Tuesday 29 January 2019

Hammersmith





Western Canada has always been fertile ground when it comes to rock music. The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive automatically come to mind, but it would doing a disservice to many other bands if we didn’t acknowledge the depth and talent that was (and I am sure still is) out there on the Prairies and the Rockies. Hammersmith, from Calgary Alberta, was a prime example.
Hammersmith was a band that was formed in 1975. Most of the members had previously performed together in another group called “Painter” (that also hailed from Calgary) which had some chart success in 1973 with the song “West Coast Woman”. However, in 1975 the members decided to start afresh and decided on the name “Hammersmith”. The group was a quintet comprising of Dan Lowe (lead guitar), Doran Beattie (lead vocals), Royden Morice (bass & keys), Jeff Boyne (rhythm guitar) and Jim Llewellyn (drums). Not long after forming, they released their eponymously  titled debut album on Mercury.
The initial single from the album was a catchy number called “Late Night Lovin’ Man” (also the lead track on side one of the album).  The style of music the band performed would be best described as “hard rock”. Nowadays that term seems to have been superseded by the designation  “metal”, but it would be a mistake to assume that these types of rock and roll are the same. Hard rock meant loud guitars, but usually also meant music that had a strong beat and was danceable, and the debut single by Hammersmith was no exception. The song itself is a great example of mid 1970’s commercial rock music, a style that within a year or so of this song’s release would begin to reflect the influence first of disco, and then not long after, new wave. As someone who spent at least part of his misspent youth at high school dances (when the dances still featured live music from bands you could actually hear on the local radio station), “Late Night Lovin’ Man” is redolent of what those dances were like. 
I reached out to Hammersmith’s drummer Jim Llewellyn to find out some more about the band. he very graciously answered my questions about the band. Jim was a regular in the Calgary music scene, and as such was familiar with the musicians from Painter. When their drummer decided to leave, he auditioned and became the new drummer. Jim advised that the band had Bruce Allan as their manager, who was also Bachman Turner Overdrive’s manager at the time. With the release of their debut album, Hammersmith found themselves on the road, opening for some of the era’s top acts. Jim recalls being on the same bill as Kiss, Spirit, Styx, Rod Stewart, Kansas, Jethro Tull and others. He advised me that it was an incredible time for him, playing in front of crowds of up to 20,000 people, and standing backstage watching some the top drummers in the field ply their trade (and in the process learning a great deal about drumming). I would highly recommend visiting Jim’s great website for more details about his fascinating career. It is located at http://www.jimllewellyn.com/postersandstuff.html.

For a great example of Canadian rock from the mid 70’s, give a Hammersmith a listen. I’ll bet you won’t be disappointed.

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