John Henry Hammond II 1910-1987

John Henry Hammond II [1910-1987] was the son of John Henry Hammond and Emily Vanderbilt Sloane. His great grandfather was William Henry Vanderbilt, the son of Cornelius Vanderbilt who inherited and expanded the Vanderbilt railroad empire. His grandmother was Emily Thorn Vanderbilt, a daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt. Hammond’s grandfather was Civil War General John Henry Hammond. The family’s fortune was from the mother’s side of the family. His father was of modest means and worked as an attorney and ensured that the family fortune was maintained in proper order.

Hammond attended Yale University and majored in music. He played the violin for a while but then switched to the viola. At some point during his college career he fell ill, and had to interrupt his studies. Following recuperation he decided not to go back to school and apparently never graduated. Following his college career he went into a variety of music professions but ended up as a talent scout and music producer working with upcoming new talent.

Based on the above Hammond becamea talent scout, a producer of musical recordings, a Civil Rights activist and music critic from the 1930’s until the 1980’s. There was, however, a big gap during the Second World War when Hammond served in the armed forces. During most of his musical career he was associated with Columbia Records. In this position he was involved in starting and furthering promising musical careers. Musicians who benefitted from his support were such luminaries as Bruce Springsteen, Benny Goodman, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Pete Seeger, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Ray Vaughn and numerous other artists. Hammond remained with Columbia Records until 1973, but continued his scouting activities.

Hammond had four sisters, Alice, Rachel, Adele and Emily. He married Jemison “Jemy” McBride in New Haven, Connecticut in 1941. The following year their first child, a son, arrived. His name was John P. Hammond. The son would become an American blues musician. Early in 1944, while Hammond was in basic military training, hissecond son arrived. The baby came down with a serious illness and did not survive it. Their third son, Jason, arrived in 1946. During the war years the couple did not have much time to be together and that apparently did not help maintaining their marriage. Jemy asked for a divorce. Hammond was reluctant to go through with the divorce but relented, and they divorced in 1948.

In 1949, Hammond met Esme Sarnoff, the former wife of NBC chairman Robert W. Sarnoff. The couple married later that year. The couple would stay together until 1986 when Esme died of breast cancer, and complications of AIDS, which she had picked up from a blood transfusion. Prior to her death Hammond had a stroke in 1985. Esme’s death had negatively affected him, and in 1987 Hammond passed away from a series of additional strokes. He was 76 years old at the time of his death.