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Hamp
Here are Lionel Hampton's off-the-cuff recollections of contemporaries like Louis Armstrong, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Teddy Wilson, Nat King Cole,Ella Fitzgerald, and Josephine Baker. And here are rare glimpses into the early careers of stars nurtured by him, such as Dinah Washington, Joe Williams, Quincy Jones, Dexter Gordon, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Gregory Hines. This is the first and only book about Lionel Hampton, Kennedy Center Honoree for lifetime achievements in the arts. Hamp is a must read for the Hampton fans and music lovers everywhere. It is capped by a new, all -- inclusive discography compiled by Vincent H. Pelote, a librarian at the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University.
- GenresMusic
286 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1989
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 23, 2008
I have rather mixed feelings about autobiographies. On the one hand, you get the information straight from the horse's mouth, where there's little to no chance of having the story lost. The problem, of course, is that the story you get is that which the subject wishes you to see. A good biographer will give you an unflinching look at the life of the subject, hopefully not in 700 pages. So while I was eager to continue my jazz history lesson with another memoir, I braced myself for whitewashing.
This, as it turns out, was a good idea, because Lionel Hampton's bio piece from 1989, while fairly comprehensive, is about as challenging to his life as a press release.
Starting with his early years, we have a very rosy picture of things despite a rather dubious upbringing--Hampton's grandmother was a supposed faith healer and passed that torch on to Hampton, who claimed to have been cured of a serious ailment "by Jesus." In the first of many instances where Hampton fails to see the problems with his descriptions, we have a "deeply religious" woman who had no problem living from the largess granted to her by the *known killer* Al Capone. She even spoke with him cordially on the telephone! Now I admit, I am fascinated by his tales of living in a gangster family and personally getting a jazz education by those who played for Capone (along with mixing a few brews) but the fact that the bald hypocrisies of this setup don't even phase Hampton is part of why I am skeptical of any self-told tale. This will not be the last time that Hampton, a self-described conservative Republican, follows the all-too-familiar GOP party line of "do as I say, not as I do."
From this point is the fairly typical jazz story of trying to make it in the music world, gigging from place to place, signing on and off to various clubs and bands and generally touring the country. He starts out West and gradually moves to New York, but does a lot of traveling between the two. We learn of how he (according to him) pioneered the vibes as a jazz instrument, discovered (according to him) Nat King Cole, and worked to prevent segregation in the places he gigged. Hampton has a lot of kind words for Benny Goodman and his protection of African Americans when they toured the south, but I don't think he's really honest about his true feelings about how "joining the band" really meant "joining a sub-band" with Goodman, at least initially.
Eventually, Hampton gets out on his own, gets his wife (who probably almost single-handedly prevented him from an early death by keeping an eye on him), and makes a whole boatload of music. This is where the story starts to unravel just a bit. First of all, Hamp apparently gives up on faith healing after a bad car accident but doesn't stop to reflect on this change. Second, he talks about being on disability but also playing music, and actually seems angry that the insurance company had a problem with this! Third, while Hampton repeatedly mentions how his wife kept him in line and saved their money, he also talks about how he tried to prevent this wherever possible. Magically, however, this causes no stress on the marriage!
I'm already a bit leery on the credulity scale from the faith healing bit, so this and other revelations just concern me about the book's veracity. He claims Ike leaned on the Warren Court to desegregate the schools, which is contrary to everything I've ever read. He claims Nixon was a great friend to "the blacks" and always campaigned for him. But there's nothing of Nixon's blatant racism during the presidential runs, not even in passing. Did Hampton really support the public Nixon's views? Even if he privately was still a civil rights advocate (Hampton lists a few things Nixon apparently did), the lack of any concern for Nixon's actions in the late 60s is inexcusable, after Hampton made such a point of stressing their relationship. Watergate is completely ignored, unless you count "since Nixon was out of politics."
Then there's the magical appearance of a longstanding friendship with George Bush. in the story according to Hampton, he was the one who told Bush to hang on for Vice President in 1980! If that's not enough, he staged the floor rally. And James Baker himself told Bush that he was only Vice Prez because of one aging vibes player! Wow! What clout!
I'm sorry, that's just not believable.
It's sad that the book in its final chapter takes such a hard political turn with the above claims. It's even worse that Hampton rants about how, "There was a time when divorce was a damnable sin," just after singing the praises of Reagan to high heaven. Again, this is classic GOP spin. I guess it's no surprise then when this man who says he quietly supported civil rights and worked for jobs for African Americans is proud to name the man who won on the back of Willie Horton commercials as a political friend.
Hampton spends a lot of time in this book trying to place his legacy in the jazz world. Apparently, he had trouble with the critics for being a showman first, jazz player second. I've not heard enough Hampton to be able to say that fairly. However, if you're dancing on the tables, I do think it's fair for the critics to point out that maybe the music is not your number one priority.
If Hampton was as arrogant in life as this book comes off--the man basically claims to be the only one who kept jazz relevant through the decades--I begin to see why he had trouble keeping a band together, though (he claims) this was because he encouraged his band to grow their own careers. His case is not helped by claiming to back all forms of music but also complaining about how young players don't respect the old ways in the same chapter where he says that old timers always diss on on the music that comes after them. Huh? How does that mesh? It is problems like this that plague the book and make me wonder just why Haskins is even credited. A good co-author would have found a way to mitigate these problems.
In the end, this is a book that creates more questions than it answers. the jazz portions are fun to read for a person who will never live in an era where jazz clubs dominated the landscape, but it's marred by petty remarks, like losing his goodwill ambassadorship to Louis Armstrong. There is an overwhelming need for Hamp to try and show the reader he was just as good as the better known Ellington, Calloway, Armstrong, Parker, Gillespie, and the rest. Maybe he was, but this was the wrong way to go about doing so. All the wild claims make me doubt everything he says and diminish the rest, like his longstanding relationship with bringing jazz to Israel. That's actually pretty cool--if it's true. I wish he'd dwelt longer on the subject rather than take pot shots at his old agent. But because of all the other dubious statements, I'm not sure I believe this one either, which is a real shame.
Hampton claims to read the Bible every day but also rattles off quite a few sins of excess and definitely has the sin of pride. He glosses over too many problematic issues and really acts like his shit doesn't stink. He brags of creating all this housing for African Americans and how Republicans do all this work for minorities while the Democrats "use blacks to get their votes." This may or may not be true, but the book is neither long enough nor the right place to bring this up, especially when he never acknowledges any of the issues the modern GOP has with race-baiting. The political talk really comes off as out of place in a jazz history, as though, as with his defense of his music, Hampton feels he must justify his life. Unfortunately for him, as a setting for his legacy, this book lacks the style of one of his performances. (Library, 09/08)
Trebby's Take: Only for the hard-core jazz fan. Just too many claims to take seriously.
This, as it turns out, was a good idea, because Lionel Hampton's bio piece from 1989, while fairly comprehensive, is about as challenging to his life as a press release.
Starting with his early years, we have a very rosy picture of things despite a rather dubious upbringing--Hampton's grandmother was a supposed faith healer and passed that torch on to Hampton, who claimed to have been cured of a serious ailment "by Jesus." In the first of many instances where Hampton fails to see the problems with his descriptions, we have a "deeply religious" woman who had no problem living from the largess granted to her by the *known killer* Al Capone. She even spoke with him cordially on the telephone! Now I admit, I am fascinated by his tales of living in a gangster family and personally getting a jazz education by those who played for Capone (along with mixing a few brews) but the fact that the bald hypocrisies of this setup don't even phase Hampton is part of why I am skeptical of any self-told tale. This will not be the last time that Hampton, a self-described conservative Republican, follows the all-too-familiar GOP party line of "do as I say, not as I do."
From this point is the fairly typical jazz story of trying to make it in the music world, gigging from place to place, signing on and off to various clubs and bands and generally touring the country. He starts out West and gradually moves to New York, but does a lot of traveling between the two. We learn of how he (according to him) pioneered the vibes as a jazz instrument, discovered (according to him) Nat King Cole, and worked to prevent segregation in the places he gigged. Hampton has a lot of kind words for Benny Goodman and his protection of African Americans when they toured the south, but I don't think he's really honest about his true feelings about how "joining the band" really meant "joining a sub-band" with Goodman, at least initially.
Eventually, Hampton gets out on his own, gets his wife (who probably almost single-handedly prevented him from an early death by keeping an eye on him), and makes a whole boatload of music. This is where the story starts to unravel just a bit. First of all, Hamp apparently gives up on faith healing after a bad car accident but doesn't stop to reflect on this change. Second, he talks about being on disability but also playing music, and actually seems angry that the insurance company had a problem with this! Third, while Hampton repeatedly mentions how his wife kept him in line and saved their money, he also talks about how he tried to prevent this wherever possible. Magically, however, this causes no stress on the marriage!
I'm already a bit leery on the credulity scale from the faith healing bit, so this and other revelations just concern me about the book's veracity. He claims Ike leaned on the Warren Court to desegregate the schools, which is contrary to everything I've ever read. He claims Nixon was a great friend to "the blacks" and always campaigned for him. But there's nothing of Nixon's blatant racism during the presidential runs, not even in passing. Did Hampton really support the public Nixon's views? Even if he privately was still a civil rights advocate (Hampton lists a few things Nixon apparently did), the lack of any concern for Nixon's actions in the late 60s is inexcusable, after Hampton made such a point of stressing their relationship. Watergate is completely ignored, unless you count "since Nixon was out of politics."
Then there's the magical appearance of a longstanding friendship with George Bush. in the story according to Hampton, he was the one who told Bush to hang on for Vice President in 1980! If that's not enough, he staged the floor rally. And James Baker himself told Bush that he was only Vice Prez because of one aging vibes player! Wow! What clout!
I'm sorry, that's just not believable.
It's sad that the book in its final chapter takes such a hard political turn with the above claims. It's even worse that Hampton rants about how, "There was a time when divorce was a damnable sin," just after singing the praises of Reagan to high heaven. Again, this is classic GOP spin. I guess it's no surprise then when this man who says he quietly supported civil rights and worked for jobs for African Americans is proud to name the man who won on the back of Willie Horton commercials as a political friend.
Hampton spends a lot of time in this book trying to place his legacy in the jazz world. Apparently, he had trouble with the critics for being a showman first, jazz player second. I've not heard enough Hampton to be able to say that fairly. However, if you're dancing on the tables, I do think it's fair for the critics to point out that maybe the music is not your number one priority.
If Hampton was as arrogant in life as this book comes off--the man basically claims to be the only one who kept jazz relevant through the decades--I begin to see why he had trouble keeping a band together, though (he claims) this was because he encouraged his band to grow their own careers. His case is not helped by claiming to back all forms of music but also complaining about how young players don't respect the old ways in the same chapter where he says that old timers always diss on on the music that comes after them. Huh? How does that mesh? It is problems like this that plague the book and make me wonder just why Haskins is even credited. A good co-author would have found a way to mitigate these problems.
In the end, this is a book that creates more questions than it answers. the jazz portions are fun to read for a person who will never live in an era where jazz clubs dominated the landscape, but it's marred by petty remarks, like losing his goodwill ambassadorship to Louis Armstrong. There is an overwhelming need for Hamp to try and show the reader he was just as good as the better known Ellington, Calloway, Armstrong, Parker, Gillespie, and the rest. Maybe he was, but this was the wrong way to go about doing so. All the wild claims make me doubt everything he says and diminish the rest, like his longstanding relationship with bringing jazz to Israel. That's actually pretty cool--if it's true. I wish he'd dwelt longer on the subject rather than take pot shots at his old agent. But because of all the other dubious statements, I'm not sure I believe this one either, which is a real shame.
Hampton claims to read the Bible every day but also rattles off quite a few sins of excess and definitely has the sin of pride. He glosses over too many problematic issues and really acts like his shit doesn't stink. He brags of creating all this housing for African Americans and how Republicans do all this work for minorities while the Democrats "use blacks to get their votes." This may or may not be true, but the book is neither long enough nor the right place to bring this up, especially when he never acknowledges any of the issues the modern GOP has with race-baiting. The political talk really comes off as out of place in a jazz history, as though, as with his defense of his music, Hampton feels he must justify his life. Unfortunately for him, as a setting for his legacy, this book lacks the style of one of his performances. (Library, 09/08)
Trebby's Take: Only for the hard-core jazz fan. Just too many claims to take seriously.
November 6, 2022
Detailed....
August 3, 2021
This book was certainly not the worst musician's memoir I've ever read, but it was also not one of the better ones. Mr. Hampton was, obviously, a great musician and a successful one- that is why I wanted to read his memoir. I didn't know, prior to reading it, that he had also been quite successful in business ventures unrelated to music, like real estate. Apparently, Mr. Hampton's wife, Gladys, was incredibly talented in the area of financial management, investments and so forth. That's interesting to some degree, but I was actually looking for a bit more insight on Mr. Hampton's creative process, as well as things like band management, etc. There was a certain amount of that of course, but in a 170 page (plus 102 pages of discography & 8 of index) book there is not much room for anything but chronology when a full life of 80 years is being covered. It would have been nice to read more about the author's interactions with all the other legendary musicians he played with; that was one of the strengths of Miles Davis's Miles: The Autobiography for example, which was published the same year.
Also, I really wish that Mr. Hampton had left politics alone in his memoir. Part of my reaction to this aspect is no doubt due to the fact that I read the book during the 2020 election, but (leaving aside the fact that many of Richard Nixon's policies were further to the left than Barack Obama's) I quite frankly don't have much sympathy for even the moderate right wing of U.S. politics at any time. This is particularly true regarding domestic issues. I also have very little tolerance for well-known skirt-chasers lecturing anyone else about sexual immorality. The worst part was when he gave a blanket pass to political leaders for their racial bigotry: "I liked Reagan. When he was governor of California, he appointed a lot of blacks [sic] to jobs for the state. I pointed that out in my public statements. I also said in public, 'there is no such thing as racism when it comes to the governor'". It got even worse than that in the next paragraph, in which Mr. Hampton stated "The Democrats use blacks [sic] just to get their vote. But when the time comes to compensate, they forget all about us. Republicans do good deeds for blacks [sic] without ballyhooing". I am old enough to remember the pamphlets the Michigan Republican Party used to hand out during the 1976 election, titled 'The Party of Lincoln' and claiming, among other things, that the party was founded in Detroit (that was inaccurate- the first party convention was actually held in Jackson, Michigan in 1854). Although it is obvious to me now that those pamphlets were a transparent attempt by the Republicans to convince gullible Black people to vote for them, at the time I actually believed that they represented the truth. I have a good excuse- I was only five years old then. Mr. Hampton, on the other hand, was a grown man long before that time and should have known better.
Also, I really wish that Mr. Hampton had left politics alone in his memoir. Part of my reaction to this aspect is no doubt due to the fact that I read the book during the 2020 election, but (leaving aside the fact that many of Richard Nixon's policies were further to the left than Barack Obama's) I quite frankly don't have much sympathy for even the moderate right wing of U.S. politics at any time. This is particularly true regarding domestic issues. I also have very little tolerance for well-known skirt-chasers lecturing anyone else about sexual immorality. The worst part was when he gave a blanket pass to political leaders for their racial bigotry: "I liked Reagan. When he was governor of California, he appointed a lot of blacks [sic] to jobs for the state. I pointed that out in my public statements. I also said in public, 'there is no such thing as racism when it comes to the governor'". It got even worse than that in the next paragraph, in which Mr. Hampton stated "The Democrats use blacks [sic] just to get their vote. But when the time comes to compensate, they forget all about us. Republicans do good deeds for blacks [sic] without ballyhooing". I am old enough to remember the pamphlets the Michigan Republican Party used to hand out during the 1976 election, titled 'The Party of Lincoln' and claiming, among other things, that the party was founded in Detroit (that was inaccurate- the first party convention was actually held in Jackson, Michigan in 1854). Although it is obvious to me now that those pamphlets were a transparent attempt by the Republicans to convince gullible Black people to vote for them, at the time I actually believed that they represented the truth. I have a good excuse- I was only five years old then. Mr. Hampton, on the other hand, was a grown man long before that time and should have known better.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews