Legendary Bands - John Lee Hooker Posters

The one-of-a-kind slide guitar and profound, moaning vocals of John Lee Hooker have earned him the title of reigning elder statesman of the blues. Possessing an inestimably influential sound all his own--the deep blues of the Mississippi Delta infused with an eerie, insistent African/Bayou drone--Hooker is a vital piece of the history of American music, and indeed, of America itself.

Like so many blues pioneers, Hooker grew up in Mississippi, learning the guitar from his stepfather Will Moore, whose Louisiana roots would color Hooker's style. Hooker fled the drudgery of sharecropper life, escaping first to Cincinnati, and finally to Detroit where he would launch his career. In 1948 he recorded his debut sides, "Sally Mae" and "Boogie Chillun," catapulting him to the top of the R&B charts.

"Boogie Chillun" is a great example of Hooker's inimitable style--a song with no regard for rhythm or rhyme that still manages to sound as perfectly constructed as a Shakespearean sonnet. The next year would bring more success for Hooker as he recorded "Crawling King Snake" (covered by the Doors so many years later) and "Hobo Blues."

Throughout the '50s, Hooker recorded for anybody and everybody, under a comical assortment of thin aliases like Johnny Lee, the Boogie Man and John Lee Booker to pay lip-service to his contract with Modern Records. Hooker continued to score with hits like "Baby Lee" and "Dimples," sticking to his Delta-boogie sound even as the dominant Chicago sound grew more urban and flashy.

In the '60s, Hooker was often stuck performing in a band setting where he would baffle his sidemen with his special notion of time signatures and key tuning. The best music Hooker put out during this period came in response to the growing popularity of acoustic blues on the white beatnik circuit. In 1970, as rock musicians turned countless blues standards into album gold, Hooker collaborated with blues-worshippers Canned Heat on an immensely popular double album entitled Hooker 'N' Heat.

During the '70s and '80s, Hooker's profile was significantly lower, and it seemed he was in the twilight of his career. In 1989, however, with the blues revival in full swing, thanks to the popularity of artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, Bonnie Raitt and George Thorogood, Hooker released The Healer, dueting with many of his protégés, and his popularity skyrocketed.

He'd never really gone anywhere, but as far as the mainstream was concerned, the Hook was back. All of his subsequent albums have been popular crossover efforts that team him with the who's-who of the music world, and while none of them are especially strong Hooker showcases, the palatable air of adoration is heartwarming. He lives in semi-retirement in California today, occasionally gracing crowds with the Hooker sound--a gift for which we are all eternally in his debt.

For a great overview of the prime of Hooker's career, check out Legendary Modern Recordings. Great Hooker solo sets--accompanied only by his tragic guitar and his own stomping foot--include Get Back Home... and Alone. Urban Blues and Hooker 'N' Heat come closest to putting Hooker in a band setting successfully.