| Peter Hammill |
Peter
Hammill portrayed on the cover of his 1982 album Enter K.
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill |
| Born |
November 5, 1948
Ealing,
London,
England |
| Origin |
Manchester, England |
| Genre(s) |
Art rock |
| Occupation(s) |
Singer, songwriter, record
producer |
| Instrument(s) |
Vocals, guitar, keyboards |
| Years active |
1968 - present |
| Label(s) |
Charisma,
S-Type, Virgin,
Naive, Foundry, Enigma,
Fie! |
Associated
acts |
Van der Graaf Generator |
| Website |
Sofasound |
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November
1948) is an English
singer-songwriter, and a founding member of progressive
rock band Van der Graaf Generator.
Most noted for his vocal
abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano. He also acts as a record
producer for his own recordings, and occasionally for other artists. He
has been married to his wife Hilary since 1978 and they have 3 children.
|
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 2 Hammill's
voice
- 3 Lyrics
- 4 Discography
- 4.1 Studio
albums
- 4.2 Live
albums
- 4.3 Compilations
- 4.4 Collaborations
and miscellaneous
- 4.5 Guest
appearances
- 4.6 Work
as producer
- 5 References
- 6 External
links
|
Biography
Peter Hammill was born in Ealing, west London, and moved with his
family to Derby
when he was 12[1]. He attended Beaumont
College, Old
Windsor, and Manchester University, where
he studied Liberal Studies in Science.
Hammill's solo career began with Fool's Mate
(1971), while Van der Graaf Generator were still active. To some extent
it is difficult to separate Hammill's solo work during the 1970s from his work
with the band, as he tended to be credited as the sole songwriter on
the majority of the songs included on the band's albums, whilst
conversely many of his "solo" albums feature all the members of Van der
Graaf Generator playing on the recordings – the difference between the
two scenarios seemed primarily to be who was paying for the sessions.
In general, however, solo Hammill is concerned with more personal
matters, while the band's songs deal with broader themes. His earlier
work was largely existential in nature and many of his solo album
lyrics are literary, poetic and amongst the most sensitive and
intelligent and complex expressions of angst and a search for meaning
in the history of music. Indeed, his work ranges from short simple riff-based songs to
highly complex lengthy pieces. Mainly because of the strangeness of his
music, his refusal to make anything resembling middle-of-the-road
music, and the general absence of any smooth or glamorous sounds in his
music, there is much debate amongst his admirers whether Hammill is to
be considered a part of the so progressive rock scene. It appears
to be very difficult to categorize his music. In many interviews
Hammill has stated that he does not want to be put in the progressive
rock music label, or any music label at all.
Hammill recorded a series of diverse albums during Van der
Graaf Generator's three year hiatus between 1972 and 1974. Among these,
Nadir's Big Chance (1975) is notable for its anticipation of punk rock.
In a 1977
radio interview, John Lydon of the Sex
Pistols played two tracks from the album and expressed his
admiration for Hammill in glowing terms: "Peter Hammill's great. A true
original. I've just liked him for years. If you listen to his solo
albums, I'm damn sure Bowie copied a lot out of that geezer. The credit
he deserves, has just not been given to him. I love all his stuff"[2].
Hammill's solo career resumed in earnest after the final
demise of Van der Graaf Generator in 1978, and has continued to the
present day. Many different styles of music appear in his work, among
them avant garde electronic experiments (Loops
and Reels; Unsung; Spur of the
Moment), opera (The Fall of
the House of Usher); solo keyboard
accompaniment (And Close As This);
solo guitar accompaniment (Clutch); and band
recordings (Enter K).
Despite the complexity of his work, Hammill's output is
prolific, typically with new albums once or twice a year. His catalogue
varies between artful complexity in the late 1960s and early
1970s; raw, energetic new wave in the late 1970s and early 1980s;
mature, expansive songform in the late 1980s and early 1990s; and slow,
melancholic balladry in the late 1990s and 2000s. There are numerous
exceptions to all of these phases, illustrating the difficulty of
categorising Hammill's work.
Hammill's early records, like the VdGG albums, were released
on Charisma Records. He parted company with them after pH7
(1979), and then released albums on a number of small labels. A Black
Box came out on S-Type, a label run by Hammill
and his manager Gail Colson. Enter K and Patience
appeared on Naive, Skin and The
Margin on Foundry and In A Foreign Town, Out of
Water and Room Temperature
on Enigma
Records. In 1992 he formed his own label, Fie!, on which all his albums
since Fireships have been released. The label's
logo is the Greek letter phi (Φ), a pun on PH-I.
Hammill survived a heart attack in December 2003. He was awarded
the prestigious Italian Tenco Prize for songwriting at the end of 2004.
In 2005,
Hammill reformed Van der Graaf Generator. They recorded a new album, Present,
in April 2005 and played a series of well received concerts.
Hammill released his new album Singularity
in December 2006, and has announced plans for a British and European
tour in November as well as gigs by Van der Graaf Generator as a trio
(minus David Jackson) in 2007
[3].
Hammill's voice
Many consider Hammill's voice to be the most distinctive
element of his music. As a former Jesuit chorister, his delivery is
invariably middle class English (rather than Americanised), and ranges
in tone from peacefully celestial to screaming rants (which are
nevertheless highly controlled). Singing in registers from baritone to
high falsetto,
he growls, croons, shrieks and shouts in ways that have drawn
comparison with the guitar playing of Jimi
Hendrix.
Lyrics
Hammill's lyrics are another distinctive feature of his work.
He has visited a number of recurring themes including: love; human
relationships; ageing and death; human follies; politics;
self-awareness and introspection; religion; and current affairs. He
expresses these themes with a verbal dexterity that is rare in rock.
His lyrics often include literary references. For example, the Norse
names mentioned in the song Viking on Fool's
Mate are characters in the Icelandic Eiríks saga rauða. (Judging
by the spelling of the names, Hammill's source seems to have been Magnus
Magnusson's 1965 translation.)
The science fiction themes of Van der Graaf Generator's lyrics
are mostly absent in his later work. In 1974 Hammill published a book, Killers,
Angels, Refugees (Charisma Books, London), a collection of
lyrics, poems and short stories. This was later reissued by Hammill
himself (Sofa Sound, Bath) and was followed by a sequel Mirrors,
Dreams, Miracles (1982).
Discography
Studio albums
- Fool's Mate
(1971)
- Chameleon in
the Shadow of the Night (1973)
- The Silent
Corner and the Empty Stage (1974)
- In Camera
(1974)
- Nadir's Big Chance
(1975)
- Over (1977)
- The Future Now
(1978)
- pH7
(1979)
- A Black Box (1980)
- Sitting Targets
(1981)
- Enter K (1982)
- Patience
(1983)
- Loops and Reels (1983)
- Skin
(1986)
- And Close As This
(1986)
- In A Foreign Town
(1988)
- Out of Water (1990)
- The Fall of
the House of Usher (1991)
- Fireships (1992)
- The Noise (1993)
- Roaring Forties
(1994)
- X My Heart (1996)
- Everyone You Hold (1997)
- This (1998)
- None of the
Above (2000)
- What, Now? (2001)
- Clutch (2002)
- Incoherence (2004)
- Singularity
(2006)
Live albums
- The Margin (1985)
- Room Temperature
(1990)
- There Goes The Daylight (1992)
- Typical (1999)
- The Margin + (2002)
- Veracious (2006)
Compilations
- Vision (1978)
- The Love Songs
(1984, compilation of re-recorded back catalogue)
- The Essential Collection (1986, Enter K
and Patience
collected)
- A Fix On The Mix (compilation EP) (1992)
- The Storm (Before The Calm) (1993) (more
aggressive Virgin-era material)
- The Calm (After The Storm) (1993)
(Virgin-era ballads)
- Offensichtlich Goldfisch (1993,
compilation of songs re-recorded in German)
- The Peel Sessions (1995, BBC radio
sessions 1974-1988)
- After The Show (1996)
- Past Go (Collected) (1997)
- The Thin Man Sings Ballads (2002)
Collaborations and miscellaneous
- Spur of the Moment (1988, with Guy Evans)
- The Union Chapel Concert (1997, live,
with Guy
Evans and others)
- The Appointed Hour (1999, with Roger
Eno)
- Unsung (2001) (Peter Hammill/Sonix, a
collection of instrumentals)
Guest appearances
- Colin Scot, Colin
Scot (1971) - Hammill provides backing vocals on several
tracks
- Le
Orme, Felona e Sorona
(1973) - Hammill wrote English language lyrics for the Charisma Records
UK release of the Italian album with the same name
- Robert Fripp, Exposure
(1979) - Hammill sings lead vocals on three tracks
- Peter Gabriel, IV (1982) - Hammill
sings backing vocals on three tracks
- Miguel Bosé, Bandido
(1984) - Hammill wrote two lyrics: 'South of the Sahara' and 'Domine
Mundi'
- Alice,
Il sole nella pioggia (1989) - Hammill co-wrote
and sang the track 'Now and Forever'
- Peter Gabriel, Us (1992) - Hammill sings
backing vocals on the track, Digging In The Dirt
- Ayuo, Songs from a
Eurasian Journey (1997) - Hammill sings lead vocals on
several tracks
- David Cross, Exiles
(1997) - Hammill sings lead vocals on two tracks
- Premiata Forneria Marconi,
PFM Live in Japan 2002 (2002) - Hammill wrote
and sang one studio track 'Sea Of Memory'
Work as producer
References
- Christopulos, J. & Smart, P. (2005) Van
der Graaf Generator - The Book (Published by "Phil and Jim") ISBN 0-9551337-0-X
- PH-VdGG Study Group, Fiaccavento L., Olivotto M. (2005) Van
der Graaf Generator - Dark Figures Running - Lyrics 1968-1978
(Published by PH-VdGG Study Group [4])
- Mike Barnes, Life Sentences. Wire,
March 2007. pp. 34-41.
External links
