Jhon Lee Hooker

A whopping three CDs, and 56 songs, from Hooker's early sessions that were unreleased at the time, although they were available for a while in the early 1970s on some United Artists LPs. Like his more widely known material of the period, it mostly features Hooker unaccompanied, though he's aided by piano and second guitarists on a few tracks. Some of these are alternates of songs that were released in different versions, or embryonic renditions of compositions that evolved into somewhat different shapes. Especially interesting are early versions of his big hit "I'm in the Mood for Love." It's too much at once, though, and too unvarying in approach, for anyone but Hooker specialists. General fans are advised to stick with The Legendary Modern Recordings, which has 24 more renowned, and somewhat more accomplished, tracks from the same era. It's certainly a well-done package, though, containing a 38-page insert with detailed liner notes and session information.

Two classic Hooker LPs, all digitally re-mastered, 22 solid slabs of dark, leathery, brooding nostalgia. This is the electric blues at its very roots. This stripped-bare, one man and a growling electric guitar (on most tracks) music is the stuff those guys who fled the south for the auto production lines in the north used to listen to. Hooker’s ‘talking blues’ style is well represented on Folk Lore. Great numbers like I’m Going Upstairs (and we all know what John was going up for), I Like to See You Walk and My First Wife Left Me start to haunt you like some swamp ghost. The Folk Blues tracks are no less powerful. Half A Stranger, Shake, Holler And Run, Down Child and Gonna Boogie all roll into one another to form a big, dusty landscape punctuated by mid-20th century American industry.

John Lee Hooker was still churning out R&B-influenced electric blues with a rhythm section for Vee Jay when he recorded The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, his first album packaged for the folk/traditional blues market. He plays nothing but acoustic guitar, and seems to have selected a repertoire with old-school country-blues in mind. It's unimpressive only within the context of Hooker's body of work; in comparison with other solo outings, the guitar sounds thin, and the approach restrained.
In addition to the original masterpiece, this remastered collector's edition also contains 8 bonus tracks, consisting of a number of solo recordings taped between 1951 and 1961.

This four-disc box from London's JSP Records collects an astounding 100 songs recorded by John Lee Hooker in Detroit from the years 1948 to 1952, including his first two sides ever, the signature tunes "Boogie Chillen" and "Sally Mae." Most of the tracks here are done solo, with Hooker's ever-present foot-stomping, although a few feature other musicians on loose-limbed blues boogies. Since Hooker never significantly altered his style during his long career, these first recordings set the stage for all that came after, and he arguably never sounded fresher or better. Four discs worth of this throwback Mississippi bluesman will be severe overkill for casual listeners, but diehard Hooker fans will find this box set absolutely essential.

Ladies and gentlemen, scoot over, there is something fiery in the world of blues, bursting into flames, and sooner or later we’ll all be catching. But do not be fooled, JLH know their way around the field, from the drums to the vocals, it is all quality that only years of experience can provide. Not only does Jane Lee Hooker take on classics, they’ve been influenced by the greatest in Blues and with its debut album, the band flaunts it hitting all the right notes. A badass punk rock sound, with the smoothness of blues, the five member group has it all, bringing an old school vibe that is nothing but refreshing for the blues rock scene. These New Yorkers are making noise, and it will just get louder, hence the ! in No B! Jane Lee Hooker takes on classics like “Mannish Boy” by Muddy Waters, one of its biggest influences, while staying loyal to the original version. The group’s style is still palpable; just the same when it comes to her its take on traditional songs. “Wade in the Water” was given a killer guitar riff halfway through, and “Didn’t it Rain” has a very particular sound, the old and the new mixed and matched.

John Lee Hooker's 1948-1952 recordings made in Detroit, Michigan by Bernard Besman. Includes 19 previously unissued versions.

John Lee Hooker never abandoned his raw, gut bucket Mississippi-Delta-comes-to-the-city approach to the blues throughout his fifty-year career, and if he got a tad bit slicker towards the end of that career, it was only a tad and only by degree. There are innumerable Hooker collections on the market, and this two-disc set wouldn't be anything particularly special except that it actually charts through his entire history, beginning with the ageless "Boogie Chillen," which was recorded in 1948 and topped the R&B charts for Modern Records in 1949, through "Tupelo," which was recorded in 1993 and released on the Pointblank LP Chill Out in 1995.

A 1959 recording that was inexplicably not issued in the United States until 1992, Burning Hell ranks among John Lee Hooker's most edgy and focused performances. A companion piece to The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker, it finds Hooker singing country-blues, accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar – something he rarely did after traveling north from the Mississippi Delta…

Rare 1992 UK 127-track remastered 6-CD box set compilation featuring a complete as possible collection of recordings from John Lee Hooker's Vee-Jay years, including previously unreleased tracks. Themaster expresses the passion of the blues, from blue mood to the boogie, showing his ability to transcend generations and conquer new audiences. Each disc is issued in a jewel case picture sleeve and housed in a silver embossed picture slipcase with a 28-page booklet.
John Lee Hooker was beloved worldwide as the king of the endless boogie, a genuine blues superstar whose droning, hypnotic one-chord grooves were at once both ultra-primitive and timeless. But John Lee Hooker recorded in a great many more styles than that over a career that stretched across more than half a century.

Winding through the literally hundreds of titles in John Lee Hooker's catalog is a daunting task for even the most seasoned and learned blues connoisseur. This is especially true when considering Hooker recorded under more than a dozen aliases for as many labels during the late '40s, '50s, and early '60s. I'm John Lee Hooker was first issued in 1959 during his tenure with Vee Jay and is "the Hook" in his element as well as prime. Although many of these titles were initially cut for Los Angeles-based Modern Records in the early '50s, the recordings heard here are said to best reflect Hooker's often-emulated straight-ahead primitive Detroit and Chicago blues styles. The sessions comprising the original 12-track album – as well as the four bonus tracks on the 1998 Charly CD reissue – are taken from six sessions spread over the course of four years (1955-1959). Hooker works both solo – accompanied only by his own percussive guitar and the solid backbeat of his foot rhythmically pulsating against plywood – as well as in several different small-combo settings.