Recollection is the title of the new Hammond Gamble album – his first in quite a while and his best. It should be, it’s a distillation of some of the outstanding songs from a career that goes back to the ‘70s, when the guitarist and singer first set Kiwi rock fans back on their heels with his electrifying performances.

 

Recollection manages to be electrifying without using much electricity. The 12 songs on it represent a cross-section of Hammond Gamble’s songwriting history, from Leaving the Country, his nearly hit from the late ‘70s, through Midnight, Should I Be Good or Should I Be Evil and If You’ve Got Love Give Me Some, a song that Joe Cocker recorded.

 

The new album is part of the Liberation “Blue Acoustic Series”, which sees established singer/songwriters revisiting their own back catalogues with new acoustic versions of their songs. For the collection, Gamble put together a top-notch band featuring guitarist Mike Caen, his old onstage sparring partner from back in the days with legendary Kiwi rock band Street Talk.

 

Hammond Gamble was born, the son on a New Zealander, in Lancashire, moving with his family to New Zealand and Whangarei as a 12-year-old in the early ‘60s. Soon after, he took up the guitar, played with various local bands and developed a passion for the blues that would flavour his soon-to-be-distinctive vocal and guitar styles.

 

In 1974, he formed the first version of Street Talk, out front on lead guitar and vocals. It was perfect timing. Within a year, the band was fully professional and riding the first crest of what would be an extraordinary time for Kiwi rock music.

 

This was back in the days before radio or television gave a hoot for homegrown original rock music – but the fans surely did, famously packing out venues like Auckland’s Windsor Castle and Gluepot to catch showstopping performances by Gamble and his band, who expanded from an initial trio to a five-piece.

 

Gamble’s powerful stage presence swiftly drew career-altering attention. Chris Hillman, a former member of legendary American band The Byrds, caught a Street Talk performance during a visit to New Zealand and produced the band’s first single, Leaving the Country.

 

Now signed to WEA Records, Street Talk went on to record two albums – their self-titled debut, which was produced by infamous American music whacko and producer Kim Fowley, and Battleground of Fun. The albums, though, never quite caught the band’s in-concert firepower.

 

By the early ‘80s, Street Talk was rock-and-roll history and Gamble was embarking on a solo career that would spawn three albums including “Plugged in and Blue” recorded live to coincide with the closure of the infamous Gluepot.

 

Down the years, Gamble has had some frustratingly-close brushes with world domination. He’s played support, at major concerts, to the likes of The Eagles, Joe Cocker, Talking Heads, Bonnie Raitt, Fleetwood Mac and Tina Turner. And he spent a period in America, on the brink of a major recording deal that never happened.

 

Hammond Gamble has played thousands of shows across the country and these days, though he plays the occasional show with an electric band, most of his live work is solo acoustic. He’s working on an album of new songs, but in the meantime, Recollection is a powerful reminder of the undiminished talent of one of our rock music greats.