John Lee Hooker - The Best of John Lee Hooker 1965 - 1974

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Media Type: CD
Artist: HOOKER,JOHN LEE
Title: BEST OF 1965-74
Street Release Date: 03/24/1992
Domestic
Genre: BLUES TRADITIONAL Product Description

Revisionist and Revealing

This collection of John Lee Hooker's recording from 1965 to 1974 is intended to redeem an otherwise misguided period of his career. Like many other blues musicians, John Lee was rediscovered during the folk revival of the early 60s and hustled into the studio to cash in. Because John Lee was a post-war Delta bluesman, he wasn't solely an acoustic act. His boogie style was well served by an electric guitar and backing musicians.

If you listen to the full releases from this period, there are a lot of missteps and ill-conceived experiments. But John Lee's genius is too brilliant to hide. Some great tracks appear among the gaffes.

This collection was lovingly put together by someone who really knew John Lee's music, especially from this period. This CD cherry-picks the best tracks from this period. Serves You Right To Suffer, Backbiters and Syndicators, The Waterfront, and The Motor City is Burning are stunning instant Hooker classics. The eerie I'm Bad Like Jesse James is the closest you'll come to pure, unadulterated Hooker.

The collection includes fine re-recordings of Hooker classics One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer, I'm In The Mood, and House Rent Boogie. While the new versions don't surpass the originals, they show a more mature, experienced Hooker at the helm.

I disagree with other reviewers who say that this collection of songs is not "essential." While it is not the only Hooker CD you should own, nor is it an adequate introduction to his entire career since it focuses on only a 10 year period, it certainly belongs in your blues collection and is a joy to listen to. June 27, 2008

SHOUT CHILLIN'

Been a fan of John Lee since I first heard Boogie Chillin.' Was hangin' out in Roanoke, Va and found this on 8-track in '77. Used to ride around in my car and everybody riding with me got hooked on Doin' The Shout. Lost the 8-track somewhere. Played the grooves off the album. And was out of luck trying to find this piece because ABC-Bluesway went out of business. Then Bonnie Raitt rediscovered Hooker and got a grammy with In The Mood. Pissed me off. Hooker has recorded over 200 albums and In The Mood has got to be on at least 110 of them. HE NEVER GOT A GRAMMY! Felt a little better when everybody else started rediscovering The Man. Reissues started to appear and lo and behold, I was looking in a store one day and here was my favorite recording on cd. Twas a good day in the neighborhood. Now I can expose new friends to the wonderous works of John Lee Hooker. Come on, we're Doin' The Shout! May 21, 2008

One of my favorites...

This disc was my introduction to the music of John Lee Hooker and it proved to be worth every penny. This CD is full of classics and is also a good way to hear some of the best tracks off of the currently out of print albums "Urban Blues" and 'Never Get Out of These Blues Alive". The liner notes are in depth and explain how John Lee's music went through some changes during this period of his career in order to have more of a commercial edge with the fickle blues buying public of the time. I don't think John Lee sold out by any means, this is unmistakeably his sound on this CD. This disc captures all aspects of John Lee Hooker's music: the uptempo ("One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer", "Mr. Lucky"), slow blues ("Decoration Day", "The Waterfront"), celebrity duets ("Never Get Out of These Blues Alive" with Van Morrison), and live jams (I'm Bad Like Jessie James" where he is backed by Muddy Waters' band). This disc also contains my favorite verson of John Lee's "Bluebird", which includes some studio chatter from the man himself where he jokes to his band that the Albany Street he refers to in the song is where all the pimps hang out (!). If you are a fan of John Lee Hooker or the blues, this is a great collection to have. October 16, 2005

He's Baaaaad. Like Jesse James

I can't remember when I first heard Johnny Lee but I was a teen-age guitar-player-wanna-be. Must have been around 1969 or 1970. He's been my favorite blues man since then. This collection is my favorite and presents Johnny Lee in a wide range of moods - tender (Waterfront), intimidating (Bad Like Jesse James), joyful (Doin' the Shout), down and out (Back Rent),happy (Mr Lucky), hot-nasty (Shake it Baby) and so on.

The track "Never Get Out of These Blues Alive" features a young Van Morrison as a guest vocalist.

There's something really incredible about a guy who can hold your attention for 70 minutes while playing mostly one and two chord vamps, beating out a tempo while stomping his foot on the floor, and singing in that deep, deep blues voice of his. It never gets old.

This is a fantastic introduction to one of the truly great artists of the 20th century.

Boogie Chillin'
August 3, 2005

Good, not essential selection of Hooker's ABC recordings

A nice sampling of Hooker's recordings for a variety of ABC labels that are sometimes overlooked. Calling these recordings essential is nonsense as it includes none of the stark, compelling solo or duet Detroit recordings nor as strong as the finest of the Vee-Jay recordings (The original Boom Boom or Dimples for example), but still these are better than many of Hooker's later recordings and no offense to the superstars who helped elevate Hooker's profile and made some of his last recordings so enjoyable, but I would as soon hear these recordings which include the late Eddie Taylor on second guitar and the late Louis Myers on harmonica on some tracks. Motor City is Burning, his reaction to the Detroit riots is perhaps the most compelling single track here. Unfortunately these recordings and the wonderful colloboration with Canned Heat, Hoioker and Heat were followed by over a decade of Endless Boogie before a bit of musical healing. This is a solid collection recommended to Hooker fans, but not one that is essential January 6, 2003

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