Born John Robert Smith on December 16, 1933 (in Louisville, KY), formerly known as Johnny Hammond Smith, and later as Johnnny Hammond, one of the all-time best jazz organists passed away on June 4, 1997, in Chicago, Illinois. For some of his early fans, some of the best albums he recorded were done for Prestige in the Sixties. A younger generation, who grew up listening to the hip-hop influenced jazz sounds of the 1990s, prefers Johnny's over-produced sessions for Milestone in the mid-1970s, like the now cult Gears album.

But, most of his fans agree that Johnny Hammond's best albums ever were recorded in the early Seventies, under the aegis of Creed Taylor. Four albums released on the Kudu label (Breakout, Wild Horses Rock Steady, The Prophet, Higher Ground, all taped at Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey), plus one more cut in California and issued on another CTI subsidiary label, Salvation (Gambler's Life, on which Johnny played only the Fender Rhodes electric piano and vintage synthesizers, under the guidance of funk producer Larry Mizell).

Curiously, during his CTI/Kudu years, Hammond has not recorded as a sideman on albums led by other members of Creed Taylor's supercast. But he often performed, from 1971 to 1974, in several CTI All Stars concerts all over the world. Two of these gigs were fortunately documented on records: California Concert (at the Hollywood Palladium in 1971) and the three volumes of CTI Summer Jazz at the Hollywood Bowl (1972).

Johnny Hammond's Breakout, a typically unpretentious soul-jazz session recorded on June 1971, made history as the first album released by the Kudu label, as well as the session which introduced Grover Washington, Jr. to Creed Taylor. Four months later, on October 1971, Grover once again was recruited as one of the main soloists for Hammond's second album for Kudu, Wild Horses Rock Steady, a more ambitious project. Creed wanted it to be a crossover album, with strings and horns sections, and full of jazz stars acting as sidemen.

Its smart title (for sure chosen by Creed) mixes the names of two important tracks, then pop hits. "Wild Horses," a Mick Jagger/Keith Richards tune, appeared on Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers, released on April 71. "Rock Steady," composed by Aretha Franklin, was on her Young, Gifted & Black album, also from 71, on which