| So Many Roads | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1965 | |||
| Recorded | 1964 | |||
| Studio | Vanguard Studios, New York City, New York, United States [1] | |||
| Genre | Chicago blues, blues rock [2] | |||
| Length | 38:34 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Vanguard | |||
| John P. Hammond chronology | ||||
| ||||
So Many Roads is a 1965 studio album by John P. Hammond, backed by several musicians who would go on to form The Band.
So Many Roads was recorded shortly after Ronnie Hawkins' backing band The Hawks had hit out on their own, eventually naming themselves The Band. Hammond had seen The Hawks while gigging in Toronto and formed a friendship with the band members. [3] The group toured in America's East Coast, so they could easily show up at the studio, where the record label only allowed for a single three-hour session. [3] This was their first time recording without Hawkins. [4] Hammond wanted the entire line-up—which included drummer Levon Helm, organist Garth Hudson, and guitarist Robbie Robertson, who all appear on the album, as well as bassist Rick Danko and keyboardist Richard Manuel—but he was denied by Vanguard Records, who insisted that veteran jazz bassist Jimmy Lewis appear, having played on previous recordings from Hammond. [2] Hammond brought in Chicago blues friends Mike Bloomfield and Charlie Musselwhite to round out the recording. [5]
In the months after this album was released, Hammond was informed that a young Jimi Hendrix—who had recently relocated to New York City—was playing songs from So Many Roads. Hammond went to see him live [6] and immediately introduced him to John H. Hammond, his father and accomplished record producer. [7]
Writing for AllMusic (where the editorial staff gave the album four out of five stars), Richie Unterberger characterizes So Many Roads as "Hammond's most notable mid-'60s Vanguard album" due to the session musicians, calling it "one of the first fully realized blues-rock albums". [2]
So Many Roads: The Complete Sessions 2001 bonus tracks
Additional musicians
Complete Sessions personnel (tracks 15–21)
Complete Sessions personnel (tracks 22–24)
Technical personnel
The Band was a Canadian-American rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1967. It consisted of four Canadians and one American: Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and Levon Helm. The Band combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz, country, and R&B, influencing subsequent and contemporary musicians such as George Harrison, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton and Wilco.
Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC, is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in 1986, Rick Danko in 1999, and Levon Helm in 2012, Robertson is one of only two living original members of the Band, with the other being Garth Hudson.
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Eric "Garth" Hudson is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist best known as the keyboardist and occasional saxophonist for rock group the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. He was a principal architect of the group's sound, described as "the most brilliant organist in the rock world" by Keyboard magazine. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in 1986, Rick Danko in 1999, and Levon Helm in 2012, Hudson is one of only two living original members of the Band, with the other being Robbie Robertson.
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