Hammond saves best songs until last

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33563, 18 June 1974, Page 18

Hammond saves best songs until last

Albert Hammond's part of the double-billing with the George Baker Selection in the Town Hall last evening, lasted a good hour-and-a-half, and provided the slightly undersized audience with a fair hearing of all of his old songs. Dating back to the painful "Little Arrows,” made famous bv Leapy Lee, he traced his career through to his latest release “Half A Million Miles From Home.” Unfortunately, he kept all his most well-known songs to the end, so that bv the time "Peacemaker,” and “It Never Rains In Southern California," with “Free Electric Band" (always his best) saved for the encore, were heard, the audience had almost started to show signs of restlessness.

Hammond provided some good gutsy stuff, as well as numerous contrasting quieter songs (including a slightly sentimen’al'sed v ‘*rsion of hi« song "The Air That I Breathe”). But the great thing about his part of the show w’« that e”ervthing ’"•* «'ri*t«n bv HimmonH himself «”V’ch made it a'l verv ner«o--il and verv good. Ham"'-'- , ' 4 ’s bsck-un rnneicanc con'-" ”’«»d a great d p a! to the c .’ellence of the

[ music. Jav Lewis, on acoustic, lead, and bass guitar, was in total sympathy with Hammond throughout. Pianist-bassist, Jim Hobson, and drummer, Chet McCracken, were also far above average. Taking up the first half of the concert' were the George Baker Selection, a relatively . new group in the music ; world from Holland, known particularly for their hit i “Baby Blue." Much of their bracket was taken up with two Neil Diamond numbers (which instigated a rather cutting comment from Albert Hammond later on). Although the lead singer, Hans Bouwens (George Baker) has the vocal strength to handle the Neil Diamond lyrics, the group could not match him instrumentally.

Possibly the best thing the George Baker Selection did was a surprising switch to blues in a fairly good version of the old Sam Cooke song "Bring it on Home to Me.” It would appear that this group, which was purported to be performing in front of its first predominantly English-speaking audience last evening, has considerable hidden talents. —F.P.