| 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 Canadians Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and American Levon Helm. The Band combined elements of Americana, folk, rock, jazz, country, influencing musicians such as George Harrison, Elton John, the Grateful Dead, Eric Clapton and Wilco.
Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson was a Canadian musician of Indigenous ancestry. He was lead guitarist for Bob Dylan in the mid-late 1960s and early-mid 1970s, guitarist and songwriter with The Band from their inception until 1978, and a solo artist.
Richard Clare Danko was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm was an American musician who achieved fame as the drummer and one of the three lead vocalists for The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Helm was known for his deeply soulful, country-accented voice, multi-instrumental ability, and creative drumming style, highlighted on many of the Band's recordings, such as "The Weight", "Up on Cripple Creek", and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".
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