John Hammond, one of the most noted performers to emerge from the folk-blues revival of the 1960s, has sustained a consistent career and maintained a loyal following by remaining true to his sources as he reinterprets the works of the blues masters. John Paul Hammond, sometimes called John Hammond, Jr., is the son of famed record producer John Henry Hammond, Jr. (1910-1987). Born in New York City on Nov. 13, 1942, Hammond was inspired by a Jimmy Reed performance at the Apollo Theater. As a teenager he devoted himself to the blues, becoming something of an instant sensation on the festival and coffeehouse circuit and playing alongside legends such as Big Joe Williams. The first of his more than 30 albums, the self-titled John Hammond LP on Vanguard (1963), featured his renditions of classics by Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and others, a pattern he usually followed until he began to pen some of his own tunes on recent releases. Although best known as a solo performer, accompanying himself on guitar and racked harmonica, Hammond has often performed and recorded with bands. Various albums have featured him with the Muscle Shoals studio band, the Nighthawks, Little Charlie & the Nightcats, and The Band (when they were still Levon Helm & the Hawks), among other aggregations. Blues Foundation voters have rewarded Hammond with five Blues Music Awards as acoustic blues artist of the year and two more for the albums Wicked Grin and Got Love If You Want It. Following the elder John Hammond’s election to the Blues Hall of Fame in 2008, the Hammonds become the hall’s first father and son inductees.
