“Music soothes the savage beast. It has no color. That’s where I saw God.”
–Herman Hitson
Herman Hitson, born in 1943, counts as another gifted musician on the esteemed Music Maker Foundation roster. Hitson spent his childhood in Ocilla, Georgia. Later, his family moved to Jacksonville, Florida. Hitson recently said: “It wasn’t until I got to Jacksonville that I heard Black radio and Jackie Wilson in the pool room on the jukebox.”
When Hitson moved to Atlanta, he started playing with Garnet Mimms, Joe Tex, Bobby Womack, and Wilson Pickett. Hitson met Jimi Hendrix (before he became famous) in Macon, Georgia. Hitson became friends with Duane Allman and jammed with the Allman Brothers Band in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. Hitson’s group played the Atlanta Pop Festival with the Allmans in 1970. Hitson often asked Duane to sit in with his band at Mamie’s Diner in Atlanta. Hitson performed all over Europe, and collaborated with James Brown, The Ohio Players, The Drifters and Hank Ballard.
Released in 2022, Hitson’s Let The Gods Sing hits like a toke of fresh Humboldt County reefer. These nine songs were produced and recorded at Bruce Watson’s Delta Sound Studios in Memphis during 2021. The ‘Sacred Soul Sound Section’ includes Will Sexton (guitar), Mark Edgar Stuart (bass), Will McCarley (drums) and Al Gamble (organ). Art Edmaiston contributes horns. Hitson’s deft guitar work emits funk, soul and a psychedelic sound on Let The Gods Sing.
The title track resembles Funkadelic at their most cosmic. “Ain’t No Other Way” conjures the J.B.s at a zenith. “Feast of Ants”, a five-minute funk-laced instrumental, delivers a potent dose of Hitson’s far out, soulful guitar talent. The sultry Marcella Simien lends vocals on “Bad Girl”. The final cut, “Yampertown Funk”, circulates a hypnotic R & B groove that would’ve made millions as a 1970s TV show soundtrack.
Hitson still tours. Seek him out. Let The Gods Sing, indeed.
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