John Hammond

The legendary music talent scout held up in Talent (Book) (by Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross) as the archetypal scout. The book uses Hammond’s record to make a core point about spotting talent: top talent is rarely identified by the establishment first, precisely because original creators are doing something new. Guitarist George Benson offered one clue to Hammond’s method — “John Hammond didn’t necessarily care about how many records I could sell; his approach was more along the lines of ‘look at what this talent can do, and I hope you enjoy him as much as I do.’” The lesson Kyle draws from the passage: great scouting means betting on originality before the market validates it.

Context: John Hammond (1910–1987) was an American record producer and talent scout who discovered or championed Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen, among others.

Where this appears

• Talent (Book) — the archetypal scout whose record shows that top talent is rarely spotted by the establishment first.