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Johnny "Hammond" Smith
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, a.k.a. Johnny Smith or Johnny Hammond, was born John Robert Smith in Louisville/KY december 1933.
He began his musical training at age 13 only and had piano lessons. Later, he toured as pianist with the Kenny Hale
Big Band and the group of sax player Paul Williams.
In 1948, he for the first time had heard Will Bill Davis playing the Hammond organ. Johnny was amazed about the sound of this instrument. But it was in 1957 only, that he decided to switch to the organ. It is said, that at that time Erroll Garner's piano style influenced Johnny's organ style. By 1958, he formed his own group and went on the road. It was Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis who discovered Johnny as a great organist. That led to a long lasting partnership with Prestige Records until 1971, when he changed to CTI. Many well known jazz artists played together with Johnny, such as Houston Person, Earl Edwards, Floyd Smith, Wally Richardson, Jimmy Lewis, Virgil Jones, Thornel Schwartz, John Abercrombie, Grover Washington jr, George Benson, Ron Carter, and many more. Johnny got very much ahead when he began to accompany singer Nancy Wilson. He even wrote a song for her ("Quiet Fire"). In his later years, Johnny also worked as a music teacher. From 1987, he gave lessons at Cal oly Pomona. Johnny passed away on 04 june 1997. |
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| fan homepage: | www.johnnyhammondsmith.com |
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Imagination Warwick W 2003 recorded 1959 in USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ George Tucker, bass Leo Stevens, drums Thornel Schwartz, guitar |
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That Good Feelin' Prestige New Jazz 8229 recorded november 1959 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Thornel Schwartz, guitar George Tucker, bass Leo Stevens, drums |
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Talk That Talk Prestige New Jazz 8241 recorded april 1960 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Oliver Nelson, tenor sax George Tucker, bass Arthur Taylor, drums Ray Barretto, conga |
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Gettin' The Message Prestige PR 7217 recorded october 1960 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Lem Winchester, vibes Eddie McFadden, guitar Wendell Marshall, bass Bill Erskine, drums |
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Stimulation! Prestige PR 7203 recorded february 1961 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Freddie McCoy, vibes Eddie McFadden, guitar Wendell Marshall, bass Leo Stevens, drums |
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Opus De Funk Prestige PR 7420 recorded february/may 1961 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Freddie McCoy, vibes Eddie McFadden, guitar Wendell Marshall, bass Leo Stevens, drums |
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Look Out! Prestige New Jazz 8288 recorded january 1962 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Seldon Powell, tenor sax Clement Wells, vibes Wally Richardson, guitar Leo Stevens, drums |
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Black Coffee Riverside 9422 recorded live november 1962 at the Monterey Club, New Haven, CT/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Eddie McFadden, guitar Houston Person, tenor sax Leo Stevens, drums Seldon Powell, tenor sax |
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Mr. Wonderful Riverside 9466 recorded 1963 in New York City/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Eddie McFadden, guitar Houston Person, tenor sax Leo Stevens, drums |
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The Stinger Prestige PR 7408 recorded may 1965 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Houston Person, tenor sax Earl Edwards, tenor sax Floyd Smith, guitar John Harris, drums |
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Love Potion #9 Prestige PR 7482 recorded september 1966 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Eddie Diehl, guitar John Harris, drums Gene Walker, tenor sax Virgil Jones, trumpet |
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Gettin' Up (a.k.a. Ebb Tide) Prestige PR 7494 recorded march 1967 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Virgil Jones, trumpet Houston Person, tenor sax Thornel Schwartz, guitar Jimmy Lewis, bass John Harris, drums |
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Soul Flowers Prestige PR 7549 recorded september 1967 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Earl Edwards, tenor sax Houston Person, tenor sax Wally Richardson, guitar Jimmy Lewis, bass John Harris, drums Richard Landrum, conga |
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Dirty Grape Prestige PR 7564 recorded january 1968 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Houston Person, tenor sax Earl Edwards, tenor sax Wally Richardson, guitar Jimmy Lewis, bass John Harris, drums Richard Landrum, conga |
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Nasty! Prestige PR 7588 recorded june 1968 in New York City/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Houston Person, tenor sax John Abercrombie, guitar Grady Tate, drums |
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Soul Talk Prestige PR 7681 recorded may 1969 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Rusty Bryant, alto sax Wally Richardson, guitar Bob Bushnell, bass Bernard Purdie, drums |
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The Best Of Johnny "Hammond" Smith Prestige PR 7705 recorded various dates and places |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ various artists |
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Black Feeling! Prestige PR 7736 recorded december 1969 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Virgil Jones, trumpet Rusty Bryant, tenor sax Leo Johnson, tenor sax Wally Richardson, guitar Jimmy Lewis, bass Bernard Purdie, drums |
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What's Going On Prestige PR 10015 recorded april 1971 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Grover Washington jr, tenor sax James Clark, guitar Ted Dunbar, guitar Jimmy Lewis, bass Eddie Gee, drums Ernie Royal, trumpet Robert Prado, trumpet Garnett Brown, trombone Richard Landry, tenor sax Babe Clarke, baritone sax |
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Breakout KUDU KU-01 recorded june 1971 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Hank Crawford, alto sax Johnny Williams, bass Billy Cobham, drums Eric Gale, guitar Airto Moreira, percussion Grover Washington, tenor sax Danny Moore, trumpet George Benson, guitar Stanley Turrentine, tenor sax Freddie Hubbard, trumpet |
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Wild Horses Rock Stead KUDU KU-04 recorded november 1971 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ, piano Ron Carter, bass Billy Cobham, drums Bob Mann, guitar Eric Gale, guitar George Benson, guitar Melvin Sparks, guitar Airto Moreira, percussion Omar Clay, percussion Grover Washington jr, alto sax, tenor sax Harold Vick, alto sax, tenor sax Pepper Adams, baritone sax Wayne Andre, trombone Al DeRisi, trumpet, flugelhorn and many more |
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CTI Summer Jazz At The Hollywood Bowl King Records MTCJ-401011 recorded live july 1972 in Hollywood, CA/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ George Benson, guitar Ron Carter, bass Hank Crawford, alto sax Jack DeJohnette, drums Deodato, Fender Rhodes Joe Farrell, tenor sax Freddie Hubbard, trumpet, flugelhorn Milt Jackson, vibes Bob James, Fender Rhodes Hubert Laws, flute Airto Moreira, percussion, conga Esther Phillips, vocals Stanley Turrentine, tenor sax Grover Washington jr - alto sax |
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The Prophet KUDU KU-10 recorded november 1972 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ, piano Ron Carter, bass Billy Cobham, drums Eric Gale, guitar Jerry Dodgion, tenor sax Maceo Parker, tenor sax Cecil Payne, baritone sax Pepper Adams, baritone sax Dick Griffin, trombone Wayne Andre, trombone Tony Studd, bass trombone John Eckert, trumpet, flugelhorn Jon Faddis, trumpet, flugelhorn Marvon Stamm, trumpet, flugelhorn Airot Moreira, percussion Andrew Primus, steel drums Carl Carldwell, vocals Lani Groves, vocals Tasha Thomas, vocals |
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Higher Ground KUDU KU-16 recorded october/november 1973 in Englewood Cliffs, NJ/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ Bob James, piano, organ Ron Carter, bass Jack DeJohnette, drums Steve Gadd, drums George Benson, guitar Hank Crawford, sax Joe Henderson, tenor sax Phil Kraus, percussion Ralph McDonald, percussion Wayne Andre, trombone Paul Faulise, bass trombone Alan Raph, bass trombone Tony Studd, trombone Jon Faddis, trumpet John Frosk, trumpet Alan Rubin, trumpet Marvin Stamm, trumpet, flugelhorn Ray Alonge, French horn Eli Carmen, bassoon Eddie Daniels, clarient Romeo Penque, oboe, alto flute |
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Gambler's Life Salvation Records SAL 702 S1 recorded june 1974 in Hollywood, CA/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, piano, synthesizer Henry Franklin, bass Tony Dumas, bass Fonce Mizell, clavinet, trumpet King Errisson, congas Fritz Wise, drums Harvey Mason, drums John Rowin, guitar Mel Bolton, guitar Melvin Ragin, guitar Stephanie Spruill, percussion, vocals Jerry Peters, piano Carl Randell jr, sax Larry Mizell, synthesizer Al Hail, trombone |
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Gears Milestone M-9062 recorded july 1975 in Berkeley, CA/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, organ, piano, synthesizer Julian Priester, trombone Hadley Caliman, tenor sax Roger Glenn, flute, vibes Michael White, violin Jerry Peters, piano Fonce Mizell, clavinet Larry Mizell, solina John Rowin, guitar Craig McMullen, guitar Chuck Rainey, bass Harvey Mason, drums Kenneth Nash, percussion |
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Forever Taurus Milestone M-9068 recorded march 1976 in Berkeley, CA/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Hammond organ, piano, synthesizer Lee Ritenour, guitar Sonny Burke, piano, clavinet Marlo Henderson, synthesizer Henry Davis, bass Scott Edwards, bass Curtis Robertson, bass James Gadson, drums Bill Summers, percussion horns section string section |
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Storm Warning Milestone M-9076 recorded 1977 in USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, keyboards, synthesizers Larry Farrow, clavinet Carol Kaye, guitar Ron Carter, bass Ndugu Leon Chancler, drums Bill Summers, percussion, congas |
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Don't Let The System Get You Milestone M-9083 recorded august/october 1977 in Los Angeles, CA/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, keyboards, vocals Byron Miller, bass Tony Dumas, bass Jack Perry, clavinet Larry Farrow, clavinet Sheila Escovedo, congas Leon Ndugu Chancler, drums Al McKay, guitar Dan Papaila, guitar David T. Walker, guitar Mel Bolton, guitar Bill Summers, percussion Al Hail jr, percussion, trombone Hadley Caliman, sax |
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Jazz Organ Summit Cannonball CBD 27102 recorded may 1997 in Chicago, IL/USA |
Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Hammond B3 organ Frank Catalano, tenor sax Mike Allemana, guitar Terry Morrisette, drums |
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