Obituary
Son of the great Colombia producer and talent spotter. John was true to the blues. The stellar musicians he had on his records is testament to good nature. Melbourne guitarist Jeff Lang posted this to Facebook
Very sad to hear that John Hammond has passed.
He was a great performer, a brilliant guitarist with his own distinctively propulsive style which can also be said of his wailing rack harmonica playing (the late Chris Wilson noted that most rack players have to be pretty gentle but John seemed to really attack the harmonica on the rack), and someone who very effectively interpreted the blues canon and added his own stamp to the music without losing its essence.
I had the chance to play on some shows with John over the years and he proved to be a lovely man, full of warmth and kindness. Despite my music being far from a purist’s idea of the blues, he expressed genuine appreciation, and even went as far as having my wife and I stay at his house instead of renting a motel room. He was a sweetheart.
My thoughts to his wife Marla.
RIP John Hammond.
Anyone curious about this guy should give him a listen- my favourite album of his is Wicked Grin, made up of Tom Waits covers & produced by the man himself.
I saw him at the Borderline in London, April 2002, in support of that album. A terrific gig.
He was an excellent raconteur too, with a lot of good stories about his Pointblank label-mates from the ‘90 (blues giants like John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins and Pops Staples) as well as the musicians his dad introduced him to when he was young. His “Trouble No More” album, released on Pointblank, is also worth a listen.
An incredible slide / harp player, who treated his National guitar with no mercy.
I second the recommendation for Trouble No More.