrier onstage.
JP was born November 13, 1942 in NYC's Village. His father was drafted into the Army when JP was 2. JP was sent to the Little Red Schoolhouse, known as the "commie school" by the local Italian community. His parents divorced in 1948. At the Schoolhouse, JP had a black music teacher named Charity Bailey who got all of the children involved with playing some kind of instrument and singing songs like Leadbelly's "Jump Down, Turn Around, Pick a Bale of Cotton."
JP only saw his father on some weekends and for a few weeks in the summer, but in their time together JP attended recording sessions, met many of his father’s musician friends like Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing, and became aware that music was a way of life for some people.
JP was more of a visual arts student and was encouraged in this direction. He loved R&B and early rock 'n' roll, but when his father took him to see Big Bill Broonzy, JP became hooked on the country blues. The "personal statement of the solo artist" deeply affected him.
He didn't get his first guitar until he was 17, but all he did was eat, sleep and practice for the next two years; by 19 he was playing professionally "much to the shock of everyone around me," he says. JH was "surprised and not pleased" when his first son left school to become a musician, informing him that it was a very difficult life and a hard way to make any money.
However, within a year JP had a recording contract and his father's fears were eased. When it became clear that his son wasn't going to change his mind or go back to school, JH became supportive, but they both tried to steer clear of the appearance or reality of the father's influence on the son's career.
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