Beres Hammond smiles on Spotify billboards in Times Square and Toronto

Thirty-six years ago, a young Beres Hammond released the song Let Me Help You Smile, a single which fans have dubbed “a real classic” but which has rarely been played.

Fast-forward to the present and the story is being retold in the best way possible. On Friday, Hammond, was definitely the flavour of the day and it’s all because of the same song which he has “reimagined” and sent out into the stratosphere once more on Harmony House/VP Records labels, with distribution by VP.

Now titled, Let Me Help You, it caught the ears of streaming giant Spotify, who decided that a major promotion was only right. The song was selected to be strategically placed on billboards in New York’s Times Square, and the iconic Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto, where fans had the joy of looking at a smiling Beres right up there in the global spotlight.

Notably, Spotify usually reserves this type of fanfare for album releases.

“But they respect Beres so much they gave it to him for this single because they know he’s really excited for this release,” Hammond’s management shared.

How it works is that Spotify has a playlist brand called ‘New Music Friday’ which is essentially a weekly updated playlist that highlights new releases for that week. Each major market Spotify is available in has their own New Music Friday playlist. Along with this playlist, in the major markets, Spotify views all the new releases and then they hand-pick the ones they want to spotlight on the billboards.

The lovers’ rock maestro, who was awarded an honorary doctorate by The University of the West Indies last November, is totally appreciative of the attention Let Me Help You is receiving, especially since the general consensus is that it didn’t receive its just due upon its release in 1988.

“What nuh dead nuh dash it way ... so it go fi true,” he said, quoting an old Jamaican saying.

Hammond did the arranging, producing, and writing on the original, and for him to go back into his catalogue and do over one of his own songs is considered “a rarity”. But the decision, he explained, wasn’t totally his own.

“My team thought that I should re-release the song because they found it interesting. I couldn’t find the master, so I decided that, if they really wanted it so badly, then I would redo it. We put on some horns ... called in Mr Fraser [Dean], and used all new musicians. And, from my perspective, it was wonderful. Everybody played their roles wonderfully and I enjoyed the sessions immensely,” Hammond told The Sunday Gleaner.

If reactions from fans is the litmus test, then they will certainly embrace this remix. Over on YouTube, the original version was posted two years ago and some of the comments are instructive. One fan even had an entire story.

“I was looking for this song in my 45s for years ... at that time, I couldn’t remember the name of the song ... . I met Beres at a birthday party in Portland, Jamaica and explained to him the situation. Since I didn’t know the name, I told him the lyrics I remembered. He started to sing the song! It gave me goosebumps because I didn’t hear the song for about 10 years! I asked him what the song was called ... he said he didn’t remember and that only 500 copies of the 45 were pressed before he went on tour. He told me, if I found it, to send him a copy. I returned to Canada a week later and went through my record collection one last time before selling everything. The very last record I looked at (out of approx 40,000 45s) was this song! Needless to say, I kept a handful of records and this was one of them!” wrote a fan who goes by the name 4x4adventurecanada.

Another fan wrote, “First heard on local radio 25 years ago. For years, I pulled up the DJ/presenter to find the song title, but he couldn’t remember due to it being played on CD with no title, and before the advent of YouTube and so forth ... . It was years after first hearing this song he eventually found out the title and I acquired the vinyl on 7’” and 12’”.

Hammond, who recently hosted the annual Love and Harmony Cruise, is ready to take off again, this time on the Forever Giving Thanks tour scheduled for July and August, where he will be performing favourites from his extensive catalogue.

“I am looking forward to going on the road. Yeah man! Remember seh is my farmwork this, enuh. I will be doing two shows in Canada and the rest will be in the US,” the I Feel Good singer shared.

Stops on the tour include the 27th Edition of Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in Boonville, California on June 21-23, and, on July 20, Hammond will be the headliner of Reggae Sumfest. More dates are to be announced soon.

The hitmaker is also busy working in the studio, which is his second home – or perhaps his first.

“I am seriously hoping to have a little project out for the summer. I am working to have it released in July or so ... the fans are looking forward to it and so am I,” he shared.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com