Search - John Hammond :: Southern Fried

Deep Fried, Hot 'N Spicy Southern Boogie

12/03/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"At long last the CD debut of this sizzling hot John Hammond/Muscle Shoals Studio masterpiece. Hammond cranks it out, as he's accompanied by the deft rhythm section of Barry Beckett; keyboards, Eddie Hinton; guitar, David Hood; bass and Roger Hawkins; drums. In addition he is joined on four tracks by slide guitar virtuoso, the legendary Duane Allman. Those familiar with the Duane Allman anthologies (volumes 1 & 2) can attest to the sonic wail of Duane and John trading licks on Shake For Me and Cryin' For My Baby.



Southern Fried stands along side other Muscle Shoals great R&B classics like Johnny Jenkins Ton Ton Machutte and Boz Scaggs self titled Atlantic Records album with Duane Allman on slide guitar and doboro. Just check out the writting credits on this puppy...Willie Dixon, Chester Burnett (aka Howlin Wolf), Chuck Willis, Chuck Berry and McKinley Morganfield (shame on you if you didn't recognize Muddy Waters real name). So fly out the door or submit your order today to the folks at Amazon.com (just a wee little plug for the good guys). Either way treat yourself to some real down home, deep fried, hot 'n spicy southern R&B. No doubt you'll be flayling away on your air guitar as Johnny and Duane take you for a soulful shakedown."

A personal favorite of mine for 30 years

so_many_cds | Tarzana, CA United States | 02/21/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Something special occurred when John Hammond's powerful vocals, guitar, and harmonica were paired with the legendary Muscle Shoals "Swampers" -- studio musicians who had a magical ability to infuse all their recording projects with a terrific combination of soulful RnB and country-flavored blues feeling. For me, they are just as responsible as Hammond for why this album turned out so well. The added presence of their frequent guest collaborator, Duane Allman, on lead and bottleneck slide guitar for several tracks doesn't hurt either. If this album were to be recorded today, the production and sound quality would undoubtedly be fuller, but the feel of the players could not be bettered. (I've always thought of this album as a sort of a companion piece to Boz Scaggs's excellent self-titled 1969 solo album on Atlantic, recorded in the same studio with all the same people.) A solid rhythm section, tasteful supporting keyboard and guitar work, and judicious use of a potent horn section all yield marvelous results -- plus Hammond's vocals and harmonica work here are knockouts. The raw passion and energy of his performance offset the other musicians' more polished and relaxed approach so that things don't sound too smooth and laid-back. I should mention that this CD reissue is nicely packaged and sounds really good, but there are no added liner notes or bonus tracks -- and the listing of tracks and credits is marred by some embarrassingly stupid typos (like crediting the song "Nadine" to "Chuckr" Berry, and dropping the second "y" in the title of "Mystery Train"). Of course, what's important is the music, and it's great. I thought so when I first heard this album in the early 1970s, and time has not changed my opinion."

Big John

Anthony S. Prowse | Melbourne, Australia | 03/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"John Hammond was my first experience with white man's blues from his very first Vanguard albums. I followed his career closely for many years until he seemed to lose his way in the mid-70's. I think the high water mark of his career was the three albums he did for Atlantic in the late 60's and "Southern Fried" is the top of the pile. Great singing, great songs, great, great band of Muscle Shoals regulars (plus Duane Allman) and a vibe he hasn't been able to achieve since. I have all his early to mid-period stuff on CD and vinyl, many twice or thrice over, and reckon he's one of the best white bluesmen. There must be some enterprising record label out there than can gather together all John's Atlantic material (plus unreleased stuff) and put together a proper collectors retrospective CD. Then get a proper and sympathetic box set of his Vanguard material (the current re-releases of this material is a dog's breakfast) and finally pull together a double CD of the best of his Columbia, Capricorn, Rounder and other minor label material. Then we may be doing justice to this excellent bluesman who has done as much for the "originals" as any white boy could. With the current interest in him at an all-time high, there must be a market for his earlier, more traditional blues material. As a footnote, I think the cover of the original vinyl "Southern Fried" album (not the one shown here) is one of the top 20 album covers of all-time; snake-skin suit, Gold-Top Gibson guitar, F**k me pose and all the strut and bluster of a man at the top of his game."