John Lee Hooker
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Coahoma County, Mississippi (1917 – 2001)
John Lee Hooker (Coahoma County, Mississippi, August 22, 1917 – Los Altos, California, June 21, 2001) was an influential American post-war singer, guitarist, and songwriter.
John Lee Hooker could be said to embody his own unique genre of the blues, often incorporating the boogie-woogie piano style and a driving rhythm into his masterful and idiosyncratic blues guitar and singing. His best known songs include “Boogie Chillen” (1948) and “Boom Boom” (1962).
Hooker was the youngest of the eleven children of William Hooker (1871–1923), a sharecropper and a Baptist preacher, and Minnie Ramsey (1875–?).
Hooker and his siblings were home-schooled. They were permitted to listen only to religious songs, with his earliest musical exposure being the spirituals sung in church.
In 1921, his parents separated. The next year, his mother married William Moore, a blues singer who provided John’s first introduction to the guitar (and whom John would later credit for his distinctive playing style). The year after that (1923), John’s natural father died; and at age 15, John ran away from home, never to see his mother and stepfather again.
He was a cousin of Earl Hooker,
Throughout the 1930s, Hooker lived in Memphis where he worked on Beale Street and occasionally performed at house parties. He worked in factories in various cities during World War II, drifting until he found himself in Detroit in 1948 working at Ford Motor Company. He felt right at home near the blues venues and saloons on Hastings Street, the heart of black entertainment on Detroit’s east side. In a city noted for its piano players, guitar players were scarce.
John Lee Hooker could be said to embody his own unique genre of the blues, often incorporating the boogie-woogie piano style and a driving rhythm into his masterful and idiosyncratic blues guitar and singing. His best known songs include “
Boogie Chillen” (1948) and “Boom Boom” (1962).Hooker was the youngest of the eleven children of William Hooker (1871–1923), a sharecropper and a Baptist preacher, and Minnie Ramsey (1875–?).
Hooker and his siblings were home-schooled. They were permitted to listen only to religious songs, with his earliest musical exposure being the spirituals sung in church.
In 1921, his parents separated. The next year, his mother married William Moore, a blues singer who provided John’s first introduction to the guitar (and whom John would later credit for his distinctive playing style). The year after that (1923), John’s natural father died; and at age 15, John ran away from home, never to see his mother and stepfather again.
He was a cousin of Earl Hooker,
Throughout the 1930s, Hooker lived in Memphis where he worked on Beale Street and occasionally performed at house parties. He worked in factories in various cities during World War II, drifting until he found himself in Detroit in 1948 working at Ford Motor Company. He felt right at home near the blues venues and saloons on Hastings Street, the heart of black entertainment on Detroit’s east side. In a city noted for its piano players, guitar players were scarce.
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Motor City Blues Master
John Lee Hooker
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Giant Of Blues
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The Very Best Of
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Chill Out
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Shoutbox
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VK1990 wrote:
Boogie Chillen
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allisonmichele wrote:
<3
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alexandar_k wrote:
Endless Boogieeeeeeeeeeeeeee.................
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protopost wrote:
so his mom was a Hooker?
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VK1990 wrote:
dimples
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blues_and_more wrote:
Hello, I've made an analysis over blues last.fm groups, and 6 artists (from >140) are characteristic: Muddy Waters is leading this week the list, and John Lee Hooker is also included. What do you think of the results? http://www.last.fm/user/blues_and_more/journal
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fraja8 wrote:
fui no show dele em Santa Barbara California em 92, com o cotovelo no placo de frente.. só vendo ele arrepiar !!!!
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Orange-1 wrote:
Excellent music!:-)
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CaCoffiny wrote:
delta blues folks !
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Belvernia wrote:
He's often imitated and never duplicated! One of our original masterpieces.......
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irfan11 wrote:
The Country Blues Of John Lee Hooker..........bang....
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end_y wrote:
The Country Blues Of John Lee Hooker, Travelin', The Folklore Of John Lee Hooker, John Lee Hooker Plays & Sings The Blues, The Legendary Modern Recordings 1948-54 - you can start with any of these records
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Aserikoth wrote:
Listen to Travelin' if you wanna start with Hooker, it's a great album
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cudddy wrote:
o love his duet with Santana :))
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St33rpike wrote:
@Unknownrooster: I'm a big fan of Endless Boogie, but there are quite a few good Greatest Hits-type collections out there. The Very Best of John Lee Hooker is a really good place to start!
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amsterm wrote:
the master of the music world
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Unknownrooster wrote:
Hey! I wanna get started with John Lee Hooker... Somebody could please tell me which CD should I begin with? [2] same with me, where should I start?
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mexicology wrote:
нет ничего лучше блюза
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drunk_bender wrote:
Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howling Wolf.. True Old Blues
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One bourbon, one scotch, one…
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, Bonnie Raitt I'm in the mood
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The Healer HQ
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& carlos santana - change
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Recent Activity
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gendervariant, williamgrahamm, harrybalzac and 46 other people added John Lee Hooker to their libraries. 3 hours ago
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HAND_OV_DOOM tagged John Lee Hooker with ‘blues’. Tuesday evening
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ferdibisogno, benydevil, Morrissey01 and 7 other people added John Lee Hooker to their libraries. Tuesday evening
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furabo2000 tagged John Lee Hooker with ‘blues’. Tuesday afternoon
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VhtaLamda, danifavi, alecwasa and 28 other people added John Lee Hooker to their libraries. Tuesday afternoon
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rato0 tagged John Lee Hooker with classic blues, delta blues and blues. Monday morning
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nickmorsa, FarqyofFib, tkbauer1 and 2 other people added John Lee Hooker to their libraries. Monday morning
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A deleted user wrote about John Lee Hooker – Giant Of Blues in a deleted journal. April 2011
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ce84 wrote about John Lee Hooker – Chill Out in my library. April 2011
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ce84 wrote about John Lee Hooker – Chill Out in a deleted journal. April 2011
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