The Hammond Family’s Musical Outreach

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Katrina Hammond and Rick Allen’s friend, Herbert, in Holland. Both are holding a copy of Allen’s book, ‘F ’n’ A! My Crazy Life in Rock and Blues.’[/caption]

What do a Grammy-nominated, rock and blues musical artist and an engineering inventor born decades before have in common? Persistence. This is a story of two musically driven individuals, and how their persistence, innovation, and passion have crossed paths.

Laurens Hammond was only fourteen when he was fluent in German and French, and had already designed an automatic transmission for automobiles. He earned his mechanical engineering degree with honors from Cornell University in 1916, and in 1919 he invented his own silent-spring driven clock. By 1928, he had started up the Hammond Clock Company after inventing a coetaneous clock motor. But, during the Great Depression occurring around the 1930s, the sales of these previous inventions had declined, which lead to his paramount invention of the Hammond organ.

The Hammond organ is also known as the tone wheel, the “phonic wheel,” or as twenty-first century minds may know it — the Hammond B3 Organ. It generates sounds by creating an electric current from a rotating metal tone wheel near a pickup that is electromagnetic. The Hammond organ is commonly used in churches, but has also been used by jazz, blues, reggae, and progressive rock musicians. In 1940, Hammond was awarded the Franklin Institute’s John Price Wetherill Medal for this innovative musical instrument.

Now, as we flash forward to the present, it seems nearly impossible to not relate the Hammond organ to famed musician, Rick Allen. Allen’s autobiography, F ’n’ A! My Crazy Life in Rock and Blues has become an intriguing, authentic, and musically inspiring must-read that details his journey and his talent and passion through playing the Hammond organ. The eBook shot to the number one spot in music categories on the Amazon bestselling list after its release on September 25, 2015, and following this success, the paperback was released on October 5, 2015, and is available on Amazon now. Regarding the organ, Allen explains in his book, that his “determination to play guitar-type single-note solos on the keyboard was the beginning of [his] Hammond B3 style.” His autobiography explores the behind the scenes world of not only producing music with highly-acclaimed artists, but presents struggles, moments of determination, and most of all, how one’s persistence and passion will prevail.

But what is most intriguing is this connection of musically intertwined worlds. Both the lives of Hammond and Allen have something in common besides the use of the organ: persistence. Hammond’s persistence in his inventions, and his want and need to continually fulfill his interests and passions, is something that has clearly changed the music world as we know it. Similarly, Allen’s perseverance through the competitive and sometimes dangerous music world, his determination to push through his parent’s disappointments, and using the Hammond organ as a main source of expressing his talents, has allowed him to also live his passions and his interests.

F ’n’ A! My Crazy Life in Rock and Blues is an illustration of a book that matters, for it has been able to bring two worlds together. A friend recently wrote to Rick Allen from Holland, who had a special visitor particularly interested in Rick Allen’s book: Laurens Hammond’s granddaughter, Katrina Hammond. Katrina currently lives in France, is running a villa renting business, and frequently visits the Hammond Cheese Warehouse. It is exceptionally interesting how books such as F ’n’ A! My Crazy Life in Rock and Blues are able to create commonality between people across the globe, and how it has brought upon such a sense of global support. Allen is supporting the Hammond family and their musical production, just as the Hammond family is supporting Rick’s interesting, intriguing, and inspiring story. Mentioning how he uses the organ, Allen states, “I usually have the ability to let the ‘God of Hammond’ play through my hands. When this happens, I have only a vague idea of what I’m playing. My fingers play a song of their own, and I groan like an animal as the song almost plays itself.” If Laurens Hammond knew the magnitude of what his innovations brought to individuals like Rick Allen, he would see that his determination, willpower, and persistence were extraordinary qualities that are mirrored in Allen’s life.

Purchase your own copy of Rick Allen’s F ’n’ A! My Crazy Life in Rock and Blues here: http://amzn.to/1MLFx6T