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Big plans scare young Hammond
published: Friday | November 23, 2007
Mel Cooke, [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Freelance [COLOR=orange! important]Writer[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]
Hammond
After Beres Hammond recorded the Soul Reggae album for Aquarius, released in 1976, his life changed. Or, at least, his life was changed for him. We pick up on our ongoing series on Beres Hammond at the point where his popularity was really skyrocketing.
With Got To Get Away ruling the airwaves, Beres Hammond said Aquarius was approached "by one or two labels, Warner etc.". But would have none of it.
"I went back to country," he told The Gleaner. "They had all these plans for me. I said it couldn't be me."
Still he retreated to his rural roots, Hammond says the album "planted my name in the Jamaican music industry. I was the only one singing like that. It made me stand out more."
Of course, fame did not automatically mean fortune and Hammond says "owning cars was out of the question". And even when he took a taxi it was often only to a certain point in the journey and Hammond laughs as he imitates a taxi driver telling him in a deep-voiced drawl that "my youth, the money finish".
Taking the bus was a cheaper option, but the fare and fame clashed one evening in Half-Way Tree. Hammond was standing across from Aquarius waiting on a bus and his songs were playing over the speakers outside the store.
"The girls inside the bus start talk bout is a foreign yute, them hear this Beres Hammond. I can't step on that bus," he said. "I have to stop take bus."
Walking became a very regular activity.
Hammond and Aquarius soon had a parting of ways and again producer Willie Lindo, who was instrumental in Soul [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Reggae[/COLOR][/COLOR], again had a hand in Hammond's career.
From single to album
He invited Hammond to record a single in "about 1978". Just like at Aquarius, they "went to do some singles and ended up doing an album". And Hammond's voice goes from speaking to singing in an instant, the very familiar lines "we gonna burn in the morning sun" and "could you give me a bit of your time," filling the room.
It was not long before he was on the business path in [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]music[/COLOR][/COLOR], as "every little money me have me save up and say me can run some session for myself".
It was the start of Harmony House, Hammond's [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]production [COLOR=orange! important]company[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], and the first song he did on his own was the lover's rock Groovy Little Thing, recorded in 1980 it did well it was not until 1985 that the song was released on an album. Having established himself through R&B, Hammond thought "is high time me get back to my sound, see if we can take it to another level".
"Me and Willie did do our thing down at Dynamics (studio). Sly (Dunbar) did get this drum machine and want to experiment with it," Hammond said. It was the very early days of the [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]drum [COLOR=orange! important]machine[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and, after Dunbar had laid the beat, "Robbie Lyn played some chords and is so we end up with One Dance."
The tale of an encounter between a man and a woman who hit it off at a party, but there is another man who is "standing in my way" was "just a part-time experience. Dem time me love go dance. But you have to wary of some man who come out with their girls".
"Then came She Loves Me Now and the saga continues," Hammond said, just as he often says on stage when doing the two songs on stage. Then came Settling Down, which he calls "my little production". And then "some mishap took place. Some people thought I was settling down too much and come rob I," Beres Hammond said.
It was 1987. Next: Beres Hammond leaves Jamaica, then returns to the Penthouse.
published: Friday | November 23, 2007
Mel Cooke, [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Freelance [COLOR=orange! important]Writer[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]
Hammond
After Beres Hammond recorded the Soul Reggae album for Aquarius, released in 1976, his life changed. Or, at least, his life was changed for him. We pick up on our ongoing series on Beres Hammond at the point where his popularity was really skyrocketing.
With Got To Get Away ruling the airwaves, Beres Hammond said Aquarius was approached "by one or two labels, Warner etc.". But would have none of it.
"I went back to country," he told The Gleaner. "They had all these plans for me. I said it couldn't be me."
Still he retreated to his rural roots, Hammond says the album "planted my name in the Jamaican music industry. I was the only one singing like that. It made me stand out more."
Of course, fame did not automatically mean fortune and Hammond says "owning cars was out of the question". And even when he took a taxi it was often only to a certain point in the journey and Hammond laughs as he imitates a taxi driver telling him in a deep-voiced drawl that "my youth, the money finish".
Taking the bus was a cheaper option, but the fare and fame clashed one evening in Half-Way Tree. Hammond was standing across from Aquarius waiting on a bus and his songs were playing over the speakers outside the store.
"The girls inside the bus start talk bout is a foreign yute, them hear this Beres Hammond. I can't step on that bus," he said. "I have to stop take bus."
Walking became a very regular activity.
Hammond and Aquarius soon had a parting of ways and again producer Willie Lindo, who was instrumental in Soul [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Reggae[/COLOR][/COLOR], again had a hand in Hammond's career.
From single to album
He invited Hammond to record a single in "about 1978". Just like at Aquarius, they "went to do some singles and ended up doing an album". And Hammond's voice goes from speaking to singing in an instant, the very familiar lines "we gonna burn in the morning sun" and "could you give me a bit of your time," filling the room.
It was not long before he was on the business path in [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]music[/COLOR][/COLOR], as "every little money me have me save up and say me can run some session for myself".
It was the start of Harmony House, Hammond's [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]production [COLOR=orange! important]company[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR], and the first song he did on his own was the lover's rock Groovy Little Thing, recorded in 1980 it did well it was not until 1985 that the song was released on an album. Having established himself through R&B, Hammond thought "is high time me get back to my sound, see if we can take it to another level".
"Me and Willie did do our thing down at Dynamics (studio). Sly (Dunbar) did get this drum machine and want to experiment with it," Hammond said. It was the very early days of the [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]drum [COLOR=orange! important]machine[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] and, after Dunbar had laid the beat, "Robbie Lyn played some chords and is so we end up with One Dance."
The tale of an encounter between a man and a woman who hit it off at a party, but there is another man who is "standing in my way" was "just a part-time experience. Dem time me love go dance. But you have to wary of some man who come out with their girls".
"Then came She Loves Me Now and the saga continues," Hammond said, just as he often says on stage when doing the two songs on stage. Then came Settling Down, which he calls "my little production". And then "some mishap took place. Some people thought I was settling down too much and come rob I," Beres Hammond said.
It was 1987. Next: Beres Hammond leaves Jamaica, then returns to the Penthouse.