John Lee Hooker - Four Classic Albums

 

Of course, I'm a big fan of Hooker's brand of minimalistic blues'n'boogie (chillen) and I have a number of albums but most of them are compilations so when this 2-CD, 4-album set popped up at a reasonable price, I grabbed it to hear how many of these tunes were initially released. Of course, as these are early works, a lot of his best-known songs are included - but certainly not all of them, by any means - but there are also quite a few that I had never heard before, which definitely makes the package well worth its price.

Considering how minimalistic Hooker's playing is, there is a lot of variety in this set, with some tunes simply showcasing John, his guitar and his foot-stompin', and many with a band of varying sizes. Due to the fact that his timing'n'phrasing are erratic, to say the least, the bands sometimes have quite the chore trying to follow him, but in some cases, the group solidifies the song and formulates a real beginning, middle and ending (some of his solo performances barely change and simply fade out to avoid a "real" ending). Innumerable covers of his work have generally given the songs a stronger, albeit more traditional, arrangement, which can be more palatable to the modern ears, although I absolutely dig Hooker's relative anarchy.

Right off the bat from the "I'm John Lee Hooker" album we get the classic "Dimples" with a rockin' band (the Animals did a fine take on this) and it is immediately followed by Hooker on his own for the excellent "Hobo Blues" - love this sparseness and, of course, his incessantly stompin' foot! These options continue through tunes like "I'm So Excited", "I Love You Honey" and his incredible breakthrough "Boogie Chillen". Along with some other, lesser known, but still fine tunes, we also get his incredible "Crawlin' King Snake" and "I'm In the Mood". What a record!

Next up is the album Travelin', which includes a number of tunes that I am not overly familiar with, although that doesn't mean that they aren't still quality pickin's! There seems to be more songs with a backing band than without on this outing, but the Hook is still callin' the shots and his haunting guitar tone really shines on the likes of "Solid Sender". He's almost whisperin' on the moody "I Can't Believe" but then gets in a couple more boogies before calling it.

Plays and Sings the Blues has more stripped down blues'n'boogie from John Lee - some great stuff with just the man and his guitar that I hadn't heard before, including the incredible upbeat boogie "Mad Man Blues", "Lonely Boy Boogie" amd "Hey Boogie",some mournful, slower blues (such as "Bluebird"), his unique take on "Worried Life Blues" and "Please Don't Go", lots of foot-stompin' music, and plenty more, showing that he can easily carry an album all on his own, with great tunes and real variety.

He's back with a full band for Burnin' and start the party off right away with his fantastic rocker "Boom Boom", followed by a funny tune about "Process" hair styles (!), then an upbeat rocker ironically complaining that he "Lost a Good Girl", simmerin' slow blues in "A New Leaf" and "Blues Before Sunrise", rockin' boogie for "Let's Make It", back to smoldering for "I Got a Letter", back with the swing for "Thelma", a mid-tempo Hooker-groove for "Drug Store Woman", a "Tequila"-flavored beat for "Keep Your Hands to Yourself" and then everything closes with another upbeat, minimalistic groove for "What Do You Say".

Great collection! Like I say, even these four albums don't compile everything that is essential by the man but if you don't have 'em, they're all great and this would be a terrific start for someone's JLH collection!