As a child of the '70s, although my musical tastes didn't calcify after the decade like so many of my contemporaries, the exciting and adventuresome music I heard during my teenage years left an indelible imprint on the development of my musical preferences. My purchases of archival and reissue albums tend to be of the classic rock and blues genres, which is why the following list of my favorites in this category for the year tend to lean towards albums released during the 1970s, '80s, and '90s...
A lifelong curmudgeon, I bitch and moan and avoid pricey box set reissues that load multiple discs down with demo tracks and alternate takes...there's a reason why a lot of this stuff remained unreleased for decades and they largely bore me to tears. In many cases, unless a reissue provides a sonic upgrade on the CD or vinyl that I already own, or the value-added inclusion of an unreleased live set, I'll spend my money on graphic novels or music bios instead. But show me a long-lost rock or blues LP from the '60s and I'm all in.
This year provided a wealth of archival releases, as well as a few surprises like the Dream Syndicate Medicine Show box and previously-unreleased live performances by Galaxie 500, Hüsker Dü, The Meters, and The Ramones. Here are my favorite reissue and archival albums of 2025...
A hell of a lot of great music has come out of Detroit, Michigan and surrounding areas, from blues and soul artists like John Lee Hooker and Aretha Franklin to the Motown machine of the 1960s, which featured talents like the Temptations, the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, and the Supremes, among many others. The Motor City has also made a name for itself in the world of rock ‘n’ roll, beginning with Mitch Ryder’s Detroit Wheels in the early 1960s and Russ Gibbs’ mid-decade Grande Ballroom Scene, which made stars of the Stooges and MC5, with the thread running through 1980s-era bands like Destroy All Monsters, the Mutants, and the Romantics to ‘90s trailblazers like the Gories, the Detroit Cobras, and the White Stripes.
For those of us that grew up listening to – and loving – Detroit rock, however, the most exiting era of the city’s rock scene was roughly between 1967 and 1977, a ten-year period that saw the emergence and ascendance of the scene to a commercial pinnacle in the form of artists like Bob Seger and Ted Nugent. This is, more or less, the period chronicled by Cherry Red Records’ new historical compilation, Motor City Is Burning: A Michigan Anthology 1965-1972. Comprised of 66 songs spread across three discs and packaged in a study cardboard clamshell with an accompanying booklet, Motor City Is Burning offers up tracks by some of the usual suspects (Ryder, Stooges, MC5) along with some lesser-known but beloved bands (SRC, Brownsville Station, Frijid Pink, The Frost) and more than a few welcome surprises and rarities.
Motor City Is Burning
The first CD is loaded with mostly 1960s-era goodies, taking on a distinct, Nuggets-styled garage-rock vibe, especially since it opens with the classic “96 Tears” from ? & the Mysterians. Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels are represented by the irrepressible “Jenny Take A Ride” and the disc offers up other essential rock goodies like Dick Wagner & the Frost (“Mystery Man”), former Grand Funk RR Svengali Terry Knight’s early band the Pack (a psych-drenched cover of the Stones’ “Satisfaction”) and, hailing from Niles MI, Tommy James & the Shondells’ deep cut “I’m Alive” (a psych-rock delicacy). Scot Richard Case (SRC) and the Rationals are two of my all-time fave Detroit outfits, and they offer a devastating one-two punch with the former’s scorching take on the Skip James’ blues classic “I’m So Glad” and the latter with an electrifying cover of the Kinks’ B-side “I Need You.”
There are some fine obscurities here, too, like the Ted Lucas-fronted Spike Drivers’ 1966 folk-rock single “Baby Won’t You Let Me Tell You How I Lost My Mind”; the Shaggs’ (no, not that one) 1969 flapjack “She Makes Me Happy,” with its cool Byrdsian twang; the Troyes’ raging 1967 single “Help Me Find Myself”; or the Apostles’ 1967 melding of the Cadets and the Kinks on “Stranded In the Jungle.” The disc includes a couple of intriguing, never-before-released tracks in Dearborn City Limits’ “Come See About Me,” a poppy, keyboard-driven rocker believed to have been waxed in 1966 that could have been a radio hit, and the enigmatic Felix’s 1968 “Outside Woman Blues,” a blues-rocker in a Cream vein that is exceedingly rare. Throw in groovy tracks by long-gone rockers like Tidal Waves, the Solitary Confinement, the Innsmen, the Thyme, and the King’s Court and you have an inspired compilation already.
Scot Richard Case (SRC)
Disc two catches the scene as it transitions from the garage to the revered Grande Ballroom and then onto festival stages in both Michigan and, in some instances, nationwide. Focusing largely on hard rock, this is where heavy hitters like the Stooges (their timeless “1969” still packs a wallop, like a crowbar to yer eardrums), MC5 (the buoyant, complex “Teenage Lust”), Grand Funk Railroad (from Flint, but close enough for their cover of Eric Burdon’s “Inside Looking Out” to wrench your cerebellum), and Alice Cooper (who remade their image in the Motor City and came up with the eerie “Halo of Flies”). The disc includes a couple of beloved “also-rans” in SRC (the former Scot Richard Case), whose “Up All Night” channels the Pretty Things with jolt of Motor City madness and Savage Grace, whose ethereal 1970 cover of Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” gives Jimi a run for his money.
Detroit Rock, Soul & Funk
Cub Koda & Brownsville Station
The second disc also includes a handful of worthy bands that should have been a hell of a lot bigger, starting with Cub Koda’s almighty Brownsville Station. Although the band released seven albums of blues-tinted rock circa 1970-1978, they remain best-known for their 1973 novelty hit “Smokin’ In the Boys Room.” As shown by their rowdy 1970 cover of Bo Diddley’s “Road Runner,” which features Koda’s fiery guitarplay and a swinging rhythm track, they were a hell of a lot more than that humorous, if ultimately misbegotten single. Frijid Pink were another “coulda, shoulda” outfit, remembered for their hit cover of “House of the Rising Sun.” But “Pain In My Heart,” from their 1970 sophomore effort, displays a harder-rock facet of the band’s talents. There are also some relatively unknown gems here, too, like the previously-unreleased livewire 1972 track “Wake Up People,” a skronky guitar ‘n’ keyboards rave-up from Kopperfield. Power trio Head Over Heels is another shoulda-been band, and their “Right Away” is a deliciously bluesy rocker while rare singles by bands like the Glass Sun, Resolution, and Sunshine round out the disc.
The third CD of Motor City Is Burning is probably the most pleasantly surprising of the three, largely comprised of soul and funk jams from Michigan artists like the Temptations, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Chairmen of the Board, and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. The disc isn’t all just Motown hits, although the Temps’ 1970 single “Ball of Confusion” is a prime slab o’ psychedelic soul. Often times, producer/curator David Wells went with the lesser-known choices. The Supremes’ “Reflections” – a classic Holland-Dozier-Holland single – offers a severely underappreciated and wistful performance by Ms. Ross while the Miracles’ “Flower Girl” is pop-soul at its very best. Chanteuse Freda Payne’s 1971 anti-war single “Bring the Boys Home” is a gorgeous example of the power of song and Chairmen of the Board’s “Hanging On To A Memory” is a boiling pot of funk with frontman General Johnson belting out the vox with the incredible Funkadelic laying down the backing groove.
As for the non-Motown tracks on the disc, there’s a wealth of great material to be explored, beginning with the early (1970) Parliament song “I Call My Baby Pussycat,” which pairs a rockin’ intro to a high-voltage soundtrack with funky flow and chaotic instrumentation and vox. Blues legend John Lee Hooker is represented by the anthology’s title track, “The Motor City Is Burning” a stone-cold boogie-rock tune with scrappy guitar and a heart full of napalm. The L.A. based Sussex Records label wasn’t around for long (1969-1975) but they released several cool records by Detroit artists like Dennis Coffey & the Detroit Guitar Band (the Top 10 instrumental hit “Scorpio”) and Sixto Rodriguez (discovered and produced by Coffey, it would take audiences 40+ years to discover his sublime, Dylanesque “Inner City Blues”). Rare Earth was Motown’s “rock” imprint, but they were also a band whose 1968 “Sidewalk Café” offers up a pulse-quickening joyful noise mixing rock and soul. Another band on the label was the hard-rockin’ Sunday Funnies, whose 1971 single “Walk Down the Path of Freedom” reminds one of a bluesier Bob Seger with loudly-spinning guitars and keyboards. Another underrated Detroit rocker, Ruth Copeland’s cover of the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter” is pure fire & brimstone with fatback git licks courtesy of Funkadelic’s Eddie Hazel and Ray Monette, from Dennis Coffey’s band.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
To be honest, Cherry Red had me hooked with the initial premise, and I have to say that producer Wells did a yeoman’s job in collecting some tasty treats from the deepest, funkiest vaults of Motor City rock ‘n’ soul for this anthology. Sure, there are plenty of “marquee” attractions here, artists of a high degree of familiarity to attract the punters. It’s the obscurities and rarities found in the other grooves, however, that make Motor City Is Burning both an entertaining and historical collection of performances from one of the grandest, and grittiest music scenes to ever take root in the continental U.S., a scene that continues to burn out of control to this day. Grade: A+ (Grapefruit Records/Cherry Red, released March 17th, 2025)
With well over 100 full-length recordings to his name (and more than a few under other names), we’ve long since passed the point where John Lee Hooker could surprise us…or are we? The Standard School Broadcast Recordings captures a recently-discovered, long-lost 1973 session by ‘The Hook’ and a trio of trusted musicians – bassist Gino Skaggs, drummer Ken Swank, and his son Robert Hooker on piano – recorded for the award-winning “The Standard School Broadcast” radio series, which broadcast on the NBC network in the western U.S. Copies of its shows were sent on vinyl to schools to teach kids about music, and three songs by Hooker were accompanied on the disc by performances by jazz guitar greats Joe Pass and Herb Ellis, pop/rock session player Chuck Day, and classical guitarist George Sakellarious.
Hooker and band recorded eight songs that day at San Francisco’s Coast Recorders, the tapes subsequently disappearing until recently. The Standard School Broadcast Recordings offers the entire session, 100% live and raw, with no overdubs, and the performances stand tall with anything that Hooker recorded before or after. “Bad Boy” and “Hard Times” are scary good, both songs haunting blues-dirges heavy-laden with Hooker’s sonorous vocals and scraps of edgy guitar. “Rock With Me” offers a dose of Hooker’s trademark boogie while the reprised “Sally Mae” – the B-side of “Boogie Chillen,” his 1948 debut single – offers a sordid tale of booze and betrayal. “I Hate the Day I Was Born” and “Should Have Been Gone” are equally distraught, displaying Hooker’s expressive genius and son Robert’s inspired piano-pounding (which shines throughout the sessions, delivering exactly the nuance each song demanded).
A medley of “When My First Wife Left Me” and “Hobo Blues” is the heart of the album, showcasing Hooker’s improvisational skills while “Coast Recorders Jam” is a spry, old-school instrumental romper-stomper with the younger Hooker’s lively piano-play up front of a jaunty, swinging rhythm, upon which John Lee embroiders various guitar patterns that, while not straying far from his trademark boogie-blues fretboard-bashing, nevertheless display the guitarist’s dexterity and imagination. For John Lee and his crew, it was just another sorely-needed payday; for the innocent schoolchildren who heard these performances in the classroom all those years ago, experiencing Hooker’s lamentations firsthand, I’m sure that it warped a few minds. Some may have even gone on to sing the blues while others…just maybe...became music critics. That’s the magic of John Lee Hooker! (BMG Music, released January 9th, 2025)
During the 1930s and ‘40s, countless hopeful musicians traveled the “blues highway” from the Mississippi Delta through Memphis and St. Louis to their final destination, Chicago. Many of these talented former sharecroppers – the sons and grandsons of slaves – made a name and eked out a career in the Windy City. John Lee Hooker’s sojourn took a different path, however, the blues legend turning off the well-traveled path from Clarksville, Mississippi to Memphis, making his way to Detroit in 1943 and starting a musical career that would span six decades. John Lee was a true original, the “Godfather of Boogie” more comfortable in blazing his own trail rather than following someone else’s lead.
Influenced in his childhood by blues talents like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charlie Patton, friends of his stepfather Willie Moore, Hooker absorbed the music around him and was comfortable performing in a number of stylistic genres, from big city blues to raucous R&B, all tempered by his Delta upbringing. The recently reissued Live At Newport portrays Hooker in a different light, that of the acoustic “folk blues” artist. The tracks are culled from two different performances at the Newport Folk Festival – a handful of songs feature Hooker in solo performances from the 1960 festival, while the remaining tracks are taken from the 1963 festival and include Bill Lee on upright bass. The album was originally released as Concert At Newport in 1964 by Vee Jay Records (with slightly different song titles).
The resulting performances are stark reminders of Hooker’s roots, dark-hued dirty blues that rise up out of the Delta like saber-rattling ghosts to demand your attention. Along with better-known songs from the John Lee milieu, tracks like “Boom Boom” and “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” you’ll find gems like the forceful “Bus Station Blues” or a powerful cover of Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Stop Now Baby.” John Lee Hooker was a singular talent, a charismatic presence that mesmerized audiences wherever he performed. Live At Newport may not be the most technically polished album you hear this year (there’s only so much improvement that can be made on 40-year-old tapes), but there’s no denying the power behind the performances. Although he died in 2001, John Lee Hooker remains a giant among blues musicians; his influence will continue to be felt by musicians for a generation to follow. (Vanguard Records, reissued April 2nd, 2002)
Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ music zine...
In 1959, blues legend John Lee Hooker was at a crossroads in his career.
The music industry was evolving from a singles-oriented medium towards
full-length albums and “The Hook” was in danger of being left behind. Hooker had
enjoyed a string of seven R&B charting singles circa 1948-1958, including
five Top 10 hits like “Boogie Chillen’,” “Crawlin’ King Snake,” “Huckle Up
Baby,” and “I’m In the Mood” (which also rose to #30 on the mainstream singles
chart). These songs wrote the lexicon of the artist’s rhythm & blues
saturated boogie-blues sound that he would pursue for the next 40+ years.
Hooker’s
first bona fide album release was 1959’s I’m John Lee Hooker. Released by
Vee Jay Records, it was a collection of seven previously-released singles and
five newly-recorded tracks (a parallel album release, Chess Records’
House of the Blues, was comprised entirely of singles). Around this time,
Riverside Records owner Bill Grauer traveled to Detroit with the idea of
recording a new John Lee Hooker album consisting entirely of Leadbelly songs.
Riverside was essentially a jazz label, so recording a blues artist of Hooker’s
stature was an out-of-the-box notion, especially once Grauer discovered that
John Lee had no idea of who Huddie Leadbetter was, and was unfamiliar with his
music. Grauer quickly regrouped and produced sessions with Hooker and his
acoustic guitar at the familiar United Sound Systems in Detroit where the artist
had recorded several previous hits.
The core of Grauer’s brainstorm
had merit, as acoustic-based “folk blues” artists were beginning to rise in
popularity at the time. Long lost Mississippi Delta and Hill Country bluesmen
like Fred McDowell, Skip James, and John Hurt were being “rediscovered” and
shoved into studios to re-record their “old songs” before hitting the coffee
house circuit and folk festival trail. Even Chicago blues stalwarts like Muddy
Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and Sonny Boy Williamson were re-branded as authentic,
acoustic-toting “folk blues” singers. Grauer left Detroit with enough songs on
tape for two albums, the first of which was released in 1959 as
The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (quickly re-titled as
The Folk Blues of John Lee Hooker). The second album arising from those
Detroit sessions was Burning Hell, which wasn’t released until 1964 and
then only in the U.K. by Fontana; Burning Hell wasn’t reissued on CD
until 1994, and it’s been long out-of-print in any format.
John Lee Hooker’s Burning Hell
The first release from the newly-resurrected Bluesville Records label
(part of the Craft Recordings family), Hooker’s Burning Hell is an
often-overlooked entry in his massive and decades-spanning catalog of music.
With a tracklist largely comprised of roughly half Hooker originals and the
other half choice covers, Burning Hell showcases Hooker’s deep, fluid
vocals laid across several styles of acoustic blues. The title track is a
spry, Piedmont-styled morality tale with scrappy guitarplay and strong vocals
but “Graveyard Blues” is a dour, Delta-styled dirge with intricate guitar
patterns and Hooker’s sonorous, almost droning vocals. Hooker isn’t the
deftest of string-pullers, especially when compared to contemporaries like
Lonnie Johnson, Eddie Kirkland, or even his cousin Earl Hooker, but his
performance here is simply mesmerizing.
Hooker’s cover of the Big
Joe Williams’ classic “Baby Please Don’t Go” is provided an
emotionally-charged performance that relies on the singer’s pleading vocals
more than on his boogie-stomp fretwork. Ditto for his reading of Howlin’
Wolf’s “Smokestack Lightning” which substitutes soaring, almost falsetto
vocals (well, as high as Hooker could go…) for The Wolf’s primal howl;
combined with Hooker’s circular guitar strum, he creates a sort of melodic and
enchanting tone poem. “You Live Your Life and I’ll Live Mine” is based on a
standard blues scale with a few instrumental flourishes here and there as
Hooker sings of his romantic woes while “Jackson, Tennessee” is afforded an
up-tempo, loping guitar riff atop of which Hooker pounds out his Delta-dirty
vox. Hooker’s jaunty “How Can You Do It?” is almost pop-styled with
radio-friendly, intelligible vocals, an upbeat and melodic guitar line, and an
undeniably sunny performance.
John Lee Hooker photo by Lawrence Shustak, courtesy of Riverside
Records Archives
On the other hand, the odd bodkins Lightnin’ Hopkins cover “I Don’t Want
No Woman If Her Hair Ain’t No Longer Than Mine” is an awkward talking blues with
meandering guitar licks and disjointed vocals. Hooker’s “Blues For My Baby”
pursues a similar theme, but with better results, his powerful vocal performance
matched by bog-standard boogie-blues git licks with the occasional (and
delightful) instrumental detour. Bluesmen and rock stars alike have covered Big
Bill Broonzy’s “Key To the Highway” for decades but, for my money, Hooker’s
reading is one of the best, with yearning vocals and a jazzy acoustic
soundtrack. His reading of the Willie Dixon-penned “Natchez Fire” provides the
song – originally recorded as “Natchez Burnin’” in 1956 by Howlin’ Wolf – with
an eerie chill as his haunting vocals and arcane guitar playing mourn the
true-life tragedy that took 200 lives at the Rhythm Club in Natchez, Mississippi
in 1940.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
Looking at its history and provenance, Burning Hell is an odd
choice to kick off the new era of Bluesville Records. Perhaps it was chosen
because Hooker is a well-known artist among casual blues fans, as
Burning Hell was never released previously by Bluesville. When
Riverside impresario Bill Grauer passed away in 1963, the label’s catalog
passed through the hands of ABC Records before being bought by Fantasy Records
in 1972. Fantasy, in turn, was bought by Concord Records in 2004, forming the
Concord Music Group. Bluesville Records was a subsidiary of the esteemed
Prestige Records jazz label that also became part of CMG via its purchase by
Fantasy in 1971…and that’s how you get a 1964 John Lee Hooker album on
Riverside Records seeing reissue by Bluesville Records some 60 years later. *
There were a number of other choices for an inaugural Bluesville
reissue, including long-forgotten but worthy flapjacks from Lightnin’ Hopkins,
Lonnie Johnson, Scrapper Blackwell, Sonny Terry, Snooks Eaglin, and Pink
Anderson (who inspired Pink Floyd’s band name). The minor cavil of its dubious
status in the Bluesville label universe aside, this version of
Burning Hell is nevertheless a godsend for hardcore blues fans and
collectors. The packaging is hearty, with a thick cardboard sleeve, glossy
laminated cover, and a padded, archival quality inner sleeve to cradle the
vinyl. Little has been changed with the graphics, which are perfectly garish
for the era, and the back cover includes Alan Bates’ insightful original liner
notes. Cut from the original master tapes and pressed on black 180-gram vinyl,
this Bluesville edition is the first time that this long-lost album has been
released domestically on record.
In the end, however, it’s the
music that counts, and Burning Hell showcases a different side of John
Lee, his flirtation with “folk blues” opening new doors for his career as he
entered the decade of the 1960s as a grizzled veteran. No less than six
“folk”-oriented Hooker albums would be released just prior to, and shortly
after Burning Hell for labels like Vee-Jay, Crown Records, Chess, and
Kent Records, many of them constructed from vintage 1950s-era recordings.
Hooker hit the summer folk festival circuit with aplomb, which helped carry
him through the difficult ABC Records years to The Healer and his
successful final chapter. With its raw vocals and wiry fretwork,
Burning Hell isn’t the crown jewel of the massive John Lee Hooker
catalog, but it represents a significant turning point in his career and is
well worth rediscovery by both fans of the artist and blues fanatics alike.
(Bluesville Records, reissued June 7th, 2024)
* For more on the Bluesville Records story, check out my interview with producer Scott Billington on the Rock and Roll Globe website!
Many thanx to Charles Shaar Murray, and his wonderful John Lee Hooker
biography Boogie Man, for info on the artist’s Riverside
recordings...
During the 1930s and ‘40s, countless hopeful musicians traveled the “blues highway” from the Mississippi Delta through Memphis and St. Louis to their final destination, Chicago. Many of these talented former sharecroppers, the sons and grandsons of slaves, made a name and eked out a career in the Windy City. John Lee Hooker’s sojourn took a different path, however, the blues legend turning off the well-traveled path from Clarksville, Mississippi in Memphis, making his way to Detroit in 1943 and starting a musical career that would span six decades. John Lee was a true original, the “Godfather of Boogie” more comfortable in blazing his own trail rather than following someone else’s lead.
Influenced in his childhood by blues talents like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Charlie Patton, friends of his stepfather Willie Moore, Hooker absorbed the music around him and was comfortable performing in a number of stylistic genres, from big city blues to raucous R&B, all tempered by his Delta upbringing. The recently reissued Live At Newport (Vanguard Records) portrays Hooker in a different light, that of the acoustic “folk blues” artist. The tracks are culled from two different performances at the Newport Folk Festival – a handful of songs feature Hooker in solo performances from the 1960 festival, while the remaining tracks are taken from the 1963 festival and include Bill Lee on upright bass.
The resulting performances are stark reminders of Hooker’s roots, dark-hued dirty blues that rise up out of the Delta like saber-rattling ghosts to demand your attention. Along with better-known songs from the John Lee milieu, tracks like “Boom Boom” and “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” you’ll find gems like the forceful “Bus Station Blues” or a powerful cover of Sonny Boy Williamson’s “Stop Now Baby.” John Lee Hooker was a singular talent, a charismatic presence that mesmerized audiences wherever he performed. Live At Newport may not be the most technically polished album you hear this year (there’s only so much improvement that can be made on 40-year old tapes), but there’s no denying the power behind the performances. Although he died in 2001, John Lee Hooker remains a giant among blues musicians; his influence will continue to be felt by musicians for a generation to follow.
With a voice eerily similar to Lucinda Williams and equally impressive songwriting skills to match, Florence Dore forges her own distinctive identity with her amazing debut Perfect City (Slewfoot Records). Dore treads much the same creative territory as Williams, leaving her stylistic imprint at the crossroads where the genres of country, folk, and rock music intersect, delivering a highly personal and thoroughly mesmerizing collection of songs. A daytime academic with a background in American literature, Dore’s love of Faulkner and enchantment with written word find a suitable home in her intelligent wordplay.
Dore’s lofty vocals soar above Chris Erikson’s Byrdsian guitar lines, songs like the bittersweet “Christmas,” the Thomas Wolfe-vibe of “No Nashville” or the raucous “Everything I Own” transcending alt-country clichés to stand on their own as wonderfully timeless songs. Produced with his typically knowledgeable hand by Eric “Roscoe” Ambel, Perfect City is a mature, considerable work from an artist still developing her artistic wings. With the voice of an angel and the soul of a poet, Florence Dore may be following the footsteps of giants like Williams and Emmylou Harris, but she is doing an admirable job as she finds her own way.
Matt Johnson, the brains (and brawn) behind critical favorites The The is one of rock music’s great enigmas. Sure, he garnered plenty of ink during the band’s high profile, late ‘80s run at the charts, but Johnson the artist remains a mystery, a conundrum that won’t be solved with the release of 45 RPM, The Singles of The The (Legacy Recordings). 45 RPM is the first shot in a campaign to restore and reissue four important albums from Johnson’s The The catalog, including the band’s 1983 debut Soul Mining and the acclaimed 1989 release Mind Bomb with former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. To this end, 45 RPM collects a dozen essential The The singles, from the 1982 hit “Uncertain Smile” through Johnson’s cover of Hank Williams’ “I Saw the Light.” A limited edition of the collection includes a second disc with rare remixes of eight songs taken from hard-to-find 12” singles created for the club and dancefloor market.
Part of the mystery of Johnson’s genius is the artist’s penchant for changing horses in the midst of a stylistic stream. The hit “Infected” from the 1986 album of the same name is an infectious dance track (pun intended) while “Uncertain Smile” is a new wavish rocker not dissimilar to, say, Simple Minds. “Heartland,” also from the Infected album, is a jazzy slice of social commentary, Johnson rolling his damning lyrics past tinkling ivories and a snappy string section while “Dogs of Lust” is a blues-tinged rocker dating from 1993. Much of the collection is equally intriguing, Johnson pairing his intelligent lyrics, often obsessed with man’s alienation and despair, or with government’s role in shaping (and dominating) our future, with complex, unpredictable music that blends British pop, jazz and dancehall traditions with cutting edge rock and top-notch production. 45 RPM: The Singles of The The is an excellent introduction to a peerless talent. Although Matt Johnson and The The remain a cult favorite on this side of the Atlantic, the release of this compilation and the subsequent reissuing of important parts of the band’s catalog should win them a rightful place in rock history. (View From The Hill, July 2002)
A skilled guitarist and breathless vocalist,
Rosie Flores
has worked in the past with honky-tonk heroes like Asleep At The Wheel and Butch
Hancock as well as recording two mid-‘80s classic cowpunk albums with her SoCal
band the Screamin’ Sirens. Flores’ solo career has stretched over almost
fourteen years and, with the release of her seventh album
Speed of Sound (Eminent Records), has hit another artistic plateau.
Flores works in a traditional country vein with healthy doses of rockabilly
(Buck Owens’ classic “Hot Dog”, “Rock-A-Bye Boogie”), alternative country
(Robbie Fulks’ “I Push Right Over”, John R. Cash’s “Country Boy”) and rockin’
pop (Marshall Crenshaw’s “Somewhere Down The Line”) as well as a handful of her
own originals. All of the material features Flores’ engaging vocals and highly
underrated guitar playing while producer Rick Vito provides clean lines and a
glossy finish to the collection. If you want to hear some country music with
heart and soul, look no further than Rosie Flores and
Speed of Sound.
Bill Lloyd is remembered by many as
half of the popular country duo Foster & Lloyd, who recorded three hit
albums during the late 1980s. Lloyd has always been a rocker in his heart,
however, and he’s enjoyed a successful career as a songwriter and session
guitarist, playing with artists like Al Kooper, Kim Richey, Steve Earle, and
Marshall Crenshaw. His fourth album, All In One Place (Def Heffer
Records), gathers a decade’s worth of Lloyd’s songs from various tribute albums
and compilations. A glorious collection of pop-influenced roots rock, Lloyd
joyfully interprets songs by folks like the Hollies, Badfinger, Bobby Fuller,
Todd Rundgren, and Harry Nilsson. He also throws in a few of his own spirited
compositions, as well as songs co-written with artists like Dan Baird (The
Georgia Satellites), Jerry Dale McFadden (The Mavericks), and Steve Wynn (Dream
Syndicate). Think a mix of the Beatles and the Kinks with a slight Nashville
twang and you’ve nailed the pop-rock aesthetic that makes
All In One Place an enormously charming collection of tunes. (Available
from Bill Lloyd Music at
www.billlloydmusic.com)
Corporate music magazines depend on big advertising bucks from the
major record labels to survive, so it’s no surprise that their editorial
coverage tends to slant towards today’s trends. Fan-produced “zines” often offer
a more diverse perspective on music, although none provide the range of interest
that is the staple of Cool and Strange Music! magazine. A labor of love
on the part of publisher/editor Dana Countryman, every quarterly issue of
Cool and Strange Music! covers the strange and obscure, the wild and the
wacky in a 64-page package with clean graphics and knowledgeable, entertaining
writing. The latest issue includes a cover feature on guerilla comedians
Firesign Theatre, articles on musicians David Bagsby and Bruce Haack, a look at
Latin label Seeco Records and a guide to self-help records. Every issue is a
musical education in itself. Cool and Strange Music! can be found at
Tower Records and Borders Books.
We’ve lost a few giants of music and
movies this past month or so. Although most had long since passed their days of
glory, the contributions that all of these individuals made to pop culture can’t
be forgotten. Carroll O’Connor (born 1925) had achieved a modicum of success as
a character actor in over two dozen films but will always be best-known as
Archie Bunker, a role he played on television for twelve seasons and for which
he won four Emmy Awards. Actor Jack Lemmon (born 1925) often represented the
common man during a remarkable film career that included dozens of movies and
won Lemmon two Academy Awards, his first for the film Mister Roberts in
1955. Equally adept at playing both comedic and dramatic roles, Lemmon was a
triple threat talent, also dabbling in music and poetry.
Guitarist
Chet Atkins (born 1924) was a six-string virtuoso who defined the “Nashville
Sound” in country music during the 1960s. Atkins recorded close to 100 studio
albums during a fifty-plus year career, and played with a diverse group of
talent that included Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, George Benson, and Mark
Knopfler of Dire Straits. Johnny Russell (born 1940) is best known as a country
songwriter who scored hits with folks like Buck Owens, George Jones, Dolly
Parton and even the Beatles. Russell also enjoyed a lengthy career as a
performer in his own right, charting his first country hit in 1971 and joining
the Grand Ole Opry in 1985, where he remained a fixture almost every Saturday
night until his death.
John Lee Hooker (born 1917) was the last of
the true Delta Bluesmen. Whereas most of his contemporaries made their way from
the Mississippi Delta northward to St. Louis and Chicago, Hooker’s sojourn took
him to Detroit, where he forged a lengthy career with a unique sound and
charismatic performances. Hooker recorded over 100 albums during a career that
spanned six decades, working with such musical luminaries as Bonnie Raitt,
George Thorogood, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana and Canned Heat. All of these
entertainers will be missed for the timeless moments of joy their talents
brought us. (View From The Hill, June 2001)
By 1989, blues legend John Lee Hooker was entering the final chapter of
an impressive career that had endured for over 50 years. Hooker scored his first
chart-topping R&B hit in 1948 with “Boogie Chillen”, and he visited the
charts sporadically over the years with songs like “Crawlin’ King Snake”, “I’m
In the Mood” (a Top 30 pop hit!), and “Boom Boom”. He’d recorded better than 100
albums over the course of his career, including collaborations with young blues
bands like the Groundhogs and Canned Heat and guest appearances on albums by
artists as diverse as Peter Townshend, Jim Morrison, John P. Hammond, and Miles
Davis. Clearly, John Lee had little left to prove…
Enter Mike Kappus,
a legendary artist manager and agent. Kappus became a licensed booking agent in
1970 at the age of 19, promoting shows while attending the University of
Wisconsin. Moving to San Francisco in 1976, he founded the Rosebud Agency,
signing guitarist Michael Bloomfield and singer/songwriter John Hiatt the first
day he opened the doors. Over the ensuing years, Kappus was instrumental in
launching the careers of artists like George Thorogood & the Destroyers,
Robert Cray, and Los Lobos and he also worked with veteran music-makers like
Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, Captain Beefheart and … you guessed it … John Lee
Hooker. Kappus dabbled in record production as well, receiving ‘Executive
Producer’ credits on albums by Hooker, Robert Cray, J.J. Cale, Duke Robillard,
and Loudon Wainwright III, among others.
John Lee Hooker’s The Healer
Kappus helped launch the HART (Handy Artists Relief Trust) Fund for The
Blues Foundation in 2000, providing financial assistance to blues musicians in
need, and he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2014. As Hooker’s
manager and agent, he envisioned a late-career “comeback” album by the 73 year
old bluesman, assisted by some of the talents whose contact info stuffed his
Rolodex. He found a like-minded ally in Stephen Powers, the founder and
president of Chameleon Records, who he knew from his early days in Wisconsin.
Chameleon had recently purchased the long-dormant Vee-Jay Records label and
had reissued several of Hooker’s earlier Vee-Jay albums with some success so,
after a little coaxing, Powers agreed to release The Healer.
Recruiting blues guitarist Roy Rogers from Hooker’s Coast To Coast
Band to produce the album, Kappus enlisted eager volunteers like guitarists
Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, George Thorogood, and Robert Cray to join Hooker
in San Francisco’s Russian Hill Recording Studios in September 1989. Hooker’s
basic backing band in the studio was comprised of Rogers on guitar and drummer
Scott Matthews, with members of Canned Heat and Los Lobos sitting in on some
tunes. The album’s tracklist featured material from Hooker’s deep and wide
song catalog, with the new title track co-written by the blues legend along
with Santana, Rogers, and keyboardist Chester D. Thompson.
With
Carlos’s guitar weaving a Latin-flavored tapestry of sound and the rhythm
section establishing a strong rhythm with timbales, conga, and drums, the
title track kicks off The Healer with a jazzy, exotic vibe that’s only
enhanced by Hooker’s smoky, almost-muted vocals and Thompson’s nuanced
keyboards. Santana’s mid-song solo soars out of the mix, the guitarist clearly
enjoying himself (he’d enjoy a late-career revival of his own a decade later,
with 1999’s Supernatural album). Hooker’s duet with Bonnie Raitt on
“I’m In the Mood” earned the bluesman his first Grammy™ Award (for “Best
Traditional Blues Recording”). The combination of the two old friends, a
darkened studio, and an erotic vibe sizzles like steak on the grill, with
sultry vocals and the red-hot coals of Raitt’s slide-guitarwork. Hooker
originally released the song in 1951, enjoying a #1 R&B chart hit, but the
‘89 version is superior in sound and performance.
Hooker ‘n’ Heat
“Baby Lee” was the B-side of Hooker’s 1956 R&B hit “Dimples” and, revisited
for The Healer with Robert Cray on guitar, the performance is so
laid-back that you can’t tell if it’s coming or going. The song’s strong rhythm
overwhelms Hooker’s slight vocals, but Cray’s subtle fretwork rides along
Richard Cousins’ fluid bass line to create a cool, bluesy ambiance. By contrast,
Hooker and his old friends from Canned Heat (their 1971 collaboration
Hooker ‘n’ Heat is a blues-rock treasure) raise a bit of dust with
“Cuttin’ Out”. Henry Vestine’s guitar licks rip ‘n’ roar alongside Hooker’s
spoken-sung vocals while the rhythm section of bassist Larry Taylor and drummer
Fito de la Parra establish a swinging booger-rock groove. As icing on the cake,
blues harp legend Charlie Musselwhite rages on the harmonica in counterpoint to
the rhythm, making for an invigorating performance.
Hooker is backed
by Los Lobos for “Think Twice Before You Go”, the entire band pitching in and
creating a low-slung sound above which Hooker croons his vocals. With David
Hildago’s accordion in the background, it really sounds like a Los Lobos cover
of a vintage Hooker song, with the bluesman guest-starring on vocals … and
that’s not a bad thing! Probably the oldest song on The Healer, “Sally
Mae” was the flipside of Hooker’s first hit, “Boogie Chillen’”. He’s accompanied
here by George Thorogood, who’s forged a decades-long career from his Hooker
influences, but the guitarist plays it straight here, reverent to the material,
garnishing Hooker’s smooth-knit vox rather than stomping on them.
“That’s Alright” defines the difference between the Detroit school
of blues (i.e. Hooker) and the better-known Chicago style … the song establishes
a strong, stuttering rhythm endemic to the Detroit style, courtesy of drummer
Matthews and bassist Steve Ehrmann, and then layers on Rogers’ ringing guitar
tones and Musselwhite’s mournful harp notes beneath Hooker’s moaning, droning
vocals. Whereas Chicago blues often relies on an up-tempo swing with both rhythm
and guitar, Detroit blues is heavier and more atmospheric, often as
thickly-constructed as night in a Louisiana swamp. Hooker breaks out his
National Steel guitar for the haunting “Rockin’ Chair”, the solo performance
echoing the ghosts of the Mississippi Delta while displaying his fractured,
jagged guitar style. “No Substitute” is in a similar country-blues vein, Hooker
wielding a twelve-string like Big Joe Williams, while the previous “My Dream”,
with Canned Heat’s rhythm section, is a soulful ballad that displays a more
constrained side of John Lee’s
talents.
The Healer
eventually sold better than a half-million copies, an unheard of number in the
blues world, and it helped launch a roots-music revival that continues to this
day. Quoted in British music critic Charles Shaar Murray’s John Lee biography,
Boogie Man, Kappus states that “The Healer had a major impact on
the entire genre of roots music. The door had been cracking open for years for
roots music with George Thorogood and Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Cray, but
here was an older artist, one of the originators, actually having success on the
level of a contemporary rock star.” Recently reissued on CD and vinyl by Craft
Recordings after being out-of-print for over a decade, The Healer was
pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Records Pressing with lacquers cut by
award-winning engineer Bernie Grundman. Although the new reissue doesn’t include
any bonus tracks (according to Murray, several tracks were recorded at the time
and used on subsequent albums like Mr. Lucky), it’s just good to have
this groundbreaking album available once more.
The Reverend’s Bottom Line
If The Healer represented the final chapter of John Lee Hooker’s
lengthy career, it was really just the opening paragraph. Using the album’s
guest-heavy format as a blueprint, Hooker went on to write a hell of a closing
for his story with subsequent albums like 1991’s Mr. Lucky (which
included Santana, Keith Richards, and Albert Collins); 1992’s
Boom Boom (with Jimmie Vaughan and Robert Cray); and 1995’s
Chill Out (with Santana and Van Morrison), all of them produced by
Rogers and overseen by Kappus. The Morrison-produced
Don’t Look Back (1997) was Hooker’s final studio album, earning him his
third and fourth Grammy™ Awards.
Hooker was inducted into the Blues
Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. He also
received the Grammy™ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. Passing away in June
2001, John Lee Hooker went out on top, enjoying more than a decade of critical
and commercial success (and long-overdue monetary reward) as well as numerous
accolades and the respect and adoration of his peers. His career was often
overshadowed by the successes of his contemporaries, but after better than
half a century in the blues business, John Lee became a bona fide “overnight
success”… and it all began with The Healer. (Craft Recordings, reissued
October 28th, 2022)
It's the end of 2020 (thank Crom!) and new music releases begin to slow to a
trickle over the next couple of months. That's not to say that there won't be
some rad new tunes for us to chew on, though! Check out new albums by folks
like Jules Shear, blues guitarist extraordinaire Duke Robillard, the
Avalanches, and the Drive-By Truckers. If that's not enough, how about vinyl
reissues of a classic pair of albums by Pylon, long-lost live sets by Bob
Marley, Jimi Hendrix, and John Lee Hooker, and archival collections from Dave
Alvin and former Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips to whet yer whistle?
Release dates are probably gonna change and nobody tells me when they do. If
you’re interesting in buying an album, just hit the ‘Buy!’ link to get it from
Amazon.com...it’s just that damn easy! Your purchase puts valuable ‘store
credit’ in the Reverend’s pocket that he’ll use to buy more music to write
about in a never-ending loop of rock ‘n’ roll ecstasy! If you're boycotting
Amazon and don't have an indie record store close by, may we suggest shopping
with our friends at
Grimey's Music
in Nashville? They have a great selection of vinyl available by mail order,
offer quick service, and if you don't see what you want on their website,
check out their
Discogs shop!
NOVEMBER 6 John Lee Hooker - Live At Montreux 1983 & 1990 [vinyl
reissue]
BUY! Pylon - Chomp [vinyl reissue]
BUY! Pylon - Gyrate [vinyl reissue]
BUY!
SVT - Always Come Back [No Regrets w/bonus tracks] BUY!
The Uptones - Get Outta My Way BUY!
NOVEMBER 13 The Cribs -
Night Network
BUY! Bob Marley - Uprising Live [3-LP vinyl reissue]
BUY! Jules Shear -
Slower
BUY! Swans - Children of God [CD & vinyl reissue]
BUY!
NOVEMBER 20 Dave Alvin -
From An Old Guitar: Rare and Unreleased Recordings
BUY! Cabaret Voltaire -
Shadow of Fear
BUY! Jimi Hendrix Experience -
Live In Maui [2-CD/Blu-Ray]
BUY! Duke Robillard & Friends -
Blues Bash!
BUY!
NOVEMBER 27 Jon Anderson -
Song of Seven
BUY! Hatebreed -
Weight of the False Self
BUY! Anthony Phillips - Missing Links I-IV [5-CD box set]
BUY! Smashing Pumpkins -
Cyr
BUY!
Various Artists -
The Bath Festival of Blues & Progressive Music 1969-70 [3-CD
set]
BUY!
DECEMBER 4 George Thorogood & the Destroyers -
Live in Boston, 1982: The Complete Concert [CD & vinyl
reissue]
BUY!
The White Stripes -
Greatest Hits
BUY!
DECEMBER 11 The Avalanches -
We Will Always Love You
BUY! Osees -
Panther Rotate
BUY!
The Ready-Mades - San Francisco: Mostly Live
DECEMBER 18 Kevin Godley [10cc] -
Muscle Memory
BUY! The Drive-By Truckers -
The New OK
BUY!
Album of the Month: The Bath Festival of Blues & Progressive Music 1969-70 is a
three-disc set commemorating the 50th anniversary of the historic festivals,
held in June 1969 and 1970 and promoted by Freddy Bannister. One of the
earliest such events in the U.K. these two festivals featured performances by
talents like Ten Years After, Blodwyn Pig, Taste, (early) Fleetwood Mac,
Donovan, Steppenwolf, John Mayall, Canned Heat, Johnny Winter, the Byrds,
Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, and many more! The standard
three-CD set offers 35 stellar performances culled from the two festivals
while a full-blown deluxe box set (show above) also includes reproductions of
program booklets from both events, posters, and much more. Check it all out at
Music Glue, which is also selling t-shirts and other authorized memorabilia from the
festivals!
August is shaping up nicely for music, with rockin' new albums by Ty Segall, the Hold Steady, Redd Kross, Oh Sees, the Hangmen, the Futureheads, and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (their second this year!). It's also a great month for blues fans with new tunes from Bobby Rush, Coco Montoya, Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters, and the Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Grueling. If that's not your cuppa, how about reissues of great albums by Gregg Allman, John Lee Hooker, Linda McCartney, Steve Goodman, and the talented, effervescent Cindy Lee Berryhill?
Finally, the vaults were opened to sneak out vintage (and previously-unreleased) live sets from Creedence Clearwater Revival and Richard Thompson as well as Jefferson Airplane's complete Woodstock performance on three LPs. If you’re interesting in buying an album, just hit the ‘Buy!’ link to
get it from Amazon.com...it’s just that damn easy! Your purchase puts
valuable ‘store credit’ in the Reverend’s pocket that he’ll use to buy
more music to write about in a never-ending loop of rock ‘n’ roll
ecstasy!
AUGUST 2
Berlin - Transcendance BUY!
Cindy Lee Berryhill - Garage Orchestra [CD reissue] BUY!
Cindy Lee Berryhill - Straight Outta Marysville [CD reissue] BUY!
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Live at Woodstock [CD & vinyl] BUY!
Cherie Currie & Brie Darling - The Motivator BUY!
John Lee Hooker - The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker [vinyl reissue] BUY!
Linda McCartney - Wide Prairie [vinyl reissue] BUY!
Ty Segall - First Taste BUY!
Richard Thompson - Across A Crowded Room: Live At Barrymore’s 1985 BUY!
AUGUST 9
Steve Goodman - Santa Ana Winds [CD reissue] BUY!
Steve Goodman - Unfinished Business [demos & outtakes] BUY!
Jefferson Airplane - Woodstock: Sunday August 17,1969 [3-LP vinyl reissue] BUY!
Rocky Kramer - Firestorm BUY!
The Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling - Lucky Guy! BUY!
Slipknot - We Are Not Your Kind BUY!
AUGUST 16
The Hold Steady - Thrashing Thru the Passion BUY!
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Infest the Rats' Nest BUY!
Peter, Paul & Mary - At Newport 1963-65 BUY!
Oh Sees - Face Stabber BUY!
Ride - This Is Not A Safe Space BUY!
Bobby Rush - Sitting On Top of the Blues BUY!
Sleater-Kinney - The Center Won't Hold BUY!
Frank Turner - No Man's Land BUY!
Versus - Ex Voto BUY!
AUGUST 23
Crobot - Motherbrain BUY!
Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant OST [CD & vinyl] BUY!
The Hangmen - Cactusville BUY!
Coco Montoya - Coming In Hot BUY!
Redd Kross - Beyond the Door BUY!
The Rembrandts - Me and Fate BUY!
The Rubinoos - From Home BUY!
AUGUST 30
Gregg Allman - Laid Back [deluxe CD & vinyl reissue] BUY!
Gregg Allman - The Gregg Allman Tour [vinyl reissue] BUY!
Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters - Beyond the Blue DoorBUY!
The Futureheads - Powers BUY!
Jesse Malin - Sunset Kids BUY!
Nirvana - Live and Loud [vinyl reissue] BUY!
Album of the Month: Creedence Clearwater Revival's Live at Woodstock is the first release of the legendary band's hour-long set from the August 1969 festival. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, the eleven tracks here include some of the most revered classic rock songs of all time. John Fogerty and crew rip through gems like "Born On the Bayou," "Bad Moon Rising," "Proud Mary," "I Put A Spell On You," and "Suzie Q" from CCR's first three LPs. My only question is why did it take so damn long to release this performance? Available on CD or groovy black vinyl...
It’s not really a secret on either side of the Atlantic that British rock legends the Rolling Stones have long been fans and supporters of American blues music. The named themselves after a song by Chicago blues great Muddy Waters, and started their time-defying career in the early ‘60s as a blues and R&B covers band. The Stones have flirted with the blues ever since, celebrating their lengthy love affair with the release of the 2016 album Blue & Lonesome, a collection of heartfelt covers of classic blues tunes.
Given their relationship with, and knowledge of the blues, it only makes sense that the Stones’ band members could curate an authoritative collection of blues music. On November 9th, 2018 BMG and Universal Music will release Confessin’ The Blues, a 42-track collection of classic blues music chosen by the Stones and featuring red-hot tracks by folks like Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, Elmore James, Chuck Berry, and many others. Confessin’ The Blues will be released in two-CD, double-vinyl, and a 5”x10” vinyl book-pack that mimics the original 78rpm releases. All versions feature liner notes by music journalist Colin Larkin while the book-pack includes removable art card prints by noted blues illustrator Christoph Mueller. The album’s cover was painted by Stones guitarist and resident artist Ron Wood.
The band and BMG decided that 10% of the label’s net receipts from the sale of the album will be donated to Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation, an educational non-profit organization that keeps the history and spirit of the blues alive. Named after the legendary blues musician, songwriter, and producer Willie Dixon, the organization’s President and CEO Jacqueline Dixon says in a press release for the new album, “we are extremely honoured, grateful and humbled that Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation has been included in such an astonishing project. It means so much that my father’s dream of creating an organisation that promotes, protects and preserves the Blues for future generations is being recognised and supported by artists that have achieved so much.”
Rolling Stones founding member and guitarist Keith Richards says it best, “if you don't know the blues... there’s no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music.” The blues is where it all began and, judging the complete track listing below, Confessin’ The Blues includes some of the best music the genre has to offer.
Confessin’ The Blues track listing:
Disc One:
01. Muddy Waters - Rollin’ Stone
02. Howlin’ Wolf - Little Red Rooster
03. John Lee Hooker - Boogie Chillen
04. Little Walter - Hate To See You Go
05. Chuck Berry - Little Queenie
06. Bo Diddley - You Can’t Judge A Book By It’s Cover
07. Eddie Taylor - Ride ‘Em On Down
08. Slim Harpo - I’m A King Bee
09. Magic Sam - All Your Love
10. Elmore James - Dust My Broom
11. Little Walter - Just Your Fool
12. Muddy Waters - I Want To Be Loved
13. Big Bill Broonzy - Key To The Highway
14. Robert Johnson - Love In Vain Blues
15. Mississippi Fred McDowell - You Gotta Move
16. Jimmy Reed - Bright Lights, Big City
17. Big Maceo - Worried Life Blues
18. Little Johnny Taylor - Everybody Knows About My Good Thing (Part 1)
19. Howlin’ Wolf - Commit A Crime
20. Otis Rush - I Can’t Quit You Baby
21. Jay McShann & Walter Brown - Confessin’ The Blues
Disc Two:
1. Howlin’ Wolf - Just Like I Treat You
2. Little Walter - I Got To Go
3. Chuck Berry - Carol
4. Bo Diddley - Mona
5. Muddy Waters - I Just Want To Make Love To You
6. Elmore James - Blues Before Sunrise
7. Eddie Taylor - Bad Boy
8. Boy Blue - Boogie Children
9. Jimmy Reed - Little Rain
10. Robert Johnson - Stop Breakin’ Down Blues
11. Reverend Robert Wilkins - The Prodigal Son
12. Lightnin’ Slim - Hoodoo Blues
13. Billy Boy Arnold - Don’t Stay Out All Night
14. Bo Diddley - Craw Dad
15. Dale Hawkins - Suzie Q
16. Amos Milburn - Down The Road Apiece
17. Howlin’ Wolf - Little Baby
18. Little Walter - Blue and Lonesome
19. B.B. King - Rock Me Baby
20. Buddy Guy - Damn Right I’ve Got The Blues
21. Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy
The late John Lee Hooker remains one of my favorite bluesmen, and I’d easily slot him in the top six or seven blues artists of all time in terms of importance and influence on the genre. There are an abundance of Hooker compilation albums available for the curious, including the excellent Acrobat Records set The Modern, Chess & Veejay Singles Collection 1949-62 that we reviewed a few months back. However, it looks like Craft Recordings, a division of Concord Bicycle Music, is going over and above the call of duty with the label’s recently-announced five-disc John Lee Hooker set.
Titled King of the Boogie, the set’s whopping five discs dig deep into the John Lee catalog, past the many pseudonyms he used to record under in order to compile a true career-spanning collection. King of the Boogie offers 100 songs (in celebration of the centennial of Hooker’s birth) that include not only his monster hits, but also rarities, live recordings, and previously-unreleased tracks. The set is housed in a cool 56-page book that includes a wide selection of photos as well as new liner notes by writer and Hooker historian Jas Obrecht as well as the artist’s longtime manager and friend, Mike Kappus.
The collection was curated by producer Mason Williams to provide a narrative of Hooker’s career. “Even at 100 songs, this set is just a snapshot of John Lee Hooker’s incredible and influential career” says Williams in a press release for the collection, “but one that takes you on the long journey he took from his early days in Detroit, to his time in Chicago recording for Vee-Jay Records and up through his later collaborations with Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, and Santana, among others.”
John Lee Hooker photo by Jay Blakesberg
Born in 1917 near Clarksdale, Mississippi to a family of sharecroppers, Hooker worked his way to Detroit as a young man with an eye towards a career in music. Hooker enjoyed his first hit single in 1948 with the iconic “Boogie Chillun’,” and over a career that lasted better than 60 years until his death in 2001, Hooker recorded over 100 albums that would earn him four Grammy® Awards and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame. Along the way, Hooker would influence several generations of musicians, from the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton to Canned Heat and Carlos Santana as well as modern bluesman like Tommy Castro.
Looking at the track listing for King of the Boogie, the first couple of discs document Hooker’s early years with great songs like “Boogie Chillun’” and “Crawlin’ King Snake” as well as obscurities recorded under alter-egos like “Texas Slim” and “Delta John” in order to collect a session check. Disc three offers up a wealth of classic tracks like “Boom Boom,” “Frisco Blues,” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” while disc four is comprised entirely of live tracks.
The fifth and final disc captures Hooker in the twilight of his career, his vocals and spirit still strong on 1980s and ‘90s-era recordings with friends like Canned Heat, the Groundhogs, Van Morrison, B.B. King, George Thorogood, Bonnie Raitt, and Carlos Santana, among others. King of the Boogie will be released by Craft Recordings on September 29th, 2017.
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