Albert Louis Hammond was born on 18 May 1944 in London, after his family had been evacuated from Gibraltar during World War II, and shortly after the war ended they returned to Gibraltar where he grew up. In 1960 he joined Gibraltarian band The Diamond Boys, which had no real commercial success, but played a part in Spain's introduction to pop and rock music. In 1966 he co-founded the British vocal band the Family Dogg, reaching number 6 on the UK Singles Chart in 1969 with 'A Way Of Life', taken from the album of the same name. He also wrote songs for other artists with frequent collaborator Mike Hazlewood, including 'Little Arrows' for Leapy Lee, 'Make Me an Island' and 'You're Such A Good Looking Woman' for Joe Dolan, 'Gimme Dat Ding' for the Pipkins, 'Good Morning Freedom' for Blue Mink, 'Freedom Come, Freedom Go' for the Fortunes, and 'The Air That I Breathe' for the Hollies. In 1970, at age 26, he moved to the United States, continuing his professional career as a musician, although his greatest commercial success was in mainland Europe, with successful singles on Columbia subsidiary Mums Records, including 'Down By The River', 'It Never Rains In Southern California', 'The Free Electric Band' (his only single to chart in the UK), 'Half A Million Miles From Home', and '99 Miles From L.A.'. In 1971, he also sang on Michael Chapman's fourth album 'Wrecked Again', and he worked briefly with the Magic Lanterns on recordings of his and Hazlewood's songs. In 1972 he released his first solo album, 'It Never Rains In Southern California', following the success of the single of the same name, and with his reputation as a successful songwriter already established, other artists soon wanted to cover the songs on it. A couple of them seemed a bit too idiosyncratic to be attempted, and so as there were two that have yet to be covered, I've added some of the afore-mentioned hits from 1971 to replace them.
Track listing
01 Listen To The World (The Undivided 1973)
02 If You Gotta Break Another Heart (Cass Elliott 1972)
03 Brand New Day (Cindy Kent 1973)
04 It Never Rains In Southern California (Sonny And Cher 1973)
05 Anyone Here In The Audience (Agnes Chan 1973)
06 Names, Tags, Numbers & Labels (The Association 1973)
07 Down By The River (The New Seekers 1972)
08 The Air That I Breathe (The Hollies 1974)
09 Freedom Come, Freedom Go (The Fortunes 1971)
10 Good Morning Freedom (Blue Mink 1971)
11 Mama Sure Could Swing A Deal (The Magic Lanterns 1971)
