Some rocking blues from John Hammond, Duane Allman, and the Muscle Shoals rhythm section. This one is not a well-known song but it is worth hearing. This was made for vinyl and a turntable. The percussion makes the song jump at you.
The song was written by Willie Dixon. It was recorded in 1969 at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. Hammond is the son of famous record producer John H. Hammond, who signed some of the most famous musicians ever. A partial list includes Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Charlie Christian, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Teddy Wilson, Big Joe Turner, Pete Seeger, Babatunde Olatunji, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Freddie Green, Leonard Cohen, Arthur Russell, Jim Copp, Asha Puthli, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Mike Bloomfield. He is also largely responsible for the revival of delta blues artist Robert Johnson’s music.
When Duane heard John Paul Hammond was scheduled to record an album at Muscle Shoals Sound in November of 1969, he headed down to meet him.
Hammond come down from New York City to cut a record with Marlin Green, a producer who had worked with Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. He didn’t know what to expect walking into the studio, but he felt an immediate chill from the musicians he had come to play with. He had expected the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section to be black, and they expected the same of him.
Duane showed up in the middle of this awkward realization that they were a bunch of white dudes. Eddie Hinton, the guitar player, and songwriter was the one guy who was nice to Hammond and understood what he wanted to do. He wanted to record Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters tunes.
“I was getting very frustrated,” Hammond recalled. “On the third day, Duane arrived with Berry Oakley. Duane said, ‘I want to meet this John Hammond guy! I have one of his records!’ Everybody loved him, and when they heard Duane wanted to meet me, they looked at me completely different. The whole mood of the session changed; everything changed. Eddie Hinton turned to me and said, ‘This is Duane Allman. He’s a phenomenal player, and you’re really going to like him.’
“Duane started to play and my mouth dropped open, he was so good. There was a break at the end of the day, and I had an old National steel guitar with me. Duane had never seen one, so I gave it to him to play, and it was in open tuning. He said, ‘Gee what is this?’ And I told him it was an open tuning, an A. He played slide in a straight tuning.
They recorded four songs the next day, and everyone was a winner. In fact, Duane inspired the whole studio band to get it together. The songs were included on the album Southern Fried.
“All of a sudden they understood exactly what I was talking about the day before,” Hammond said. “Duane was born with that magnetism.” It was the beginning of another important friendship for Duane.”
John Hammond: I asked Duane how he got so good and he said, “I took speed every day for three years and played every night all night.” I think this was partly true and partly apocryphal but he really couldn’t get enough. He was just phenomenal.
Shake For Me
Sure you look good
But it don’t mean a thing to me
Oh, you sure look good
But you don’t mean a thing to me
I’ve got a hip shakin’ woman, boy
She shake like a willow tree
You went away baby
You got back just a little too late
You went away baby
You got back just a little too late
I’ve got a hip shakin’ woman, boy
Shake like Jello on a plate
When my baby walks you know
Lord, she’s fighting melow
When my baby walks, you know
Lord, she’s fighting melow
I’ve got a hip shakin’ woman, boy
Her flesh tastes just like Jello
Shake it baby, shake it for me
Shake it baby, shake it for me
I’ve got a hip shakin’ woman, boy
Shake like a willow tree
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Great article. Southern Fried is one of my favourite blues albums ever. An excellent read this.
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I appreciate it…it’s so alive.
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I guess taking speed every day for three years and playing every night all night would do it. Nice music Max, this is new to me.
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This is a song that other musicians have said…wow what a great song. That brought me to it because it doesn’t get much airplay. It’s a cool song.
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good playing definitely, especially the percussion like you said. Funny he was on Atlantic with his dad being so high up in Columbia at the time!
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I know…and he is a respected blues guy…very talented artist. You bring up a good point lol…he might have wanted it on his own.
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Love this! Actually, despite me being into the Blues, I was not aware of this dude! It’s the kind of sound I was listening to as a kid, and still do – the guitar has that high pitched resonance I identify with Grinderswitch.
Thanks for posting – I’m straight onto Apple music right now, and John Hammond will be on my list when I go 2nd hand record shopping next Saturday! 🙂
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Good reason for the Grinderswitch relation… they were close to the Allman Brothers and of course Duane played on this.
I’m glad you liked this. I didn’t think many would know it but I was hoping people would give it a try.
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Tight yet fluid, if that makes sense.
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Perfect sense!
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Am I reading this right that this is Allman on guitar on this tune? Sure sounds like him. I love the story in your post. Another reason to love Duane 🙂
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Yes! I heard this song…and it just rocks…Allman makes it even better.
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🙂 Yes, he does. I love how that all fell together and appreciate you finding and sharing the story.
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Allman played slide in standard tuning? Learn something new every day. Had this song on the first Duane Allman anthology, and played it over and over…
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It’s such a strong rhythm and lead. This post came from Hammond talking… I was just going to post exactly what he said… well I did for a lot of it lol. That surprised me also about the standard tuning
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That’s one hell of a tune, Max. You just can’t beat Duane Allman’s slide guitar sound. I also love the groove. Really cool all around!
Looks like John Hammond is yet another artist to add to the growing pile. Not sure when I’ll ever find the time to listen to all these artists who are new to me. But I guess it’s a nice problem to have! 🙂
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Glad you liked it Christian! I was hoping you would like this one. It’s a special tune…the percusion really keeps it alive.
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Yep, that tune immediately grabbed me. Great groove and I just love Duane Allman’s guitar playing!
It’s really impressive with how many top-notch artists Duane played, especially if you consider he only lived until age 24!
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The 24 is the key…it’s incredible…like Hendrix he must have been recording all of the time. I’m going to post a Boz Scaggs song soon that Duane played on.
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It’s stunning. And most of Duane’s session appears to have occurred at FAME Studies within a span of just three years!
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They did!
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