Rooted in Blues: The John Hammond Story (American Made Music Series)

John Hammond (1942–2026) was one of the last great acoustic bluesmen to emerge from the 1960s folk and blues revival. Rooted in Blues: The John Hammond Story is his full-length autobiography, told with candor to his wife and longtime road manager, Marla. The book offers an insider’s view of the 1960s music scene and a working life shaped by constant travel, collaboration, and a lifelong commitment to the traditional country blues Hammond fell in love with as a young man. Born and raised in Greenwich Village, Hammond was the son of the revered music producer John H. Hammond Jr., and the godson of Paul Robeson. Despite these connections, Hammond was raised by his mother after his parents’ divorce and forged his own path, recording his first album in 1963 for Vanguard Records without his father’s support. Hammond was present at many of the defining moments in modern music history. He drove Bob Dylan to meet Woody Guthrie, introduced Dylan to the musicians who would later be known as The Band, and on his invitation shared a stage with Jimi Hendrix on his right and Eric Clapton on his left. His career spanned decades of touring, recording, and collaboration across the United States, Europe, and beyond. The stories Hammond tells in Rooted in Blues are tall but true: time spent in a Turkish prison, a detour to catch king crabs in the Bering Sea the day before an Alaskan gig, working on a Hollywood film soundtrack, and cutting heads with legendary bluesmen on dusty Mississippi streets. Together, these accounts offer a revealing portrait of life on the road and an intimate look at the music, musicians, and perseverance behind a lifetime devoted to the blues. Read more