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John Hammond jr.: In your arms again

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Black Porch Records
Released: 2005.01.25
Time:
 47:00
Category: Blues
Producer(s): See Artists ...
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.johnhammond.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2006.03.21
Price in €: 18,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Jitterbug Swing (Hammond) - 4:20
[2] I Got a Woman (Charles/Richard) - 3:08
[3] In Your Arms Again (Hammond) - 3:11
[4] I'm Leavin' You (Burnett) - 3:36
[5] Fool for You (Charles) - 3:53
[6] Evil [Is Going On] (Dixon) - 3:34
[7] Come to Find Out (Hammond) - 4:07
[8] You Got Me Crying (Abner/Reed) - 4:05
[9] Serve Me Right to Suffer (Hooker) - 4:08
[10] Moanin' for My Baby (Burnett) - 4:40
[11] My Baby's Gone (Mayfield) - 3:36
[12] I'll Be Your Baby Tonight (Dylan) - 4:36

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


John Hammond, jr. - Guitar, Harp, Vocals, Producer

Marty Ballou - Bass
Stephen Hodges - Percussion, Drums

Marie-Lynn Hammond - Producer, Executive Producer
Bonnie Raitt - Liner Notes
Trevor Sadler - Mastering
Connie Gage - Design
Oz Fritz - Engineer
Aaron Householter - Assistant Engineer
Kendall Messick - Photography
Dana Neely - Assistant Photograoh

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s

2005 CD Back Porch 74815

Recording Date Aug 23, 2004-Aug 27, 2004.

Son of legendary Columbia Records producer John Hammond (II), guitarist/singer/harmonica player John Hammond (III) has been waist-deep in the blues since the mid-1960s, and, alongthe way, he has recorded with such legendary figures as Dr.John, Duane Allman, and the Band. IN YOUR ARMS AGAIN finds Hammond exploring the junction between electric urban blues and acoustic country blues. The tracks - an eclectic mix of blues standards and blues-inspired covers (Ray Charles, Bob Dylan)--are presented in a primarily acoustic framework. These tunes are given a bracing jolt of electricity via some spare-yet-snarling electric guitar, searing midnight wails of amplified harmonica, and the whomp of drums that sound like stomping feet. Vocally, Hammond is still working his yowling, rough-hewn style--what he lacks in subtlety he more thanmakes up for in raw, rollicking soulfulness. IN YOUR ARMS AGAIN is a fascinating (and fun) venture into the blues that conjures up a historic turning point, when country moved into the city, when dirt roads were traded for moonlit asphalt and concrete.



The veteran singer/guitarist returns to his roots with a stripped-down trio following the textural experiments of 2003's David Hidalgo-produced Ready for Love and his heralded 2001 collection of Tom Waits songs, Wicked Grin. Every choked note and moaning phrase of his voice rings with total commitment to numbers made famous by Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, and Bob Dylan, including a version of Wolf's "Evil" that gets extra menace from Stephen Hodges's thunderous, impulsive drumming. That's how it should be. For the last 42 years, Hammond's made his career as an energetic interpreter of songs rather than as a writer. Nevertheless, the tunes he penned for this set--the title cut and "Come to Find Out" - fit comfortably among the classics. They explore love and lamentation in acoustic settings using Hammond's voice, guitar, and harmonica; Marty Ballou's upright bass; and Hodges's rim-slapped snare to kick up Delta dust. Fans of Hammond's guitar, muted on his other recent releases, will dig his versatile six-stringing - especially his laid-back virtuosity on slide acoustic and resonator guitars.

Ted Drozdowski - Amazon.com



John Hammond, Jr. fell in love with country blues in the early '60s, and he has never shaken it out of his system. Over time he has developed into a gritty guitar and harp player, and while his voice still feels like someone imitating a rustic Southern blues singer rather than actually being one (Hammond is a lifetime New Yorker, after all), he has learned to temper the hoarse overstatement in his vocals to some degree -- or maybe, after 40-plus years of albums, listeners have just gotten used to his delivery. In Your Arms Again finds Hammond working in a trio format with bassist Marty Ballou and drummer Stephen Hodges, and the result is a wonderfully loose, anxious, and ragged roadhouse sound that continually feels like it's going to steamroll right off a cliff -- which isn't a bad thing at all. Recorded in a converted church in Salina, KS, in just five days, In Your Arms Again includes the usual Hammond mix of old blues and R&B classics, including, this time around, two Ray Charles songs ("I've Got a Woman," "Fool for You"), three made famous by Howlin' Wolf ("I'm Leavin' You," "Moanin' for My Baby," and Willie Dixon's "Evil [Is Going On]"), a Jimmy Reed song (a sturdy, loping version of "You Got Me Crying"), and two of the album's highlights, a vicious take on John Lee Hooker's "Serve Me Right to Suffer" and a raggedly right shuffle try on Percy Mayfield's "My Baby's Gone." Hammond also contributes two of his own songs, the title track and "Come to Find Out," which are credible if unspectacular efforts. The best track here is arguably the opener, a delightfully loose and energetic romp through the traditional "Jitterbug Swing," drawn, it would appear, from Bukka White's 1940 version on OKeh Records. In the end, Hammond doesn't break any new ground on In Your Arms Again, but the stripped-down trio format he uses here gives the album a nice back-porch rustic stomp feel, and if he stills seems like more of an imitator than an interpreter, well, he's going to get folks moving and shaking with this little combo, and that, first and foremost, is what the blues is supposed to do. The rest is academic.

Steve Leggett - All Music Guide



When it comes to the blues, John Hammond Jr. refuses to let musical boundaries rope him in. Interpreting songs by Bob Dylan and Ray Charles alongside those of Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, and other perennials, Hammond asserts his right to be as inclusive as his muse dictates. He's also proved over the decades that he has all the goods to pull off this difficult trick. His vocal and guitar work have continued to mature in step with his wide embrace of our country's best homegrown music; by this point in his career, Hammond is a living embodiment of Americana. The embracing vision that allowed him to take on the songs of Tom Waits on Wicked Grin and then Rolling Stones and George Jones tunes on Ready for Love remains his artistic M.O. Hear Hammond tackle Charles' "I Got a Woman," Wolf's "Evil," and Dylan's "I'll Be your Baby Tonight" and witness how effortlessly all the musical pieces come together.

Steve Futterman - Barnes & Noble



"IN YOUR ARMS AGAIN accentuates strict 12-bar, the subtle dynamics of interwoven acoustic and electric guitars, tin-shack clatter, and desperation for a shag." Living Blues (p.55) - "[H]e sounds most comfortable on a pair of Delta-charged originals, the touching title track and the world-weary 'Come To Find Out,' both of which feature his strong country blues slide playing."

Mojo (p.96) - 3 stars out of 5



A legitimate treasure of American roots music, John Hammond has made other people's songs his own during his decades-long career. With his 2003 Back Porch Records debut, READY FOR LOVE, the veteran bluesman ventured into new territory with his first-ever recorded composition, Slick Crown Vic. “My wife Marla gets the credit for the tune. She said, ‘listen, you gotta write a song.’ So, after about a year being told that, I wrote it. The tune was inspired by experiences I’ve had over the years - I once owned a 1955 Crown Victoria Ford and I did in fact drive into town and that kind of thing.”

It turns out that Slick Crown Vic was just the tip of the iceberg. On his latest venture, IN YOUR ARMS AGAIN, Hammond once again takes up the pen with the album’s title track and Come To Find Out. “Writing Slick Crown Vic, I didn’t feel like I had to prove anything, but I got this new sense of freedom,” he mentions. “My inspiration for writing comes from Marla, who gives me a push just at the right times. Also, in my world of blues - since I began listening to it in the mid-’50s and throughout my 42-year professional career, a lot of the images for the songs simply come from my life and times.”

Born in 1942, Hammond, the son of the legendary Columbia Records A&R man who discovered Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, was raised mostly by his mother. A lifelong New Yorker (he now calls Jersey City home), John didn’t buy his first guitar until he turned 18, but that was it - he’d found his calling. Almost immediately, he was on the Greenwich Village club scene, and by 1963, he was accomplished enough to share a Newport Folk Festival bill with the likes of Mississippi John Hurt and the Reverend Gary Davis.

“I was inspired initially by Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley,” Hammond says. “Then I discovered the roots of it all. When I began playing professionally, I incorporated all my passions into what I did solo. I did Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley songs as well as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. I saw how they could make something come alive and be just as important as it was ages ago.”

Hammond’s first five records for Vanguard are still in print, and over the years he’s played, recorded, or crossed paths with John Lee Hooker, Dr. John, Jimi Hendrix, Duane Allman, Michael Bloomfield, Bill Wyman, Pops Staples, and The Band. He remains best-known as an acoustic artist: America’s modern country bluesman.

Then, two dozen albums later, came WICKED GRIN, Hammond’s 2001 brilliant reimagining of Tom Waits’ songs. An international success story, the album exposed Hammond’s musicianship to a whole new audience. “The success was almost overwhelming,” he recalls. The album shattered any genre typecasting, both in terms of public expectations and Hammond’s image of himself. “It was exhilarating and freeing in a lot of ways, because I did material that I had never even thought of doing before, and found that it flowed,” he says. “That gave me this relaxed feeling, that I’d be able to do the material I wanted, and now was the time to do it. “

2003’s READY FOR LOVE, produced by Los Lobos stalwart David Hidalgo, saw Hammond spread his well-traveled interpreter’s wings even further, putting his stamp on songs by George Jones, Jagger/Richards, as well as two more songs by Waits. “The experience on WICKED GRIN opened me up tremendously. READY FOR LOVE represented a lot of where I’d been.”

Hammond’s new album reunites READY FOR LOVE alums Marty Ballou (bass), Stephen Hodges (percussion), and engineer Oz Fritz for an acoustic tour de force. The seeds of the album were sown in October, 2002 when Hammond played at a blues festival in Salina, Kansas. The festival was staged at the Blue Heaven Studio, an old, gothic-style church now used as a concert venue and recording studio. “Marla remarked on how wonderful the acoustics were,” Hammond recalls. Tantalized with an offer to use the space for recording by the owner, work began on the new album two years later.

“I’m very happy about the songs we selected for IN YOUR ARMS AGAIN - real, good blues like Jitterbug Swing, Serve Me Right To Suffer and My Baby’s Gone written by Percy Mayfield, as well as Bob Dylan’s tune, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight.” In addition to Hammond’s In Your Arms Again and Come To Find Out, darkly-tinged covers of I Got A Woman and Fool For You by the great Ray Charles are also included on the gritty collection. “I first heard Ray in 1956 on records. He was a great blues singer and his early recordings were - and remain - a big influence on me.” The itinerant storyteller’s ability to interpret such classics, flavored by four decades of playing the blues, gives the feeling he’s just getting started.

www.johnhammond.com
  

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