John Lee Hooker
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Biography
One of the great Delta blues stylists, John Lee Hooker's idiosyncratic influence extended well into the rock era, inspiring bands like the Rolling Stones and the Yardbirds and even earning him a hit single with the classic Boom Boom. The youngest of 11 children raised by a southern sharecropper, Hooker's earliest musical inspiration came from the spirituals he heard in church and he was introduced to the guitar by his blues playing stepfather William Moore. He ran away from home at 15, drifting around until 1948 when he arrived in Detroit (aged 36), where he bought his first electric guitar and started playing in local blues clubs. It earned him a record deal, resulting in his first hit single Boogie Chillen and his unique guitar style built around irregular rhythms gradually emerged, along with his prolific songwriting. During the 1950s he recorded under a series of different pseudonyms, before his re-discovery during the 1960s R&B boom. Hooker appeared in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers and collaborated with Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt on one of his most successful albums The Healer in 1989 and appeared on stage with Van Morrison. He continued to perform until his death in 2001 at the age of 88, leaving behind an astonishing legacy of over 100 albums and a thrillingly unique blues guitar style.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- Crawlin kingsnake
- Boom Boom
- You Shook Me by B.B. King
- One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
- Please Don't Go
- House Rent Boogie
- I'm In The Mood
- Messin' 'Round With The Blues
- Burnin' Hell by Canned Heat
- Mr. Lucky
- Red House
- Graveyard Blues
- Stripped Me Naked
- Key to the Highway
- This Is Hip
- I Want To Hug You
- I'm Bad Like Jesse James
- Pots On, Gas On High
- Endless Boogie, Pts. 27 & 28
- Standin' at the Crossroads
- Sugar Mama
- We Might As Well Call It Through (I Didn't Get Married to Your Two-Timing Mother)
- What's The Matter Baby
- (I Got) a Good 'Un
