John Lee Hooker !!
 

Alrite this is dedicated the late legend that is John Lee Hooker.
He is the only artist who (to me) his voice just did not change throughout his career (which extended right into his early 80s).
Some of his favourite albums he ever made were when he was in his 70s, which to me is incredible.
My favourite albums are 'The Healer' (1989), 'Jealous' (1986), 'Boom Boom' (1992 Remake), 'Mr Lucky' (1991). One album I am dying to get is 'Chill Out' (1995) another album he did with Carlos Santana as I love the song 'Chill Out' itself.
I have the recent double disc best of & love all the old classics which he did in his early days but I just happen to prefer his later works, which I seem to find with a lot of artists I listen to; Neil Young & Miles Davis; to name a few.

Anyway heres a few videos that to me sum up the best of John Lee Hooker in my eyes:


Live version.

A very interesting live version of Santana playing it live himself in '87


Sorry if I put to many 'The Healer' videos on, it stands alone as the only song I continously listen to at least once a day without fail.
Simply amazing.


I hate The Rolling Stones but this is amazing to see, he single handedly plays Eric Clapton, Keith Richards & Ronnie Wood off the stage in one go.
Also there is some fantastic dancing from the man himself.






Live take from the 70s.




From Mr. Lucky (1991)

a great man, no doubt about it. the only bad thing i can say about him is, that ripping off his music enabled george thorogood to have a career.

I never thought George Thorogood sounded anything like Hooker. Ive got a few album & Im not exactly a massive fan. Its alright but hes definitely a great guitarist.

we totally agree there :laughing:

being actually from delaware, (living in newark, and claymont) his thing got old in a hurry.

I think that his voice is better than his guitar playing whereas people like BB King excel at both. I still like John Lee Hooker. I was watching a documentary last week entitled 'Blues At The BBC' which was literally blues legends playing over here in the 60's as we went Blues crazy as it was slightly declining in the U.S. Most of the big stars came over and all stayed at this little run down Bed and Breakfast hotel and holed up with bottles of whisky and Milk! Fascinating doc and this was one of the performances on the doc:

He's a Great artist!

Did he rip him off or just cover him?

Yeah, Ive been meaning to get the Chillout album he did with Santana for ages now, but keep forgetting every month. He is my favourite original blues artist, and I much prefer him to BB King and the likes.

Anyway I made a video specially for this song, which just happens to be one of my favourite JLH songs. Its a later one from '86 album Jealous.

where's a good place to start with him, album-wise?

He's bad....like Jesse James.

I enjoy his music and I think he's got a great casual, not-trying-too-hard sound. He just lets it roll just as slow or fast as he feels it needs to. But can say some of the other blues men have an edge over him with just plain skill.

As for the Thorogood comments, I see no resemblance at all to Hooker. Maybe subject matter of their songs, but nothing else.

Yeah, I never thought Thorogood was anything like Hooker. I've got 2 or 3 of his albums but wasnt that impressed, to say the least. Hooker owns.

I never thought Thorogood was bad, I just don't think he sounds like Hooker. I find Thorogood's tough bad boy persona rather entertaining. I personally think he's got a pretty solid recognizable sound going for him too. I just don't think it is so easy to compare the two because of their very contrasting sounds.

Saw John Lee Hooker open for Muddy Waters in a little club in Berkeley back in '78(?).
Got Muddy's autograph!

amazing
 

He's a legend. Awesome post. John Lee Hooker is the man.

Thanks for the videos!
 

Wow, I got a copy of the songs Chill Out and the Healer from a friend a couple of years ago and I STILL listen to both often. I had never seen the videos and enjoyed them a lot. Great music!
George T. ripped off BoDiddly. It's hard to listen to a whole song that has only one or two cords but both those guys made it work (sometimes). Give George a listen on "Night Time is the Right Time".

I agree with this comment 100%. Couldn't have worded it better myself.

what a legend, few are so great.. this might sound sacreligious but, i have a chilled remix album called saint germain that has john lee hooker licks and singing, never heard something so soothing in your life, i hate remixes think people should be shot for trying, this does amazingly well, look it up it is that good

I discovered John Lee Hooker from my uncles record collection. Seen a song on LP entitled Boom Boom. Had heard Pat Travers perform this song. Been a fan of John Lee Hooker ever since I listened to those old LP's when I was 14