The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker
The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker | |
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Studio album by John Lee Hooker | |
Released | January 1960 (1960-01) |
Recorded | April 20, 1959 |
Studio | United Sound Systems, Detroit, Michigan |
Genre | Blues |
Length | 43:00 |
Label | Riverside |
Producer | Bill Grauer |
The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (also known as The Folk Blues of John Lee Hooker) is an album by blues musician John Lee Hooker recorded in Detroit in 1959[1] and released by Riverside Records in January 1960.[2]
Reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
DownBeat | [4] |
The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues | [5] |
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [6] |
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings said "Riverside required Hooker to play only acoustic guitar. What motivated this redirection, and in particular the 'classic blues' repertoire on the first album was a view of the blues - you might say a politics of the blues - very much of its time ... though, as always with Hooker the result is not exact commemoration so much as highly personalised allusion".[6]
AllMusic reviewer Richie Unterberger stated: "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".[3]
Track listing
All compositions credited to John Lee Hooker except where noted
- "Black Snake" (Blind Lemon Jefferson) – 3:33
- "How Long Blues" (Leroy Carr) – 2:14
- "Wobblin' Baby" – 2:51
- "She's Long, She's Tall, She Weeps Like a Willow" – 2:47
- "Pea Vine Special" (Charlie Patton) – 3:10
- "Tupelo Blues" – 3:23
- "I'm Prison Bound" (Carr) – 3:58
- "I Rowed a Little Boat" – 3:28
- "Water Boy" – 3:00
- "Church Bell Tone" – 3:43
- "Bundle Up and Go" – 2:13
- "Good Morning Lil' School Girl" (Sonny Boy Williamson I) – 3:38
- "Behind the Plow" – 4:22
Personnel
- John Lee Hooker – guitar, vocals
References
- ^ The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (CD reissue notes). Berkeley, California: Original Blues Classics/Riverside Records. 1991. Back cover. OBCCD-542-2/RLP-12-838.
- ^ Erlewine, Michael; Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Koda, Cub, eds. (1996). "The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker". All Music Guide to the Blues. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books. p. 116. ISBN 0-87930-424-3.
- ^ a b Unterberger, Richie. John Lee Hooker: The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
- ^ Ralph, J. Gleason (21 January 1960). "Vocal". DownBeat. Vol. 27, no. 2. p. 35.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues. London: Random House. p. 280. ISBN 9781448132744.
- ^ a b Russell, Tony; Smith, Chris (2006). The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. London: Penguin. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-140-51384-4.
- v
- t
- e
- The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker (1959)
- Travelin' (1960)
- That's My Story (1960)
- The Folk Lore of John Lee Hooker (1961)
- Burnin' (1962)
- The Big Soul of John Lee Hooker (1963)
- John Lee Hooker on Campus (1964)
- Burning Hell (1964)
- ...And Seven Nights (1965)
- It Serve You Right to Suffer (1966)
- The Real Folk Blues (1966)
- Urban Blues (1967)
- Simply the Truth (1969)
- If You Miss 'Im...I Got 'Im (1969)
- Get Back Home (1969)
- I Feel Good! (1971)
- Hooker 'n Heat (1971)
- Endless Boogie (1971)
- Never Get Out of These Blues Alive (1972)
- Born in Mississippi, Raised Up in Tennessee (1973)
- Free Beer and Chicken (1974)
- Sittin' Here Thinkin' (1980)
- Jealous (1987)
- The Healer (1989)
- More Real Folk Blues: The Missing Album (1991)
- Mr. Lucky (1991)
- Chill Out (1995)
- Don't Look Back (1997)
- Concert at Newport (1963)
- Live at Sugar Hill (1963)
- Live at Cafe Au Go Go (1967)
- Live at Soledad Prison (1972)
- Kabuki Wuki (1973)
- The Cream (1978)
- House of the Blues (1959)
- I'm John Lee Hooker (1959)
- John Lee Hooker Plays & Sings the Blues (1961)
- Folk Blues (1962)
- Don't Turn Me from Your Door (1963)
- Original Folk Blues (1964)
- That's Where It's At! (1969)
- Goin' Down Highway 51 (1971)
- The Ultimate Collection (1991)
- Come See About Me (2004)
- "Boogie Chillen'" (1948)
- "Crawling King Snake" (1948)
- "Jack o' Diamonds" (1949)
- "Trouble in Mind" (1949)
- "Catfish" (1951)
- "I'm in the Mood" (1951)
- "Sugar Mama" (1952)
- "Worried Life Blues" (1952)
- "Baby, Please Don't Go" (1952)
- "Key to the Highway" (1952)
- "I'm Ready" (1956)
- "Dimples" (1956)
- "I Need Some Money" (1960)
- "Boom Boom" (1961)
- "Drifting Blues" (1961)
- "Don't Look Back" (1961)
- "How Long Blues" (1960)
- "Good Mornin', Lil' School Girl" (1960)
- "Smokestack Lightnin'" (1960)
- "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" (1966)
- "Bottle Up & Go" (1966)
- "I Can't Quit You Baby" (1966)
- "Meet Me in the Bottom" (1971)
- "Roll and Tumble" (1971)
- "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" (1974)
- "Terraplane Blues" (1987)
- "I Cover the Waterfront" (1991)
- "The Healing Game" (1997)
- "Red House" (1997)
- Discography
- Detroit blues
- Eddie Kirkland
- Eddie "Guitar" Burns
- Canned Heat
- The Blues Brothers
- The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend
- John Lee Hooker Jr.