John Lee Hooker: The Definitive Collection

Beware of the word "definitive" in most cases, whether in regard to music or most anything else.  Still, this British anthology of two dozen blues pieces released on the American Vee-Jay label by the great John Lee Hooker is pretty damn good.

Hooker was from near Clarksdale, Missisippi , born there probably in 1917.  While his father, a part-time preacher, wouldn't allow blues in the home, Hooker was exposed to the guitar through his step-father.  At 15, however, the young man left his family to live with relatives in Memphis and Cincinnati.  During World War II, he was in Detroit, where he began to make a name for himself.

After his "Boogie Chillen" became a #1 R&B hit, Hooker, who saw almost no royalties from it, began recording for many labels under a wide array of monikers.  In 1955, he signed to Vee-Jay, one of the big Chicago labels, are re-recorded many of his earlier pieces, with a 1959 album, I'm John Lee Hooker, showcasing Hooker in his prime.

Among the blues masterpieces on this album are his first hit "Boogie Chillen," first recorded in 1948 with this version being done about a decade later; "Crawlin' Kingsnake," and "Boom Boom."  Less well-known, but still amazing are pieces like "I'm In The Mood," "Dimples," "Little Wheel," "Trouble Blues," "Wheel and Deal," "She's Long, She's Tall."

There is also the hilarious, "I'm Mad Again," where Hooker intones in his deep voice how he's going to deal with a homeless friend he's taken into his house only to find the friend fooling around with his wife.

Probably the most surprising track has to be 1964's "Don't Look Back," which finds Hooker crooning with angelic backup singers and accompanied by horns, including the ubiquitous baritone sax found in so much of the R&B of the era.  There is a fine sax solo and Hooker's singing is really great and very different than his usual blues vocalizing.

Hooker's guitar playing was totally distinctive and had a thick and hypnotic rhythmic quality to it.  When he toured England in 1963, his playing and singing had a huge impact on a generation of young guitar players who became rock gods, including Eric Clapton, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page (who recorded a late 90s album with his Led Zeppelin partner Robert Plant titled Walking into Clarksdale) Keith Richards and many more.

 

 

While Hooker's popularity and influence was greatest in the 1960s, he did enjoy a renaissance in the late 1980s, including a Grammy for The Healer and for a duet of "I'm in the Mood" with Bonnie Raitt and a repeat in 1998 for Don't Look Back, a record that featured another award-winning duet, this time with Van Morrison on the title track.  The bluesman died in 2001 at age 83, with his last recordings coming a few years prior and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award presented to him the year before his death.

 

This blogger is something of a blues novice, but this is a great album and John Lee Hooker was a phenomenal singer and guitarist, who was as distinctive as some of the other greats in the genre.  Again, this record doesn't really qualify as "definitive," if anything does, but it is a good sampling of a true master of the form.