Music |
Best of Friends
John Lee Hooker
By
Published: Nov 22, 2010
Category:
Blues
When the bullshit level in the national conversation approaches the red line, I go back to basics.
Men. Women. Sex. Love. John Lee Hooker.
Why John Lee Hooker?
As Bonnie Raitt, who recorded “I’m in the Mood” with Hooker, described that duet: “as erotic an experience as I’ve had in music.”
He was the guy who penned these lyrics:
Big legs
Tight skirt
Knock me off my feet
I’m gonna shoot you right down
right offa your feet
Take you home with me
put you in my house
Boom boom boom boom
Maybe you’ve seen a video. Dark suit, dark shirt, stiff hat. Usually, he’s playing alone, with a stomping foot as a rhythm section. Most of the songs have fewer chords than you have rings on your right hand. But then Hooker is not mining complicated relationships. Just men. Women. Love. Sex. (Don’t be fooled. This illiterate guitarist was so musically sophisticated that few musicians could play with him. And he was a blunt, powerful poet: “I cover the waterfront/Watching the sea.”
John Lee Hooker’s discography is vast. But late in his life, he recorded a CD that featured musicians who knew him and loved him: Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Ry Cooder and Los Lobos. It’s called “Best of Friends,” and if you’re new to this essential American giant, this is the place to start. (To buy the CD from Amazon, click here. For the MP3 download, click here.
John Lee Hooker (1912-2001) was the son of a Mississippi sharecropper and preacher. When his parents separated, his mother married a blues guitarist who taught him how to play one-chord drones. At 15, Hooker ran away from home; he ended up in Detroit, working as a janitor in an auto factory. His real life — his musical life — began after work, when he played at house parties.
A producer heard him, recorded him, had a huge hit. Naturally, Hooker got nothing out of that but a few dollars for making the record. But he was prolific. He made his way by recording for many different labels under many different names — John Lee Booker, Johnny Lee, John Lee Cooker,Texas Slim, Delta John, Birmingham Sam and his Magic Guitar, Johnny Williams, and The Boogie Man.
As was so often the case, British rockers — the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton — made the difference. They played his music. And, later, they played with him. Ronnie Woods recalls a tour when Hooker, then 77, performed with the Stones: “We never had any clue what key he’d be playing in. He’d look at us and say, ‘What key?’ He had no idea. Finally, before one song on the second night, he said ‘E,’ and I shouted to the band, ‘Boys, he gave us a clue! It’s in E!”
Does what Hooker calls “the story about women and men” appeal to you? Is there a place in your music library for raw libido, artfully but fully expressed?
Boogie, children.
