ADD: Flight 641 - songs by Lawrence Hammond

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,ed griffiths
Date: 05 Apr 13 - 12:42 PM

Have been on the official website, to try and purchase/replace a long lost vinyl copy of Coyote's Dream, but every time it gets 'blocked' when i try to select "shipping".
Even the contact page knocks me back!!
Can anyone out there help?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Patience Orowiru
Date: 07 Apr 13 - 08:52 PM

I am yet another of the "lost Ugandan children" checking in. My parents, my brother and one sister were murdered by Idi Amin's killers about 2 months before I got out of Uganda. I was 11 years old at th time. My parents were not political, but I understand fell victim to family grudges. During that awful My relatives heard that flights were leaving from the Gulu airfield for the UK, and they took me out there twice. The first time, the soldiers guarding the field would not let us in, but we could see many people sitting by the runway and hangers. The next time we went back we were allowed in, with what little food we had carried. It was 2 days, mostly raining hard, before the plane arrived. I remember that the crowds, almost all women and children, wanted to rush the plane and were beaten back hard by the soldiers. We were almost all women and children, and I must have been one of the oldest of these. The lady pilot and 3 women came out of the plane and were were lined up at a tent and each one inspected by these nurses or doctors. The sickest or the wounded children were treated 1st, and I was healthy so it was quite some time before I came before the women in charge, who was small, and thin with brown skin like mine and light-colored hair. I had had a nap and she looked very tired, but she looked right into my eyes and said in French (which I studied in school) 'You are going to be all right." After so much fear for so long I remember bursting into tears and her putting her arms around me briefly. When we were all finally on the plane after many hours (and what a noisy mad flight that was) I tried to find a place as close to her as I could. My auntie came on the next flight. We went all the way to Monrovia, I think, then Morocco and then to the Midlands of the UK. I saw these 3 women again about 2 weeks later, when they came to where we were housed with more kids from Uganda and elsewhere. Approaching the lady who hugged me in Gulu, I asked (bold child that I had become!) if I could come live with her! She kissed my cheek and said, 'Dear child, right now I live nowhere." I thought this was a very strange answer for a doctor, but I told her I would go live with her there! She smiled and went on her way and I never saw or heard of her again, but I have always wondered who she was. Now I think I know. I found this site, much of which is about music unfamiliar to me, while looking for answers to my past in Uganda. Thank you to whomever keeps it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Berk Whitfield
Date: 12 May 13 - 03:29 AM

Have heard rumor Hammond is coming to the UK to play some dates with Mad River's great lead guitarist David Robinson backing. Is there any truth to this one?

"Presumed Lost" now released by Shagrat, although it was recorded (apparently) over 30 years ago, shows what a startling songwriter he was and has some flat out beautiful words, music and performances. Should be a real treat to catch the elusive guy live after so many years, if rumors prove true.

By the way, some great tales and remembrances are posted above. Had no idea what a complex character he turned out to be. His life just seems to run in a million directions. I found a website he has up now, with a fair number of lyric sheets, some great photos, and also some Mad River memorabilia. Worth checking out.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,oklahomie
Date: 29 May 13 - 02:45 AM

Viewing the devastation in Moore, OK on a recent mercy run up there with supplies for the Red Cross, was reminded of Hammond's great song Tornado's Comin' Down and was thrilled to find someone had entered the words on this site. Was a long long time ago that was recorded and it had nearly slipped my mind, just as the old vinyl slipped out of print and memory (mine is slipping out of print too!) until recently. This is apparently still available on CD now through Hammond's website which I discovered in searching for the words. With "Galveston Flood" it is one of the better takes on a natural disaster, and made the Takoma label's " Coyote's Dream" such a gem 37 years ago. Was fairly astounded to find the lost followup to it has finally seen the light of day--("Presumed Lost" Shagrat records). Looking forward to chasing it down

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,George-Luc Pridieux
Date: 07 Jul 13 - 05:50 PM

I am a retired pilot and flew many missions into North and East Africa with Secorra Plarres-Montes in the early and mid-1970s. Several of these were in Sierra Leone, 5 or 6 were into Uganda and were evacuation missions (1972 and 73). Two of the last I flew with her and her team were into Northwest Sudan. These were not intended to be for the purpose of evacuation, although as it happened, we did sometimes end up taking out some ill or wounded children. On the last of these in Sudan, we received a message that bandits were closing in on the airstrip where we had been conducting a clinic for the prior 3 days. This was before the days when the present Islamist regime was hiring the Janjaweed militias to do their ethnic-cleansing for them, so these guys were just tribal criminals intent on robbery. We scrambled very fast to get our supplies loaded onto the aircraft and were taxiing out onto the strip when the bandits rode in on their horses. As I recall, a few shots were landing around the airplane and people from the settlement were running alongside the plane hoping to climb on. I was told afterwards that a woman was trying to hand her infant up to the nurses on the plane. Ms Plarres-Montes was holding the ankles of Ms Sophie Rochambault who was leaning out trying to grab the child, and finally succeeded in this. Apparently the mother fell down and was struck by bullets as the plane moved away. Once we in the air, I was told that the child was already dead. This was a very upsetting event for all of us. We did not return to Sudan after this.

I came to know Ms Plarres-Montes pretty well and saw her socially in Geneva and Paris, and visited her in her mother's home in Lorraine once. She had an older brother who had been badly injured in an auto wreck and suffered chronic effects of a brain injury, requiring constant care. Secorra was quite dedicated and a very efficient medical person, so I enjoyed flying with her and her team, which was comprised also of Ms Rochambault and Ms Lucia de Vega, with whom I still rendezvous about every other year. I was also aware of Lawrence Hammond's music. We had a portable tape-player we used to fly with, and listened sometimes to his songs. I located his website (for his music) and was fascinated that he went on to become a physician.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,ravalliranger
Date: 22 Sep 13 - 08:06 PM

I discovered this site after hearing Lawrence Hammond play at the Afternoon of Cowboy Poetry and Song at a benefit for the Ravalli (Montana) County Museum. I was so impressed by the storytelling craft he exhibited in the 3 songs he performed that I accosted him briefly after the gig and bought a copies of both Coyote's Dream and Presumed Lost on the spot. Apparenetly it was the 1st time he had played in public for a number of years. He clearly had some great guitar skills. The songs he played, I notice, are all ones mentioned here: "Nevada McCloud" and "Little Britches" and also the unrecorded "Fiesta San Carlos," this last being one that just flattened the unsuspecting audience (I spotted one old cowboy wiping away a couple of tears at the end. I had never heard of Hammond, and certainly was unaware of his story as revealed by these posts and in the Presumed Lost liner notes. I was pleased to find that his music had jolted other listeners who have posted here. Hope he makes a 3rd CD. I am really enjoying these 2 I have. The Bitterroot Valley is a perfect place for him!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,SandraMingo
Date: 06 Dec 13 - 10:33 PM

I saw that show and also bought a copy of "Presumed Lost" which lead me to track down Coyote's Dream in vinyl. I missed a chance to pick up a CD of "CD" on sale at the museum. This is downright adventurous cowboy music. Lawrence Hammond has a kind of ornery wryness in the song lyrics that makes me wanta come back for more. I understand he has a career in medicine, but I am hoping he'll retire back into singing and writing. His guitar playing was special, anything but basic , just like those sorta unusual chord progressions-not the stuff you typical hear in country music, but sounding right nevertheless. Must say, I am surprised more artists haven't covered some of the tunes. Gratifying to see Doc Watson did. He always had a great ear for a good tune and story, Every one of Hammond's songs is a great short !story

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,jburrill
Date: 02 Oct 15 - 05:38 AM

re:
> Someone asked here if he sang any other Carl Oglesby songs besides
> "Cherokee Queen". Although I don't think he recorded any others I
> heard him sing "Le Chinois" on 2 different occasions. This
> mysterious song begins:
>
> Your houseboy's body floating facedown in the river,
> Does anybody dare to speak his name?
>
> I remember this is a dark dark song with a melancholy melody. Does
> anybody know the rest of the words?

I've just launched a new website about Oglesby's songs which includes an introduction to Oglesby and his music and links to all of his songs, as well as my arrangements of seven of them (so far) in PDF and JPG format with lyrics and chords: http://sites.google.com/site/OglesbySongs

Jim Burrill

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,aurelia correiles
Date: 20 May 16 - 04:45 PM

How did I ever miss this site and these entries for so long? I also knew Secorra Plarres-Montes in the 1970s and flew as a nurse with her team in Africa 5 or 6 times, but generally to Liberia and Sierra Leone, never to Uganda or the Sudan. I also helped Secorra find her last position in Paris just before her death, when she had returned to work after her frightening illness. The descriptions above certainly capture her many sides, but what I remember is her steadiness under pressure, (when I knew she was as frightened as the rest of us in some of those disturbing situations we flew into). She also had a funny side and a wicked sense of humor and "black humor," which we all used to cope with grim situations. I understand now that her mother, her brother, and her first husband Manolo, as well as her son (who died of HIV at about 23 years), have all passed, so it is now only the shrinking community of friends and co-workers who remember her short and very graceful life. It is wonderful to find these many posts!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,marie-louise bennon
Date: 23 Nov 16 - 03:45 PM

I have stumbled into this site somewhat by accident and partly because of a casual mention by a friend who knew the California music scene well in the 1970s. But MY link here is to the boy I knew who I am now sure was the son of Secorra Plarres-Montes, "Lito" Gutierrez. Studied art with him in the late '80s. God, he was brilliant, a corrosively poignant draftsman whose stuff was socially very pointed. I don't know if any of his stuff survived his crazy lifestyle and his sad early death. He did show me 1 picture of his mother, whom he mentioned had died when he was 6. In reading through the posts of this thread, I would guess that was taken sometime in the early '70s as her hair appeared more blondish in the photo than the white described at the end of her life. It looked like this was taken on an airfield somewhere and there was the wing of a plane in the background. Out of curiosity, I have chased down recordings of Hammond and am struck by how many unusual subjects his songs were about, the precision of the imagery, and the musicality of the playing. This is a very unusual thread!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,BR Dalton
Date: 17 Jan 17 - 04:12 PM

Has this great singer and unusually talented songwriter just retreated into silence? I wonder, is he is not sitting on at least an album worth of new or never-recorded songs? In listening to Empty Rails in Garfield Country and Tumbleweed Plantation, The Legend of the Pale-Eyed Companion recently, I found myself longing to hear that desert-and-range sensibility reflected in new tales. What is he up to? Not a peep out of him since the 2013 Presumed Lost release.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Fretfly
Date: 01 Jun 17 - 07:40 PM

I have been listening to/rediscovering some of Hammond's later work with Mad River, in particular on their Paradise Bar and Grill album. The crazy harmonies and chord progressions of some of stuff on Coyote's Dream and Presumed Lost are not that far away from, and were telegraphed in songs like Revolution's in my Pockets and They Brought Sadness, and are especially noticeable in the acoustic rhythm guitar parts there. The great Dave Robinson lead guitar bits just magnified some of the odd harmonies. Those guy's were way ahead of the curve at the time!

It is cool to see this thread grow (over 17 years time at that)!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Bennet Stolz
Date: 05 Jan 18 - 10:22 PM

In about 1975 while visiting San Francisco I wandered into a pretty noisy club somewhere down towards the waterfront or lower Market St area near the Bay. Hammond and his band were on stage in what was a fairly raucous set. It seemed to me that they did play some original stuff despite the appreciative but really half-attentive audience. I had played around the bluegrass scene some in New England and New York so I was surprised to see and recognize (the late) John Herald of Greenbriar Boys fame wandering in. I wasn't the only one who noticed though, as Hammond shortly called him up to the stage, and launched into that great Floyd Chance song "Alligator Man," while handing his Martin off to Herald. That was followed as I remember by the Marty Robbins classic "End of a Long Lonely Day,". Herald was in fine voice and seemed astounded that all of the 5 other musicians on stage knew his stuff and carried the songs off without blinking, with Hammond on fiddle and his teenaged steel player and astounding lead guitar picker (Bob Weir's half-brother: I looked him up) taking their soloes. I accosted Herald after he left the stage and asked if that was all planned. He said (somewhat bewildered, I think) " Never saw these guys before in my life" I had been unfamiliar with them as well, but went to check them out on a tip from a friend. When I returned to the Bay Area again in '77, I was able to score the COYOTE's Dream album, which is really a classic of off-center 70's California country, but Lawrence Hammond had dropped out of sight and no one seemed to have any idea of where or why. I've always wondered through the years, and finally went looking online (following clues on his 2nd album liner notes) and ended up here. This is really a pretty remarkable thread. 18 years and counting: I suspect it is as extensive as it is because there is precious little elsewhere on the web and Mudcat just filled the vacuum. I recently chased down a burn of PRESUMED LOST and that has some wonderful playing and more REALLY unusual country songwriting. The stuff in this thread about his deceased fiancee is too heartbreaking. I understand he is (STILL!) practicing medicine. An unusual life, for sure

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Mar 19 - 06:47 PM

Lawrence Hammond taught me guitar lessons in Berkeley...I remember him well... and David Robinson...who I used to wait on at Berkeley Fuller Paints...whatever became of them...I remember I learned a type of finger-picking from Lawrence...he said then he wanted to be a Dr. and David Robinson had a contracting office...Jemison Beshears [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Mar 19 - 07:09 PM

Thank you! I discovered by reading above that Lawrence Hammond DID become a doctor...that he is in Hamilton, Montana. He works at Marcus-Daly hospital and he is an internist and has been for 29 years....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Shel Stutz
Date: 15 Jun 20 - 08:34 PM

Well, this is something! I was around the Bay Area in the ’70s and caught Lawrence Hammond and the Whiplash Band multiple times at various clubs, always an enjoyable show for me and my then-wife. Then he just vanished from the music scene and I had always wondered what the hell happened. I Moved up to Montana in 2006. About 10 days ago my girl and I went to an outdoor restaurant near Missoula after a round of golf where a local cowgirl Charla Baumann was playing (a couple rock tunes, a lot of classic country). Accompanying her on fender telecaster (some blistering chops there too!) and singing harmony (and occasional lead on a Bill Monroe tune and one Hank Williams) was a skinny gray-haired guy in jeans, western shirt, and boots. The 2 of them were pretty good and their arrangements were quite inventive. As we were leaving I glanced down at the handbill they had by the stage and it said the guy was Lawrence Hammond. I was kind of amazed to see him obviously quite content to be a backing picker. I lingered a bit, in hopes of chatting him up, but they were less than halfway through their 2nd set and we had to move on. Tonight I finally got around to looking him up and came across this thread, which is honestly quite remarkable and provides all kinds of answers from myriad sources. Thanks to everybody who’s posted. I plan on going to see these two play next time they are in Missoula.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Solid Rosario
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 05:49 PM

As there is very little elsewhere on the web about LH and especially about Secorra Plarres-Montes, I offer as follows: I have previously withheld certain things about Secorra, my oldest childhood friend, because I felt that they were not mine to share. However, nearly all of the people involved have now passed. First, “Lito “ Gutierrez (mention by Ms Bennington above, and by Marte Cosette) was not Secorra’s son by birth. He was her ex-husband’s child by a different relationship. Second , because if something it is NOT my place to reveal, Secorra was unable to have children of her own, a grief that tormented her to the end, as she adored kids. Third, in another piece of the tragic circumstances of her short life, her brother, ( alluded to by Mr Prideaux above) who had been a genius-level mathematics and physics student, got involved with a troubled young lady in the UK who had a child ( Mireille,) whom she was really incapable of mothering because of her (eventually fatal) drug use, so Secorra’s brother was attempting to gain custody at the time of the terrible accident that left him brain-damaged and destroyed his mathematical career. Secorra, with great difficulty, was able to gain custody and adopt Mireille as her own child after S’s own mother ( religiously very rigid) refused to do so., and took her back to Geneva with her. When Mireille was 4 the child contracted brain fever, (meningococcemia?). Secorra rushed her to hospital but the child died in a matter of hours. Secorra never stopped grieving this lost child. The terrible irony of S herself dying of late cardiac complications from viral brain infection is like some awful clamoring jest played by a cruel universe. This site, as a music site, is perhaps an inappropriate place for such obscure biographies, but this remarkable thread seems the only one connecting all of these people, many of whom are now really seeming to fade into darkness.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 12 Feb 21 - 06:22 PM

'Presumed Lost' by Lawrence Hammond is on YouYube--all 55 minutes of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUUL-9gL24U

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Feb 21 - 06:25 PM

I remember Ozark Airlines...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Gert Lettorp
Date: 14 Feb 21 - 03:32 AM

Presumed Lost is collected and produced by Shagrat records (UK)
Very different kind of country music.
Unfortunately Coyote’s Dream seems lost and not available in any format. However I managed to contact LH by email and he was apparently willing to male a transfer from vinyl to cd ! and send it. As it was the costs of intetnational cheque etc (me being in Denmark, Europe, became too heavy. So I continue to enjoy my vinyl.
Great musicisn !!!! Love this thread that I keep on my iphone

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Ron D
Date: 17 May 21 - 09:52 PM

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 21 - 10:03 PM

Great to find this thread! I have searched for info on Lawrence since I first got internet access in the 90's, with very few hits. This is a treasure trove! I saw him perform several times at Freight and Salvage and bought Coyote's Dream when it came out. I actually bought several copies (4, I think) and gave some away.
It is nice to see that I am not the only one who wished to have a recording of Little Britches. I also love his rendition of John Deere Tractor. Someone above pointed out that the Judd's version is slowed down and that is certainly true. They are great singers, but LH just did it so much better!
In all my searching, the most interesting thing (prior to this thread) I found was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead. Turns out he was a half brother to James Louis Parber of the Whiplash band. The whole story is here: https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Weir-finds-his-birth-father-and-adopts-a-vintage-2778049.php There is also a letter to the editor regarding the Weir article from LH's brother and another from one of James' brothers.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,Fretfly
Date: 16 Mar 23 - 07:04 PM

Haven’t posted on this thread for years. Wonderful to see it’s still up and spinning. These days LH’s JOHN DEERE TRACTOR, having gone through iterations from Hammond to bluegrass legend Larry Sparks to the hit version by the Judds who subsequently apparently re-recorded the vocals over the original instrumental track for rerelease on their LOVE CAN BUILD A BRIDGE album, this Lazarus of a song is now all over the place in its latest iteration by bluegrass phenomenon Billy Strings. Strings adheres pretty lovingly to the Sparks version. Not too sure what Hammond is up to these days, but it appears from my internet search that he is still backing up singer Charla Bauman out in wild Montana. Hope the airwaves yield up some reward for this long-under-appreciated songwriter.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Flight 641 (Lawrence Hammond)
From: GUEST,BR Dalton
Date: 15 Jun 23 - 02:59 PM

Note that bluegrass guitar phenom Billy Strings ( recording with his Dad Terry Barber and a cast of bluegrass stars) released LH’s JOHN DEERE TRACTOR ( in the slow Larry Sparks/Judds version rather than Hammond’s uptempo and more ironic version) as a single off the album ME AND DAD in 11/22. Was startled to hear this version while driving yesterday. Imagine LH might be too if the news ever reaches him out in Montana, where he seems to have retreated in silence