John Hammond - So Many Roads [Blues][mp3 320][h33t][schon55]

John Hammond - So Many Roads

Year: 1965

Label: Vanguard

Total time: 38:33

Bitrate: 320 kbps



So Many Roads is Hammond's most notable mid-'60s Vanguard album, due not so much to Hammond's own singing and playing (though he's up to the task) as the yet-to-be-famous backing musicians. Three future members of the Band -- Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm -- are among the supporting cast, along with Charlie Musselwhite on harmonica, and Mike Bloomfield also contributes. It's one of the first fully realized blues-rock albums, although it's not in the same league as the best efforts of the era by the likes of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band or John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. In part that's because the repertoire is so heavy on familiar Chicago blues classics by the likes of Willie Dixon, Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters; in part that's because the interpretations are so reverent and close to the originals in arrangement; and in part it's also because Hammond's blues vocals were only okay. Revisionist critics thus tend to downgrade the record a notch. But in the context of its time -- when songs like "Down in the Bottom," "Long Distance Call," "Big Boss Man," and "You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover" were not as well known as they would become -- it was a punchy, well-done set of electric blues with a rock touch. ~ AMG



This is one of my favorite blues CD's and much of the reason is Robbie Robertson's incredible edgy guitar playing, which I don't think he ever equaled in his work with The Band or elsewhere. Other members of The Band are also on this CD -- Garth Hudson, Levon Helm -- as well as the already mentioned Mike Bloomfield (inexplicably on piano, but I don't think even he could have surpassed Robertson on guitar in this set) and Charlie Musselwhite. John Hammond's dramatic vocals are great as is his choice of some of the best blues tunes in existence. Highly recommended for all fans of blues, and blues-guitar. ~ John May



Personnel:

John Hammond (Guitar and Vocals)

Charlie Musselwhite (Harmonica)

Robbie Robertson (Guitar)

Levon Helm (Drums)

Michael Bloomfield (Piano)

Jimmy Lewis (Bass Guitar)

Garth Hudson (Hammond Organ)



John Hammond - So Many Roads Tracks:

01 Down in the Bottom

02 Long Distance Call

03 Who Do You Love

04 I Want You to Love Me

05 Judgement Day

06 So Many Roads, So Many Trains

07 Rambling Blues

08 O Yea!

09 You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover

10 Gambling Blues

11 Baby, Please Don't Go

12 Big Boss Man