Ready for Love
After 40 years of playing traditional blues, John Hammond reinvented himself at age 59 and began his current winning streak by trading his acoustic guitars for an armful ofTom Waitssongs, resulting in 2001's exceptionalWicked Grin. Hammond stays plugged-in onReady for Love, but taps a diverse group of songwriters that includes Waits,Willie Dixon,Los Lobos's David Hidalgo,George Jones,Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and country croonerFreddie Hart.His voice--as full of character as weathered tarpaper on a Delta shack roof--does wonders with numbers like Hart's "Easy Lovin',"Billie Holiday's "Comes Love," and a slow, creep-show take on Dixon's "Same Thing" with a Hammond guitar solo that's deliberate perfection. The CD kicks off with "Crown Vic," aJohn Lee Hooker-inspired winner that's the second number Hammond's penned and recorded himself (the first was "Baby, Won't You Tell Me" from his 1964 sophomore album,Big City Blues). Hidalgo does double duty as producer and guitarist, infusing the album with the same spare, blues-drenched character that he brought to hisLatin PlayboysandHoundogprojects. He and guitarist Frank Cirillo also provide the disc's sonic signature: intertwining, tremolo-soaked vintage guitar tones that help even the contemporary numbers sound like classics.--Ted Drozdowski