Browse by Artist: HOOKER, JOHN LEE

Artist:	HOOKER, JOHN LEE
Title:	Free Beer And Chicken
Label:	ABC RECORDS
Format:	LP
Price:	$11.50
Catalog #:	ABCD 838LP

Exact repro, originally released in 1974. Produced by Ed Michel (Charlie Haden, Pharoah Sanders, Lester Koenig) and featuring contributions from Sam Rivers, Michael White and Joe Cocker. "John Lee Hooker's Free Beer and Chicken is one of the best examples of blues-funk you may ever treat your ears to. But it's not just the crisp, back-bone-slide grooves, or the wonderful minimalism in the added arrangements of horns, violin, keyboards, and even Kalimba (on 'Sittin' on Top of the World')..." --The Basement Rug

Artist:	HOOKER, JOHN LEE
Title:	The Man Of The Blues 1948-1959
Label:	DOXY (ITALY)
Format:	2LP
Price:	$32.00
Catalog #:	DOY 629LP

"After years spent traveling and playing music across the South, towards the end of WWII, Hooker, like so many other Delta-born bluesmen, ended up in Detroit. After a few years spent rising up through the ranks of the legendary Hastings Street scene and purchasing his first electric guitar, in 1948 the 31-year-old blues guitarist finally got his first big break. With the help of agent Bernie Besman, and L.A.'s Modern Records, Hooker's first single Boogie Chillen, unexpectedly went to the top of the R&B charts. The next few years, documented in this album, were a whirlwind of hits for Hooker, who often hopped from label to label whenever the opportunity arose, changing his name to escape contracts, before finally ending up at Vee-Jay in 1955. And the hits piled up. Throughout the fifties, Hooker spread his own brand of raw, foot-stomping Delta blues across America, and the world, becoming one of the most idolized and imitated musicians in the history of blues, and paving the way for the blues-based rock & roll explosion of the 1960s."

Artist:	HOOKER, JOHN LEE
Title:	The Blues
Label:	DOXY (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	DOY 638LP

"After years spent traveling and playing music across the South, towards the end of WWII, Hooker, like so many other Delta-born bluesmen, ended up working in the factories of Detroit's booming automotive industry. After a few years spent playing the blues in the back alleys of Motor City and purchasing his first electric guitar, Hooker began rising up through the ranks of the legendary Hastings Street scene. In 1948, the 31-year-old blues guitarist finally got his first big break. With the help of agent Bernie Besman, and L.A.'s Modern Records, Hooker's first single, Boogie Chillen, unexpectedly went to #1 on the R&B charts -- a rare occurrence in the music business, but undoubtedly testimony to his equally rare talent. The next few years (1948-1952), documented here, were a whirlwind of hits for Hooker, who began spreading his own brand of raw, foot-stomping Delta blues across America, and eventually the world, becoming one of the most idolized and imitated musicians in the history of blues, and paving the way for the blues-based rock & roll explosion of the 1960s." 180 gram virgin vinyl.

Artist:	HOOKER, JOHN LEE
Title:	Folk Blues
Label:	DOXY (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	DOY 639LP

"By the time the folk / blues revival of the 1960s rolled around, and hoards of radio-addicted American and British teenagers had begun seeking out the roots of rock & roll, John Lee Hooker had already had numerous hits and his loud and raw electric Delta blues was blaring from radio sets across the nation. Soon every budding rock band from London to San Francisco was naming him as a primary influence and playing (or trying to play) his songs. Thanks to this wide crossover fan base he toured heavily during this period, spreading his foot stomping boogie all over the USA and Europe. The tracks on this particular album, however, is a collection of sides from 1954 (with the exception of 1952's 'Rock House Boogie') when Hooker was still recording in Detroit -- primarily for Modern Records (where Hooker landed his first #1 hit, 'Boogie Chillen', in 1948), but also simultaneously 'moonlighting' for numerous other labels under many different pseudonyms in an attempt to pay the rent. In an era of millionaire musicians it is difficult to imagine how a man with so many number one hits could still be short on cash, but at this time black musicians were often paid next to nothing for their recordings and forced to forfeit their royalties to the record labels. Here Hooker is backed by the great Eddie Kirkland on second guitar -- his constant sideman during this period. Hooker's style was notoriously difficult to play behind, and Kirkland, a brilliant guitarist in his own right, was one of the few who had a good enough ear to keep up with all of the off-tempo changes. This album does not feature any of Hooker's hits, and while that may be a drawback with some lesser artists, when you are dealing with one of the giants of both the blues and, by association, rock & roll, it is actually both refreshing and rewarding to gain exposure to some of his lesser known material." 180 gram virgin vinyl.

Artist:	HOOKER, JOHN LEE
Title:	The Great John Lee Hooker
Label:	DOXY (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	DOY 640LP

"After a few years spent climbing the ranks of the Detroit blues scene, in rolls 1948 and Hooker's 'Boogie Chillen' -- a variation on an 'old lick' he says he heard the guys playing way back when in Mississippi -- goes to the top of the charts. In the years that follow, John Lee Hooker has one hit after another, backed often only by a single sideman, the great Eddie Kirkland (because he was one of the only guys who could keep up with him!). Not in the sense that Hooker played fast or fancy; in fact, Hooker himself once said, 'I don't play a lot of fancy guitar. I don't want to play it. The kind of guitar I want to play is mean, mean licks.' These ten tracks have 'mean licks' a-plenty, and take listeners back to that early period, beginning with his earliest single, 1948's 'Sally Mae' and its B-side, 'Boogie Chillen,' through to 1954's, 'I Need Love So Bad,' the year before Hooker signed to Vee Jay."

Artist:	HOOKER, JOHN LEE
Title:	Driftin' Thru The Blues
Label:	DOXY (ITALY)
Format:	LP
Price:	$23.00
Catalog #:	DOY 641LP

"There was an almost religious quality to the way John Lee Hooker saw himself as a musician: the way a preacher is a vessel for the Word of God, John Lee Hooker was a vessel for the blues. After running away from a life of back-breaking labor in the cotton fields of Mississippi at the age of 14, Hooker drifted from town to town until he ended up in the booming city of Detroit, in the early 1940's. Although Detroit's blues scene was small compared to that of Chicago, it wasn't long until young John Lee from Mississippi was a big man on campus. The five tracks on side A were recorded in Detroit between 1949 and 1950 and feature stereo recordings of mainly solo performances by John Lee Hooker. The five tracks on Side B, also recorded in Detroit, are mono recordings primarily from 1954 and feature Hooker in a band format backed by tenor sax, piano and drums."

Artist:	HOOKER, JOHN LEE
Title:	Sittin' Here Thinkin'
Label:	MUSE RECORDS
Format:	LP
Price:	$11.50
Catalog #:	MR 5205LP

Exact repro, originally released in 1979. "On this session, Hooker is accompanied by a particularly responsive rhythm section. These recordings which date from the late 1950s feature the artist accompanied by a second guitarist (who also shares much of the lead work), and by bass and drums. Some of the most interesting moments on these recordings occur precisely because of the interaction with the accompanists as they shift their rhythmic and harmonic lines in their attempts to closely follow Hooker's unorthodox, but totally fluid form." --Tom Pomposello

Artist:	HOOKER, JOHN LEE
Title:	The Big Soul
Label:	VEE JAY
Format:	LP
Price:	$11.50
Catalog #:	VEEJAY 1058LP

"Jumping into the R&B and soul explosions of the early '60s -- or at least dipping his toe into them -- he's backed here by the Vandellas, no less, on all but one of the 11 songs here. And coupled with an uncredited band that includes organ accompaniment, among other attributes that one doesn't usually associate with Hooker, he pulls it off. Indeed, he manages to straddle blues and soul far better than, say, Muddy Waters did during this same period; he's still a little too intense for the more pop side of the field, but he's also stretching the appeal of the blues with every nuance on this record, and there are a few cuts here, such as 'Send Me Your Pillow' that would have fit on any of Hooker's far more traditional-sounding blues releases; and others, such as 'She Shot Me Down' (a rewrite of 'Boom Boom'), that are so close to his well-known standard repertory that they slip right into his output without explanation." --All Music Guide

Artist:	HOOKER, JOHN LEE
Title:	On Campus
Label:	VEE JAY
Format:	LP
Price:	$11.50
Catalog #:	VEEJAY 1066LP

Exact repro reissue, originally released in 1964. Electric guitar. Occasional background singers. Not a live album. From the back cover: "It would be erroneous and misleading to suggest that the Negro no longer knows the blues. He does; but today, he normally takes a more subtle route to self expression than singing. He registers his protest in a more universal language... Only the John Lee Hookers of the profession remain to remind us of from whence all the came -- raw, unbridled, painful misery."

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