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BLUES & GOSPEL
John Lee Hooker

JOHN LEE HOOKER Ace CDCHD 315 Legendary Modern Recordings 1948-54 ● CD $18.98
24 tracks, 71 min., essential
The stomping foot, the unique guitar figures, and the plaintive moan all come together to transport listeners to an hypnotic blues trance, to a doomed world of betrayal and bad luck. Have hope but don't expect it to do any good. These are the first and fiercest Hooker recordings, cut for Modern Records in the late 1940s/early '50s. Boogie Chillen/ Hobo Blues/ Hoogie Boogie/ Crawling Kingsnake, and others put Hooker on the musical map fast, selling millions of copies to a boogie-starved public. Recording techniques that show Hooker in his best light are experimented with, as, from one session to the next, his foot is miked, his vocals are layered, his guitar is overdubbed, Eddie Kirkland's guitar is added. Excellent track selection, informative booklet notes, indispensable blues. (JC)

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Ace CDCHD 405 Blues Brother ● CD $18.98
For pure intensity, no other blues artist can match John Lee Hooker at his best. And on these 24 Sensation recordings cut in Detroit between 1948-51, he is definitely at his best. His foot is pounding; his guitar is rumbling relentlessly. And when he sings, his emotive wail threatens to take over the world. "Ain't no burnin' hell" moans Hooker in Burnin' Hell, as he puts that question to rest, his guitar and Eddie Burns' harmonica still bickering as the song ends. But most of the time Hook is alone in a universe that's ambivalent at best and malicious at worst. But does that bother him? Damn right it does. Just listen to Three Long Years Today/ Alberta/ Graveyard Blues/ Goin' On Highway 51/ Do My Baby Think Of Me? and just about everything else here. Excellent sound. Major duplication with Specialty 7018, which includes 3 cuts that aren't here, while this has 7 songs which aren't on the Specialty CD. Got it? (JC)
JOHN LEE HOOKER: 21 Boogie/ Alberta/ Alberta - Part 2/ Boogie Chillen/ Boogie Chillen # 2/ Burnin' Hell/ Canal Street Blues/ Do My Baby Think Of Me?/ Find Me A Woman/ Goin' On Highway 51/ Graveyard Blues/ Grinder Man/ Hastings Street Boogie/ Henry's Swing Club/ Huckle Up Baby/ I Need Lovin'/ Momma Poppa Boogie/ My Baby's Got Something/ Rollin' Blues/ Sail On Little Girl/ Sailing Blues/ Three Long Years Today/ War Is Over (Goodbye California)/ Women In My Life

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Ace CDCHM 530 Original Folk Blues ● CD $13.98
Reissue of Kent album with 6 bonus cuts - 18 tracks of prime John Lee Hooker, 1948-54 - 10 tracks solo - rest with Eddie Kirkland or various small groups.
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Baby I'm Gonna Miss You/ Boogie Chillen/ Cold Chills/ Cool Little Car/ Crawlin' King Snake/ Drifting From Door To Door/ I Need Love So Bad/ I Wonder Little Darling/ Jump Me One More Time/ Let Your Daddy Ride/ Let's Talk It Over/ Lookin' For A Woman/ Queen Bee/ Ride 'til I Die/ Sally Mae/ The Syndicator/ Weeping Willow Boogie/ Whistlin' And Moanin' Blues

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Ace CDCHD 799 House Rent Boogie ● CD $18.98
Great collection of 24 Hooker sides recorded for Modern between 1948 and 1955. It includes solo sides as well as recordings with some of his first groups. Includes six previously unissued alternate takes including a version of I'm In The Mood with Hooker overdubbing a harmonica part!
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Anybody seen my baby/ Baby you ain't no good/ Build myself a cave (alternate take)/ Half a stranger/ House rent boogie (alternate take)/ How can you do it/ Hug and squeeze/ I got eyes for you (alternate take 2)/ I tried hard/ I'm in the mood (with harmonica overdub)/ I'm ready/ It's been a long time baby/ It's stormin' and rainin'/ Key to the highway (alternate take with less overdub)/ Lets talk it over/ Love money can't buy/ Nobody talk to me/ Numbers blues (alternate take)/ Roll 'n' roll/ Sally Mae/ Taxi driver/ You receive me

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER BGO BGOCD 40 Simply The Truth ● CD $18.98
Exact repro of Bluesway LP from 1969. Hooker's backed here by an unknown (except for Pretty Purdie on drums) but good group on 9 blues and boogies. He does some jumpin' tunes like I Wanna Bugaloo and (Twist Ain't Nothin') But The Old Time Shimmy but mostly sticks to his patently mournful style, especially effective on numbers like I Don't Want To Go To Viet Nam , Tantalizing With The Blues and the haunting One Room Country Shack (AE)

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER BGO BGOCD 123 Free Beer And Chicken ● CD $18.98
This reissue of ABC 838 from 1974 states in the liner notes that Hooker is "accompanied by a goodly number of veritable, variable, and venerable rock and roll heavies", but fails to elaborate. Sounds like Joe Cocker singing on the opening and closing of Five Long Years and on the last track. Most of the songs, including an average version of One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer were written by Hooker, but nothing here is indispensible. Still, the funky Homework, which has more to do with sex than algebra, is fun. His 713 Blues/ 714 Blues is a tribute to Hank Aaron and rides the same groove for seven and a half minutes. The rest is relatively unfocused jamming, mostly from the heavies and not the Hook. (JC)

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER BGO BGOCD 363 Coast To Coast Blues Band ● CD $18.98
Reissue of United Artists album featuring 14 early sides - Come Back baby/ Streets Is Filled With Women/ Whistle Done Blown/ She Was In Chicago/ Just Like A Woman/ Johnny Lee's Mood, etc.

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Shout Factory 63103 Boom Boom ● CD $11.98
10 tracks, 42 min., good
Say, how about another re-recording of Boom Boom from Hooker? And new versions of Sugar Mama/ Bottle Up And Go/ I'm Bad Like Jesse James? Even when Hooker is left alone with his guitar (previously proven to be a sure thing), he never manages to muster much intensity. Instead, his producers have him doing this sedate whisper that sounds like a boring obscene phone call. For all the big-name musicians here - Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, and Albert Collins among them - the album is merely okay. And that ain't enough, especially since Hooker is still capable of being great. (JC)

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Collectables 2877 I'm The Boogie Man - The Best OF John Lee Hooker ● CD $15.98
23 tracks, highly recommended
Reissue of classic early John Lee Hooker features most of the tracks that were recorded for Joe Von Battle in 1948,'49 & '50 and issued on King under the pseudonyms of Texas Slim and John Lee Cooker. The rest of the tracks were recorded for Henry Stone's DeLuxe label in 1953, sometimes in the company of Eddie Kirkland, and were issued under the name of John Lee Booker or Johnny Lee and includes the superb previously unissued MY Baby Left Me - much of the Stone material was previously reissued by Atlantic. The final track is an unissued instrumental (though it sounds familiar), presumably from the King sessions. Great music, excellent sound though documentation could be a bit better and it's a bit puzzling why they left out one King side Wandering Blues but that's Collectables for you. (FS)
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Black Man's Blues/ Devil's Jump/ Don't Go Baby/ Don't You Remember Me/ Heart Trouble Blues/ I Ain't Got Nobody/ I Came To See You Baby/ I'm Gonna Kill That Woman/ I'm The Boogie Man/ Late Last Night/ Lovin' Guitar Man/ Moaning Blues/ My Baby Don't Love Me/ My Baby Left Me (previously Unissued)/ Nightmare Blues/ Poor Joe/ Real, Real Gone/ Slim's Stomp (aka Stomp Boogie)/ Stutterin' Blues/ The Numbers/ Thinking Blues/ Untitled Instrumental (previously Unissued)/ Who's Been Jivin' You

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Collectables 5151 Gotham Golden Classics ● CD $11.98
11 sides recorded for the Gotham label in Philadelphia during 1950/51. According to the Ledbitter & Slaven blues discography 8 of these have appeared only on 78, while the remaining three (Feed Her All NIght/ How Long Must I Be Your Slave/ Ground Hog) are unissued! With familiar and great titles like House Rent Boogie/ Questionaire Blues/ My Daddy Was A Jockey. (MB)
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Catfish/ Feed Her All Night/ Ground Hog/ House Rent Boogie/ How Long Must I Be Your Slave/ Little Boy Blue/ Mean Old Train/ My Daddy Was A Jockey/ Questionnaire Blues/ Real Gone Gal/ Wandering Blues

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER/ EDDIE BURNS Collectables 5316 Detroit Blues, 1950-51 ● CD $11.98
CD issue of Krazy Kat 816. Another great collection of down home blues from Gotham this one features 11 cuts by Hooker (3 previously unissued) and 5 by Eddie Burns which were unknown until recently. This is Hooker in his prime - brooding intense vocals and fierce plangent guitar. Songs include the driving Real Gone Gal & My Daddy Was A Jockey, the ferocious previously unissued Feed Me All Night and a unique treatment of the Mississippi blues standard Catfish. Eddie Burns who has frequently worked with Hooker is fine singer and harmonica player strongly influenced by John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson. He is accompanied here by Tennessee guitarist John T. Smith and, on one cut, by Hooker. Fine, if somewhat chaotic, cuts. Sound on this album is not as good as on some of the other Gotham reissues. Full discographical details and excellent notes by Mike Rowe. (FS)
EDDIE BURNS: Gangster Blues (Previously Unreleased)/ Grieving Blues (Previously Unreleased)/ Making A Fool Out Of Me (Previously Unreleased)/ Squeeze Me Baby (Previously Unreleased)/ Where Did You Stay Last Night (Previously Unreleased)/ JOHN LEE HOOKER: Catfish/ Feed Her All Night (Previously Unreleased)/ Ground Hog (Previously Unreleased)/ House Rent Boogie/ How Long Must I Be Your Slave (Previously Unreleased)/ Little Boy Blue/ Mean Old Train/ My Daddy Was A Jockey/ Questionnaire Blues/ Real Gone Gal/ Wandering Blues

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Dressed To Kill DTKBOX 90 Trilogy ● CD $17.98
3 CD set, 64 tracks, 3 Hrs 10 mins, recommended
A nice, inexpensive compilation of Hooker's work from various periods. The first disc is the same as Charly CDGR 176 issued a while back featuring material mostly not on other CDs. The first 9 tracks from 1948-1950 are fantastic solo cuts with Hooker at his most ferocious and there are 3 cuts from the same period with piano and drums, There are 3 late 50s Vee-Jay cuts not on Charly's box set of Hooker material, two 1960 cuts recorded for Fortune and 5 songs from the 1960 Newport Folk Festival where he is accompanied by the Muddy Waters band. Sound on the latter is muddy (sorry!) but there is some fine playing, particularly by Otis Spann. The other two discs features 42 of Hooker's Vee-Jay sides from the mid 50s to the early 60s - no real surprises, but all good stuff - Mambo Chillun/ I'm So Worried Baby/ Trouble Blues/ Crawlin' Black Spider/ Rosie Mae/ Blues Before Sunrise/ Dimples/ Boom Boom/ I'm Mad Again, etc. No notes or discographical info but it's a good deal. (FS)

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Eagle 20023 Face To Face ● CD $13.98
15 tracks, 70 minutes, excellent
This is the project the Boogie King was working when he passed away. For that alone, it's worthy of investigation, but for guitar fans, the cast of characters makes it a must-have addition. Warren Haynes, George Thorogood, Ron Thompson, Roy Rogers, and Dickey Betts toss in some serious licks on a good cross-section of material including Big Road/ Dimples/ Serve Me Right To Suffer/ Boogie Chillen/ Turn Over A New Leaf and more, while guest vocalists Zakiya Hooker and Van Morrison duet with the Hook. Production is good throughout but the drum mix on Dimples is annoying. Hooker added some of his own razor-sharp guitar to the proceedings before he left us for the great blues band of the beyond. (CR)

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER & CANNED HEAT EMI 97896-2 Hooker 'N Heat ● CD $21.98
During the late 60's and early 70's many elder blues statesmen recorded LP's with young rock stars who were in awe of them. Except for The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, most were terrible because the performers had little common ground. Hooker 'N' Heat, a double album recorded in 1970, was another exception to the rule, mostly because Canned Heat understood Hooker and let him shine; they frequently played together live and recorded this after building a musical and personal rapport. This is a straight CD reissue (two discs totalling 87 minutes) of that friendly, casual album, complete with between-song patter. The first CD is mostly Hook stomping in his ominous solo incarnation and will satisfy all but the most niggling purists. Canned Heat shows up on the second disc, and their accompaniment is remarkably sympathetic and unencumbering. Hooker 'N'  Heat has aged extremely well - if only The Healer was this good... (JG)
JOHN LEE HOOKER & CANNED HEAT: Alimonia Blues/ Boogie Chillen No. 2/ Bottle Up And Go/ Burning Hell/ Drifter/ I Got My Eyes On You/ Just You And Me/ Let's Make It/ Meet Me In The Bottom/ Messin' With The Hook/ Peavine/ Send Me Your Pillow/ Sittin' Here Thinkin'/ The Feelin' Is Gone/ The World Today/ Whiskey And Wimmen'/ You Talk Too Much

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Evidence 26004 Get Back Home ● CD $12.98
16 tracks recorded in 1969 - previously on Black & Blue CD 59.023. These tracks feature Hooker alone with his electric guitar. It includes versions of some old favorites like When My First Wife Left Me/ Boogie Chillen/ Sittin' Here Thinkin'/ I'm Going Upstairs and others. Hooker was in pretty good form but 70 minutes with very little variety is hard to take in one sitting!

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Fantasy 24706 Boogie Chillun' ● CD $11.98
Two LP set on CD (less one track for time reasons) featuring John Lee's fine solo live sides recorded at the Sugar Hill club in 1962.
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Big Legs, Tight Skirt -/ Boogie Chillun/ Boom Boom/ Bottle up & Go/ Crawlin' Kingsnake/ Dimples/ Drive Me Away/ Every Night/ Hobo Blues/ I Love You Honey/ I'm Goin' Upstairs/ I'm in the Mood/ It Serves Me Right to Suffer -/ Little Wheel/ Maudie/ No Shoes/ Solid Sender/ This Is Hip/ Want Ad Blues/ Will the Circle Be Unbroken/ You Can Lead Me Baby/ You're Baby Ain't Sweet Like Mine -

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER JSP JSPCD 7703 Classic Early Years, 1948-1951 ● CD $28.98
4 CDs, 100 tracks, essential
A great cross section of the early years of the John Lee's career when he was recording some of the most powerful and raw music ever recordings. Sound quality is excellent and each CD has informative notes by Neil Slaven. (FS)

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Krazy Kat KKCD 05 Boogie Awhile ● CD $16.98
20 tracks, 64 mins, essential
Back in print. Fantastic CD featuring 20 early sides by this magnificent performer. In the late 40s and early 50s when these recordings were made Hooker was one of the most ferocious and intense blues singers ever to record. His music has a brooding introspective quality that is rarely heard in the work of other performers. This set was compiled by John Lee Hooker expert Dave Sax and includes Hooker's very rarest records along with unissued test pressings, alternate takes, full versions of songs originally issued in edited versions and even a 1948 rehearsal track Leavin' Chicago which pre-dates any of his commercial recordings. Bearing in mind that many of these recordings are one of a kind the sound is superb and the set comes with 16 page booklet with extensive notes on Hooker's early style and an assessment of these recordings. (FS)
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Boogie Awhile/ Boogie Rambler/ Boogie Woogie/ Christmas Time Blues/ Cotton Pickin' Boogie/ Do the Boogie/ Good Business/ Highway Blues/ I Love to Boogie/ Leavin' Chicago/ Mercy Blues/ Miss Pearl Boogie/ Miss Rosie Mae (Alternate Take)/ Morning Blues/ Must I Wait 'Till Your Man Is Gone/ No More Doggin'/ Poor Slim (Take 2)/ Shake Your Boogie/ Tuesday Evening/ Wayne County Ramblin' Blues

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Original Blues Classics 538 Sings The Blues - That's My Story ● CD $11.98
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Come On and See About Me/ Democrat Man/ Gonna Use My Rod/ I Believe I'll Go Back Home/ I Need Some Money/ I Want To Talk About You/ I'm Wanderin'/ No More Doggin'/ One Of These Days/ That's My Story/ Wednesday Evenin' Blues/ You're Leavin' Me, Baby

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Original Blues Classics OBCCD 542 Country Blues Of John Lee Hooker ● CD $11.98
Solo acoustic set recorded for Riverside in 1959.
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Behind The Plow/ Black Snake/ Bundle Up And Go/ Church Bell Tone/ Good Morning Little Schoolgirl/ How Long Blues/ I Rowed A Little Boat/ I'm Prison Bound/ Pea Vine Special/ Tupelo Blues/ Water Boy/ Weeping Willow Boogie/ Wobblin' Baby

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Original Blues Classics OBCCD 555 Burning Hell ● CD $11.98
12 tracks, 42 min., fans only
Recorded in '59, released in the UK in '64, this rare item has never been released in the U.S. until now. But before you collectors start droolin', you should know this fun fact - Burnin' Hell is one of the few, perhaps the only recording John Lee made accompanying himself with a nylon-string guitar. That instrument is fine for flamenco workouts, or all-night beach bonfire parties, but for the mighty Hook, it just doesn't cut it. The soft, sproingy sound is laughable, underlying some pretty good vocal renditions of classics like Graveyard Blues/ Smokestack Lightnin'/ Key to The Highway done in a convincing country blues mode. Oh well. (MB)
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Baby Please Don't Go/ Blues For My Baby/ Burning Hell/ Graveyard Blues/ How Can You Do It/ I Rolled And Turned And Cried The Whole Night Long/ Jackson, Tennessee/ Key To The Highway/ Natchez Fire/ Short Haired Woman/ Smokestack Lightning/ You Live Your Life And I'll Live Mine

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Rhino 70572 Ultimate Collection: 1948-1990 ● CD $18.98
While claiming this to be "ultimate" may be a bit extreme this is certainly as good a cross section of recordings of this great blues artist as one could wish for. In two CDs and 31 songs it covers his career from his first blues hit Boogie Chillen to a previously unissued live version of I'm In The Mood from 1990 on which he is joined by Bonnie Raitt and Roy Rogers. A version with similar line up won Hooker his first Grammy award. Along the way we hear some of his classic solo performances - Sally Mae/ Crawling Kingsnake/ Hobo Blues/ John L's House Rent Boogie with John's distinctive vocals accompanied by his intensely rhythmic and modal guitar style. There are some of his small group classics from Vee-Jay in the mid 50s and early 60s where he was accompanied by small groups - Frisco Blues (apparently inspired by Tony Bennett with The Vandellas on backup vocals!) / It Serves Me Right/ Boom Boom, etc. Acoustic recordings for Riverside, sessions for Chess, Wand, Bluesway and other labels including collaborations with T. Bone Walker, The Muddy Waters, Canned Heat and others. Excellent sound and decent notes by Greg Drust round out a most entertaining package. (FS)
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Back Biters And Syndicators/ Big Legs, Light Skirt/ Boogie Chillen'/ Boom Boom/ Bottle Up And Go/ Burning Hell/ Crawlin' King Snake/ Dimples/ Frisco Blues/ Hobo Blues/ Huckle Up Baby/ I Cover The Waterfront/ I Need Some Money/ I'm Bad Like Jesse James/ I'm In The Mood/ It Serves Me Right/ Jon L's House Rent Boogie/ Let Your Daddy Ride/ Let's Go Out Tonight/ No More Doggin'/ One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer/ Peavine/ Sally Mae/ Shake It Baby/ She's Mine (Keep Your Hands To Yourself)/ Teachin' The Blues/ Terraplane Blues/ Think Twice Before You Go/ Weeping Willow Boogie/ You Know I Know

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Savoy 17078 Detroit, 1948-1949 ● CD $17.98
20 tracks, 66 mins, highly recommended
More fantastic early John Lee Hooker from the birth of his career when everything he did was worth listening and some of it being among the greatest of blues creations. New research reveals that the first 12 sides represent his second recording session cut in November 1948 for his manager Elmer Barbee (not Joe Von Battle as originally thought) very soon after the session when he recorded his big hit Boogie Chillun. These were sold to Savoy who issued two singles using th pseudonyms Delta John and Birmingham Sam. Eight further sides were sold to Savoy a few months later - four featuring Hooker solo playing acoustic guitar and four from what is his first session with a group featuring James Watkins on piano and Curtis Foster on drums who like many to follow had a hard time following Hooker's timing and the result is charming chaos if not exactly great music! But the first 16 tracks are prime Hooker and vital additions to any collection of recordings by one of the all time great bluesmen. (FS)

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Specialty 7018 Graveyard Blues ● CD $15.98
The 20 tracks issued here were recorded between 1948 and 1950 for Bernie Besman's Sensation label in Detroit. But Besman often leased or sold his material to various other record companies with better national distribution, and that's how Art Rupe's Specialty label ended up with the rights to so many Hooker cuts. Enough, in fact, that this CD is the first of two that Specialty is planning to release. Featured numbers here include War is Over (Goodbye California)/ Burnin' Hell/ Black Cat Blues/ My Baby's Got Something/ Boogie Chillen #2 and the title tune. Ironically, Rupe only chose to release one John Lee Hooker 45 out of all the cuts he owned. He appears to have found little enjoyment in the music of primitive bluesmen like Hooker. Fortunately for those of us without that blind spot, this material has finally been made available. Good sound quality and liner notes. One fine vintage photo. (DH)
JOHN LEE HOOKER: 21 Boogie/ Alberta/ Alberta (Part 2)/ Black Cat Blues/ Boogie Chillen #2/ Build Myself A Cave/ Burnin' Hell/ Canal Street Blues/ Goin' Down Highway 51/ Graveyard Blues/ Hastings Street Boogie/ Henry's Swing Club/ Huckle Up Baby/ Miss Sadie Mae/ Momma Poppa Boogie/ My Baby's Got Something/ Rollin' Blues/ Sail On, Little Girl, Sail On/ Sailing Blues/ War Is Over

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Specialty 7035 Everybody's Blues ● CD $15.98
20 tracks, 58 min., recommended This is the second volume of Hooker's Sensation/Specialty material to be released by the current owners of the rights, and, like the earlier issue, Graveyard Blues, it's a winner. Recorded between 1950 and 1954, the featured tracks here, seven of them previously unissued, display the artist alone in the studio and in the company of an appropriately raucous combo. Among the gems are Three Long Years Today, Grinder Man, Four Women in My Life, I'm Mad, Boogie Rambler, the title track, and the philosophical Nothin' But Trouble (Don't Take Your Wife's Family In). There is no shortage of material out there featuring ol' John Lee, nonetheless, this is not one to overlook. Sound quality, cover graphics, and liner notes (repeated from the earlier issue) are all up to snuff. (DH)
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Anybody's Blues/ Boogie Rambler/ Do My Baby Think Of Me?/ Don't Trust Nobody/ Everybody's Blues/ Goin' Away Baby/ Grinder Man/ I Been Done So Wrong/ I Keep The Blues/ I Need Love So Bad/ I'm Gonna Git Me A Woman/ I'm Mad Again/ Locked Up In Jail/ No More Doggin'/ Nothin' But Trouble/ Strike Blues/ Tease Me Over Baby/ The Syndicate/ Three Long Years Today/ Walkin' This Highway

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Stax 4134 That's Where It's At ● CD $11.98
This 1979 date for the Stax label finds John Lee in the intimate solo setting. Without the accompaniment of other players his intensely personal style has an almost overwhelming purity to it. For many this is Hooker at his best, and I'm inclined to agree. Just listen to the first song, Teachin' The Blues and you'll understand as he lays it down for you - "The fancy chords don't mean nothin' if you ain't got that beat; throw them fancy chords away". After the opener, the next nine songs continue to demonstrate how one man can sound like a whole, incredibly unified band. As he taps out that big beat with his foot while playing a driving bass figure, rhythm and lead guitar and singing in that wise and sensual voice, one is reminded what "real" really means. LP)
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Feel So Bad/ Goin' Down To Louisiana/ Grinder Man/ I Just Don't Know/ I Need You/ My Love Comes Down For You/ Please Don't Go/ Slow And Easy/ Teachin' The Blues/ Two White Horses

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Vanguard 79703 Live At Newport ● CD $15.98
13 acoustic tracks recorded live at the Newport Folk Festival in 1960 and '63. The 1960 sides are solo and the '63 tracks are with stand up bass player Bill Lee.
JOHN LEE HOOKER: Boom Boom/ Boom Boom/ Bus Station Blues/ Great Fire of Natchez/ Hobo Blues/ Hobo Blues/ I Can't Quit You Baby/ Let's Make It/ Maudie/ Sometimes You Make Me Feel So Bad/ Stop Now Baby/ Tupelo/ You're Gonna Need Another Favor

 
JOHN LEE HOOKER Shout Factory 310328 Jealous ● CD $11.98
This 1986 album was John Lee's first in a while and features him accompanied by a small combo (guitar, organ, bass & drums) on a selection of old favorites (When My First Wife Left Me/ Worried Life Blues) along with some newer songs - mostly Hooker originals. The performances are OK but it's hard to get excited over John Lee's new material when there is so much classic material around from the 40s and 50s by him.

 

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