John Lee Hooker - Live At The Cafe Au Go-Go (And Soledad Prison)

Simply one of the greatest live blues recordings ever. Hooker plays alone at Soledad, yet the real thrill is hearing him backed at Greenwich Village's Café Au-Go-Go in 1966 by Muddy Waters and his band, including pianist Otis Spann, unsung harmonica giant George Smith, Francis Clay on drums, and guitarists Sammy Lawhorn and Luther Johnson. All are at the height of their abilities, but it's Hooker who works like a hoodoo conjurer, making misery rain down in "Seven Days" and "When My First Wife Left Me." This August night's reading of "I'm Bad Like Jesse James" ranks among the most intimidating vocal performances ever taped. His guitar and baritone singing sink to rarely heard depths of the blues--that secret place in the music (known only to its absolute masters) where it becomes an elemental force. --Ted Drozdowski Amazon.com essential recording

Hard blues True blues Live blues

John lee seemed like he had the blues his hole life.Maybe he did maybe he didn't. He played the hole blues man thing to a T. He seemed like the coolest of all cats when he was up on stage. That's because he was. The people bought it hook line and sinker as they should.I have heard,lived and felt the blues since I was 8 yrs.old. I can totally relate to what he was doing and singing about back then and now.Hookers blues and boogie music is and will always be timeless. That to me is the conection I have with him.Pure blues, no nonsense music that hits you like a ton of bricks. This CD does just that and more. January 21, 2007

Best Ever

If I was stranded on a deserted island and I was to have one CD this would be the one , thought that Hooker and Heat was good , this blows it away ............... January 10, 2007

Two Great Live Albums in One CD

This is actually two live albums combined. Cafe Go-Go finds Johnny earlier in his career and Live at Soledad prison finds Johnny mid-career right in the middle of his endless boogie phase.

Live at The Cafe Go-Go is recoreded with Muddy Waters band (Muddy always had the best bands!) including the great Otis Spann on Piano. Muddy even plays guitar on one of the tunes. Sound quality is excellent and John Live is in fine form, but a little restrain. You get the feeling the band had not played that much together. Hearing JLH with Otis Spann in keys is pretty cool however. Bad like Jesse James is one of the creepiest songs made and is made even more haunting by Spann's parse piano.

Live at Soledad prison catch John Lee is his Endless Boogie phase, which for me is where it is at. Sound quality is surprisely very good and his band, including his son John Lee Jr., are tight. Bang Bang Bang is a great jam all the way from the Motor City. This contains all but two cuts of the original Live at Soledad album. These two tunes were sung by John Lee Jr. I love how at the end of the album the prison plugs the plug on the band and it takes a while for everybody to figure out what happened.

Looking for some more great live John Lee Hooker check the live Album with Albert King (they don'y played together, but share the same CD) 'I Play the Blues for you'. For me this is some of the finest JLH caught live on tape. JLH studio album 'Never get out of these blues alive' is also another great album.

This is a great album for anyone who enjoys the blues, live blues, John Lee, or enjoys Otis Spann. Album should be the staple of any basic bblues collection. I highly recommend this CD. October 18, 2006

Live John Lee...

Hearing John Lee Hooker backed by the Muddy Water's band from the 1960's is a real treat. The version of "I'm Bad Like Jessie James" that opens the CD is one of the most menacing songs I've ever heard; John Lee describes in detail how he will "take care of" a former friend he took in who went around town telling everybody that he slept with John Lee's wife. This song is a perfect example of how John Lee Hooker was the personification of badass. John Lee also runs through some of his classics like "One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer" and "Bang Bang Bang Bang". I prefer the Cafe Au Go Go set to the Soledad Prison set, but both sets are worth hearing and are full of good performances from John Lee and the band. This is definitely worth getting if you are fan of John Lee Hooker or the blues. November 22, 2005

What an incredible man!

It's hard not to get shivers when listening to this recording. John Lee Hooker had such an incredible voice and it's as if his singing and playing encapsulates all misery imaginable. He extracted so much emotion from these songs that made me feel as though I'd actually lived the experience. It's so incredibly painful to listen to in places that I expected the heavens to open up in response. This is a man who knew what he was doing.

The band is in top form and John Lee uses them to get the crowd rocking as he works his magic. Everything is spot-on! From slow, painful numbers to upbeat, rollicking shuffles, John Lee Hooker and his band can do it all.

This is a landmark album that shows a man (and a band) at the top of their game and it's something no self-respecting blues fan should be without! You'd have to be dead not to be affected by this! April 7, 2005

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