008 John Lee HookerThere has always been something slightly suspect about John Lee Hooker – he was no virtuoso of any kind, his voice was only deep and not particularly evocative, he didn't exactly carry tunes, and his approach leaned more toward the seductive than the assaultive. It works and it works well, but it's a little sleazy. And with a creep factor rarely absent, the whole thing seems just a few gestures shy of entirely consensual. "Teachin' the Blues" may be the place to start. That's where he explains his lone man approach, from stomping foot to plucking bass string, and along the way makes a show of his lack of sincerity. "Now you're cookin'," he says. "With gas." Yeah, right.
John Lee Hooker, "Back Biters & Syndicators" (1968) (2:52)
John Lee Hooker, "Big Legs Tight Skirt" (1965) For R. Crumb. (2:20)
John Lee Hooker, "Boogie Chillen'" (1948) Ground zero, more or less. (3:10)
John Lee Hooker, "Boogie With the Hook" (1972) "Do the boogie, babe, with your hot pants on." (6:29)
John Lee Hooker, "Bottle Up & Go" (1966) (2:26)
John Lee Hooker, "Burning Hell" (1971) (3:58)
John Lee Hooker, "Crawlin' King Snake" (1959) Another signature song. (3:02)
John Lee Hooker, "Frisco Blues" (1963) Prescience. Left his heart in San Francisco, approximately four years ahead of time. (2:45)
More information in comments.
complete playlist...
ReplyDeleteJohn Lee Hooker, "Back Biters & Syndicators" (1968) (2:52)
John Lee Hooker, "Big Legs Tight Skirt" (1965) For R. Crumb. (2:20)
John Lee Hooker, "Boogie Chillen'" (1948) Ground zero, more or less. (3:10)
John Lee Hooker, "Boogie With the Hook" (1972) "Do the boogie, babe, with your hot pants on." (6:29)
John Lee Hooker, "Bottle Up & Go" (1966) (2:26)
John Lee Hooker, "Burning Hell" (1971) (3:58)
John Lee Hooker, "Crawlin' King Snake" (1959) Another signature song. (3:02)
John Lee Hooker, "Frisco Blues" (1963) Prescience. Left his heart in San Francisco, approximately four years ahead of time. (2:45)
John Lee Hooker, "Huckle Up Baby" (1950) Here he means it. It's about getting sex, of course. With nice chording. (2:50)
John Lee Hooker, "I Cover the Waterfront" (1967) Whether or not sacrilege, some Memphis-style horns here evidently dubbed in several years later give it a nice feel. (4:04)
John Lee Hooker, "I'm Bad Like Jesse James" (1967) He's not using the James Brown sense of the word "bad" here. (5:20)
John Lee Hooker, "I Need Some Money" (1960) The Berry Gordy song originally recorded by Barrett Strong (later memorably covered by the Beatles and countless others), "Money (That's What I Want)," given a decided John Lee Hooker twist in the rewrite of its central tenet into flat declaration. There's no screaming and demanding here. He just needs some money, and he probably won't stop talking about it until he gets some. (2:28)
John Lee Hooker, "It Serves Me Right" (1965) (3:38)
John Lee Hooker, "John L's House Rent Boogie" (1951) This I think of as core to everything he did. It's all here: the slapping, stomping foot, propulsive chording, skeletal note flourishes, and the half-talking vocals, plus it's all about money and in subtext the simmering resentments that attach to it. (3:02)
John Lee Hooker, "Never Get Out of These Blues Alive" (1972) With Van Morrison. (10:10)
John Lee Hooker, "One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer" (1966) (3:06)
John Lee Hooker, "Shake It Baby" (1963) Raw and essential. (4:08)
John Lee Hooker, "Teachin' the Blues" (1961) (3:27)
John Lee Hooker with Bonnie Raitt, "I'm in the Mood" (1990) Nice matchup. Raitt acquits herself well. (5:36)
John Lee Hooker & Canned Heat, "Boogie Chillun" (1970) From Hooker 'n' Heat and the point where, I would guess, appropriately enough, the collaboration jelled. (11:31)
John Lee Hooker & Miles Davis, "Murder" (1990) From The Hot Spot OST, movie directed by Dennis Hopper. (4:14)
pidshare links please!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete