‘I was hooked’

When John Hammond takes the stage on Jan. 15 at the Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City, it will be the first time singing in the same city that he and his wife, Marla, have made their home for the past 15 years.
“I don’t know how it all came about; my agent got a call, and now I will be in this show,” Hammond said last week. “It’s all very exciting.”
“Exciting” is the adjective usually used by Hammond’s fans to describe him in performance. He has been one of the foremost interpreters of the blues since his self-titled debut album in 1962 on Vanguard Records.

_____________

“I love playing and singing the blues.” – John Hammond
________

Hammond has won over legions of fans with his own takes on classics by his musical heroes, whether it’s Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man” on the first album or “Statesboro Blues” by Blind Willie McTell on his latest effort, “Rough and Tough.” He has also won the respect of numerous all-star musicians he has performed with at one time or another: John Lee Hooker, Eric Clapton, and The Band, just to name a few.
He looks forward to the January 15th concert, part of the Loew’s Down Blues Concert Series, where he is sharing the bill with his longtime friend – veteran guitarist Duke Robillard – who will open the show.
“I like to do my solo show, but I may sit in with Duke, who I first saw in the 1960s with his group, A Roomful of Blues, playing in Providence,” Hammond said. “I have always liked his guitar playing; we did an album together called ‘Found True Love’ in the 1990s.”

47 years of the blues

Hammond’s career started when he was 7 years old and his father took him to see the great bluesman Big Bill Broonzy perform at a New York theater.
“I was hooked,” Hammond recalled about the impact of that concert.
Soon, country blues music seized Hammond’s attention, and he sought out performances by Leadbelly, Josh White, and Sonny Terry. Then it was the rock n’ roll shows of New York DJ Alan Freed, in which Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley electrified the crowd including an impressionable, teenage John Hammond.

Father discovered legends

Then again, he was likely destined for a music career as the son of famed music producer John Hammond (John Henry Hammond as opposed to his son’s John Paul). The senior Hammond discovered Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. He also had a great fondness for the blues, as he had helped the career of blues icon Robert Johnson.
Yet young John had grown up apart from his father, as his parents were divorced in his early years. So he did not depend on the old man’s guidance when he decided at the age of 20 to embark on what has been his life’s work.
“We all have aspects of our parents and I am very proud of what my dad did,” Hammond said. “But I have always been headstrong and I just went for it.”
That meant learning how to play guitar at age 18, and spending two long years playing coffeehouses and other spaces (while picking up the harmonica) until he signed his first record contract.
Now 47 years and 30-plus albums later, Hammond is still enjoying what he calls a “phenomenal” career that has been guided by a personal philosophy of survival.
“If you hang in there and work your ass off, you will succeed,” Hammond said. “However, you have to be a little bit nuts to do this, because this can be a rough business.”
Hammond continued, “But I love playing and singing the blues.”

Get your tickets

Advance tickets for the Jan. 15 show are $27.50 ($35 at the door) for Preferred Seating in orchestra rows A-R, and $22.50 for General Admission ($30 at the door) and are available online at www.loewsjersey.org or by calling (800) 440-7654. Tickets can also be purchased on Saturdays from noon until 3 p.m. at the Loew’s Jersey Theatre box office, 54 Journal Square. The cost of parking for ticket holders will be reduced for the event to just $5 at Square Ramp Parking, located directly behind the theatre.
The Loew’s Down Blues concert series is presented by Jersey City Magazine. Promotional partners include the Journal Square Restoration Corporation, Friends of the Loew’s, the city of Jersey City, and Square Ramp Parking. The United Jersey Blues Network is the music partner for the concert series. Media partners include The Hudson Reporter Newspapers and WFDU-FM. The concerts are funded with contributions from the Journal Square Restoration Corporation as well as through the Jersey City Urban Enterprise Zone program.
For more information about future shows, call the Journal Square Restoration Corporation at (201)795-1854 or visit: www.thenewjournalsquare.com. For more information on the theatre, call the Loew’s Jersey Theatre at (201)798-6055 or visit loewsjersey.org.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.