So Many Roads
Hammond seated
Studio album by
John P. Hammond
Released1965 (1965)
Recorded1964
StudioVanguard Studios, New York City, New York, United States[1]
GenreChicago blues, blues rock[2]
Length38:34
LanguageEnglish
LabelVanguard
John P. Hammond chronology
Country Blues
(1964)		 So Many Roads
(1965)		 Mirrors
(1967)

So Many Roads is a 1965 studio album by John P. Hammond, backed by several musicians who would go on to form The Band.

Recording and release

So Many Roads was recorded shortly after Ronnie Hawkins' backing band The Hawks had hit out on their own, eventually naming themselves The Band. Hammond had seen The Hawks while gigging in Toronto and formed a friendship with the band members.[3] The group toured in America's East Coast, so they could easily show up at the studio, where the record label only allowed for a single three-hour session.[3] This was their first time recording without Hawkins.[4] Hammond wanted the entire line-up—which included drummer Levon Helm, organist Garth Hudson, and guitarist Robbie Robertson, who all appear on the album, as well as bassist Rick Danko and keyboardist Richard Manuel—but he was denied by Vanguard Records, who insisted that veteran jazz bassist Jimmy Lewis appear, having played on previous recordings from Hammond.[2] Hammond brought in Chicago blues friends Mike Bloomfield and Charlie Musselwhite to round out the recording.[5]

In the months after this album was released, Hammond was informed that a young Jimi Hendrix—who had recently relocated to New York City—was playing songs from So Many Roads. Hammond went to see him live[6] and immediately introduced him to John H. Hammond, his father and accomplished record producer.[7]

Critical reception

Writing for AllMusic (where the editorial staff gave the album four out of five stars), Richie Unterberger characterizes So Many Roads as "Hammond's most notable mid-'60s Vanguard album" due to the session musicians, calling it "one of the first fully realized blues-rock albums".[2]

Track listing

  1. "Down in the Bottom" (Willie Dixon) – 3:01
  2. "Long Distance Call" (Muddy Waters) – 3:18
  3. "Who Do You Love? (Ellas McDaniel) – 3:00
  4. "I Want You to Love Me" (Waters) – 4:05
  5. "Judgment Day" (Hammond and Robert Johnson) – 3:22
  6. "So Many Roads, So Many Trains" (Marshall Paul) – 2:40
  7. "Rambling Blues" (Johnson) – 3:15
  8. "O Yea!" (Bo Diddley) – 3:32
  9. "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover" (Dixon) – 3:28
  10. "Gambling Blues" (Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson) – 3:10
  11. "Baby, Please Don't Go" (Big Joe Williams) – 2:19
  12. "Big Boss Man" (Luther Dixon and Al Smith) – 2:40

So Many Roads: The Complete Sessions 2001 bonus tracks

  1. "I Wish You Would"
  2. "Traveling Riverside"
  3. "They Call It Stormy Monday"
  4. "Statesboro Blues"
  5. "Keys to the Highway"
  6. "I Just Got Here"
  7. "I'm a Man"
  8. "Backdoor Man"
  9. "Baby Won't You Tell Me"
  10. "I Can't Be Satisfied"
  11. "Shake for Me"
  12. "I'm Leaving You"

Personnel

Additional musicians

Complete Sessions personnel (tracks 15–21)

Complete Sessions personnel (tracks 22–24)

Technical personnel

  • Barry Feinstein – photography
  • Jules Halfant – design
  • Barry Kittleson – liner notes

References

  1. ↑ Tooze, Sandra B. (August 25, 2020). Levon: From Down in the Delta to the Birth of The Band and Beyond. Diversion Books. ISBN 9781635767025.
  2. 1 2 3 Unterberger, Richie. "So Many Roads – John Hammond Jr". AllMusic. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Hoskyns, Barney (2006). Across the Great Divide: The Band and America. Hal Leonard. pp. 84–85. ISBN 9781423414421.
  4. ↑ Helm, Levon. This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band. p. 110. ISBN 9781613748794.
  5. ↑ Fletcher, Tony (October 26, 2009). All Hopped Up and Ready to Go: Music from the Streets of New York 1927–77. W. W. Norton. p. 219. ISBN 9780393076714.
  6. ↑ Milward, John (June 11, 2013). Crossroads: How the Blues Shaped Rock ’n’ Roll (and Rock Saved the Blues). Northeastern University Press. p. 30. ISBN 9781555537449.
  7. ↑ Roby, Stephen; Schrieber, Brad (August 31, 2010). Becoming Jimi Hendrix: From Southern Crossroads to Psychedelic London, the Untold Story of a Musical Genius. Hachette Books. p. 169. ISBN 9780306819452.
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