JOHN HAMMOND
In Your Arms Again (Virgin/Backporch)
Reviewed by Eric Steiner

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If John Hammond's new Backporch release is any indication of what 2005 will be like for blues fans, it's going to be a very, very good year for the blues. In Your Arms Again sets the blues bar high and it is a worthy successor to John's 2003 debut on this Virgin imprint, Ready for Love. The set's opening frenzy, "Jitterbug Swing," sets the stage for a 10 original songs and two covers from a premier practitioner of traditional blues. The late, great Brother Ray would delight in Hammond's interpretation of "I Got A Woman" and "A Fool for You," and I am constantly amazed at the joyous racket that Hammond and his band makes all through In Your Arms Again. Hammond's steel guitar shines through twists and turns with a fine slide from time to time, and his raggedy voice takes me right back down to a Delta jukejoint. Listen to the title cut, and you'll hear the history of the blues in three minutes and nine seconds filled with love, loss, and the band's musical images of a freight train rumbling past the cotton fields. The electric cuts like "I'm Leaving" have the same shopworn chords (think "Dust My Broom," as just one example) that bluesmen have used for decades, but in Hammond's hands, they are pure magic.

Track List:

Jitterbug Swing * I Got a Woman * I'll Be In Your Arms Again * I'm Leaving * A Fool for You * Evil * Come to Find Out * You Got Me Cryin/ * It Serves Me Right to Suffer * Moanin' for My Baby * My Baby's Gone * I'll Be Your Baby Tonight

© 2005 - Eric Steiner