DVD Review: John Hammond: The Paris Concert - Page 2

John Hammond is a living compendium of the best blues music sung, written, and performed since the beginning of the 20th century. From Robert Johnson, Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters, on up to the blues of the early Rolling Stones, John Hammond: The Paris Concert is a journey through music history.

From the Piedmont style of the Carolinas by artists like Blind Boy Fuller, with its roots in the Appalachians and country blues, that was popular during the thirties, to the Mississippi Delta, and across the breadth of the United States on up to the streets of Chicago, Mr. Hammond can play the blues in all its variants, shapes, and forms. But it's not just the music he knows – the stories he has to tell about the people he's played with and met along the road are equally fascinating.

Introducing a Howling Wolf song, he recounts his first meeting with the great artist who was one of his biggest influences. Mr. Hammond had just finished his set on a bill that included Howling Wolf. He had shown up early hoping to meet his idol during the sound check, but Howling Wolf hadn't shown by the time John had to perform.

He got backstage after he finished and there, standing in front of him, was Howling Wolf. The first words out of Howling Wolf's mouth were, "Where did you learn to play like that?" Hammond responded, "from records." Howling Wolf looked at him for a second and said, "So did I." He then sat Hammond down and talked about those writers who influenced him and how he learned to sing and play.

When your father is the man who produced Billie Holiday, "discovered" Bob Dylan, and worked with most of the great blues, folk, and jazz musicians of his time, you either can go the opposite direction into something like accounting, or do your best to make people forget there are two John Hammonds in the music business who are related. Of course, there are advantages to be found in such a relationship, like being able to listen to all that great music at home and absorb it like a sponge.

Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the forthcoming book What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and has had his work published in print and on line all over the world. The not so long-haired Canadian iconoclast writes reviews and opines on the world as he sees …

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