John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter born in Coahoma County near Clarksdale, Mississippi.
John Lee Hooker | |
|---|---|
 John Lee Hooker at the Long Beach Blues Festival, 1997 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | August 22, 1917 Coahoma County, Mississippi |
| Died | June 21, 2001 (aged 83) |
| Genres | Blues |
| Occupation(s) | singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1948-2001 |
| Labels | Vee-Jay, Chess Records and others |
| Website | johnleehooker.com |
Biography
Early life
Hooker was born on August 22, 1917[1] in Coahoma County near Clarksdale, Mississippi. He was born to William Hooker and Minnie Ramsey and was the youngest of eleven children. He and his siblings were home-schooled and they were only allowed to listen to religious songs. His parents separated in 1921 and his mother married William Moore, a blues singer the next year. Moore introduced Hooker to the guitar. John would later credit Moore for his distinctive playing style.
Later life
All through the 1930s, Hooker lived in Memphis where he worked on Beale Street and sometimes performed at house parties. In 1948, he started working at Ford Motor Company.
Career
Hooker's early solo songs were recorded by Bernie Besman. John Lee Hooker rarely played on a standard beat, changing tempos to fit the songs. This made it nearly impossible to add backing tracks.
Pop culture
Hooker appeared and sang in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers. He recorded over 100 albums.
In 1989, he played with Keith Richards, Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt to record The Healer and won a Grammy Award. Hooker recorded lots of songs with Van Morrison, including "Never Get Out of These Blues Alive", "The Healing Game" and "I Cover the Waterfront".
Death
He fell ill just before a tour of Europe in 2001 and died soon afterwards at the age of 83. The last song Hooker recorded before his death, is "Ali D'Oro".
Quotes
- "It don't take me no three days to record no album." (during the recording of the double album Hooker 'N Heat with Canned Heat.)
- "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." (when describing his own music in an article from The Daily News, Atlanta, Ga. 1992)
- "Women are like wet bars of soap. Hold on to em too hard and they pop outta your hands." (as spoken to Randy Wilkinson in New Orleans 1983, friend and road manager)
Albums
| 1950s | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Album | Label / Notes |
| 1959 | How Long Blues | released on United |
| I'm John Lee Hooker | Vee Jay Records | |
| The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker | Riverside Records | |
| Burning Hell | Riverside | |
| 1960s | ||
| 1960 | Travelin | Vee Jay Records |
| That's My Story | Riverside | |
| House Of The Blues | Chess Records | |
| Blues Man | ||
| The Blues | Crown Records | |
| John Lee Hooker Sings The Blues | King Records | |
| 1961 | I'm John Lee Hooker | Galaxy Records |
| Plays And Sings The Blues | Chess | |
| The Folk Lore of John Lee Hooker | Vee Jay | |
| 1962 | John Lee Hooker Sings The Blues | Crown |
| Burnin' | Vee Jay | |
| Live At Sugar Hill | Galaxy | |
| Folk Blues | Crown | |
| The Best of John Lee Hooker | Vee Jay | |
| Drifting the Blues | ||
| Tupelo Blues | ||
| 1963 | Don't Turn Me from Your Door: John Lee Hooker Sings His Blues | Atco Records |
| The Big Soul of John Lee Hooker | Vee Jay | |
| John Lee Hooker On Campus | Vee Jay | |
| The Great John Lee Hooker | Crown | |
| 1964 | John Lee Hooker At Newport | Vee Jay |
| Burning Hell | ||
| Great Blues Sounds | ||
| I Want to Shout the Blues | ||
| The Great John Lee Hooker | Japan only | |
| 1965 | Hooker & The Hogs | |
| 1966 | It Serves You Right to Suffer | |
| The Real Folk Blues | Chess | |
| 1967 | Live at Cafè Au Go-Go | |
| 1968 | Hooked on Blues | |
| 1969 | Get Back Home | |
| If You Miss Ìm ... I Got Ìm | ||
| Simply The Truth | ||
| That's Where It's At! | ||
| Get Back Home | (First Issue) | |
| If You Miss 'Im...I Got 'Im | ||
| 1970s | ||
| Year | Album | Label / Notes |
| 1970 | John Lee Hooker on the Waterfront | |
| Moanin' and Stompin' Blues | ||
| 1971 | Endless Boogie | |
| Goin' Down Highway 51 | ||
| Half A Stranger | ||
| Hooker 'N' Heat/Infinite boogie | ||
| I Feel Good | ||
| Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive | ||
| 1972 | Live At Soledad Prison | |
| 1973 | Born In Mississippi, Raised Up In Tennessee | |
| 1974 | Free Beer And Chicken | |
| Mad Man Blues | ||
| 1976 | Alone | |
| In Person | ||
| 1977 | Black Snake | |
| Dusty Road | ||
| 1978 | The Cream | |
| 1979 | Sad And Lonesome | |
| 1980s | ||
| Year | Album | Label / Notes |
| 1980 | Everybody Rockin' | |
| Sittin' Here Thinkin' | ||
| 1981 | Hooker 'n' Heat | Recorded Live at the Fox Venice Theatre |
| 1986 | Jealous | |
| 1988 | Trouble Blues | |
| 1989 | Highway Of Blues | |
| John Lee Hooker's 40th Anniversary Album | ||
| The Detroit Lion | ||
| The Healer | ||
| 1990s | ||
| Year | Album | Label / Notes |
| 1990 | The Hot Spot | Featuring Miles Davis |
| Don't You Remember Me | ||
| 1991 | More Real Folk Blues: The Missing Album | |
| Mr. Lucky | ||
| 1992 | Boom Boom | |
| This Is Hip | ||
| Urban Blues | ||
| Graveyard Blues | ||
| 1993 | Nothing But The Blues | |
| Everybody's Blues | ||
| 1994 | King of the Boogie | |
| Original Folk Blues...Plus | ||
| Dimples | Classic Blues | |
| 1995 | Alternative Boogie: Early Studio Recordings, 1948-1952 | |
| Chill Out | ||
| Whiskey & Wimmen | ||
| Blues for Big Town | ||
| 1996 | Moanin' the Blues | Eclipse |
| Alone: The First Concert | ||
| 1997 | Don't Look Back | |
| Alone: The Second Concert | ||
| 1998 | Black Man Blues | |
| 2000s | ||
| Year | Album | Label / Notes |
| 2000 | On Campus | |
| 2001 | Concert at Newport | |
| The Cream | Re-issue | |
| The Real Blues: Live in Houston 1979 | ||
| House Rent Boogie | ||
| 2002 | Live at Newport | |
| 2003 | Face to Face | |
| Burning Hell | Our World | |
| Rock With Me | ||
| 2004 | Jack O' Diamonds: The 1949 Recordings | |
References
- ↑ There is some debate as to the year of Hooker's birth. 1915, 1917, 1920, and 1923 have all been given.(Boogie Man, p. 22) 1917 is the one most commonly cited, although Hooker himself claimed, at times, 1920, which would have made him "the same age as the recorded blues" (p. 59)
Other websites
- Official John Lee Hooker Site
- John Lee Hooker 1980 Blues Foundation Induction into Hall of Fame Archived 2007-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
- The Boom Boom Room San Francisco nightclub founded by Hooker
- Hear John Lee Hooker (music and interviews) on the Pop Chronicles (1969).