John Lee Hooker

• Born: August 22, 1917, Clarksdale, MS
• Died: June 21, 2001, Los Altos, CA
• Active: '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s
• Genres: Blues
• Instrument: Guitar, Vocals, Songwriter
• Representative Albums: "The Definitive Collection," "The Very Best of John Lee Hooker," "The Ultimate Collection (1948-1990)"
• Representative Songs: "Boom Boom," "I'm in the Mood," "Dimples"

Biography

He 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.

"The Hook" was a Mississippi native who became the top gent on the Detroit blues circuit in the years following World War II. The seeds for his eerily mournful guitar sound were planted by his stepfather, Will Moore, while Hooker was in his teens. Hooker had been singing spirituals before that, but the blues took hold and simply wouldn't let go. Overnight visitors left their mark on the youth, too: legends like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Blind Blake, who all knew Moore.

Hooker heard Memphis calling while he was still in his teens, but he couldn't gain much of a foothold there. So he relocated to Cincinnati for a seven-year stretch before making the big move to the Motor City in 1943. Jobs were plentiful, but Hooker drifted away from day gigs in favor of playing his unique free-form brand of blues. A burgeoning club scene along Hastings Street didn't hurt his chances any.

In 1948, the aspiring bluesman hooked up with entrepreneur Bernie Besman, who helped him hammer out his solo debut sides, "Sally Mae" and its seminal flip, "Boogie Chillen." This was blues as primitive as anything then on the market; Hooker's dark, ruminative vocals were backed only by his own ringing, heavily amplified guitar and insistently pounding foot. Their efforts were quickly rewarded. Los Angeles-based Modern Records issued the sides and "Boogie Chillen" -- a colorful, unique travelogue of Detroit's blues scene -- made an improbable jaunt to the very peak of the R&B charts.

Modern released several more major hits by "the Boogie Man" after that: "Hobo Blues" and its raw-as-an-open wound flip, "Hoogie Boogie"; "Crawling King Snake Blues" (all three 1949 smashes); and the unusual 1951 chart-topper "I'm in the Mood," where Hooker overdubbed his voice three times in a crude early attempt at multi-tracking.

But Hooker never, ever let something as meaningless as a contract stop him for making recordings for other labels. His early catalog is stretched across a road map of diskeries so complex that it's nearly impossible to fully comprehend (a vast array of recording aliases don't make things any easier).

Along with Modern, Hooker recorded for King (as the geographically challenged Texas Slim), Regent (as Delta John, a far more accurate handle), Savoy (as the wonderfully surreal Birmingham Sam & His Magic Guitar), Danceland (as the downright delicious Little Pork Chops), Staff (as Johnny Williams), Sensation (for whom he scored a national hit in 1950 with "Huckle Up, Baby"), Gotham, Regal, Swing Time, Federal, Gone (as John Lee Booker), Chess, Acorn (as the Boogie Man), Chance, DeLuxe (as Johnny Lee), JVB, Chart, and Specialty; before finally settling down at Vee-Jay in 1955 under his own name. Hooker became the point man for the growing Detroit blues scene during this incredibly prolific period, recruiting guitarist Eddie Kirkland as his frequent duet partner while still recording for Modern.

Once tied in with Vee-Jay, the rough-and-tumble sound of Hooker's solo and duet waxings was adapted to a band format. Hooker had recorded with various combos along the way before, but never with sidemen as versatile and sympathetic as guitarist Eddie Taylor and harpist Jimmy Reed, who backed him at his initial Vee-Jay date that produced "Time Is Marching" and the superfluous sequel "Mambo Chillun."

Taylor stuck around for a 1956 session that elicited two genuine Hooker classics, "Baby Lee" and "Dimples," and he was still deftly anchoring the rhythm section (Hooker's sense of timing was his and his alone, demanding big-eared sidemen) when the Boogie Man finally made it back to the R&B charts in 1958 with "I Love You Honey."

Vee-Jay presented Hooker in quite an array of settings during the early '60s. His grinding, tough blues "No Shoes" proved a surprisingly sizable hit in 1960, while the storming "Boom Boom," his top seller for the firm in 1962 (it even cracked the pop airwaves), was an infectious R&B dance number benefiting from the reported presence of some of Motown's house musicians. But there were also acoustic outings aimed squarely at the blossoming folk-blues crowd, as well as some attempts at up-to-date R&B that featured highly intrusive female background vocals (allegedly by the Vandellas) and utterly unyielding structures that hemmed Hooker in unmercifully.

British blues bands such as the Animals and Yardbirds idolized Hooker during the early '60s; Eric Burdon's boys cut a credible 1964 cover of "Boom Boom" that outsold Hooker's original on the American pop charts. Hooker visited Europe in 1962 under the auspices of the first American Folk Blues Festival, leaving behind the popular waxings "Let's Make It" and "Shake It Baby" for foreign consumption.

Back home, Hooker cranked out gems for Vee-Jay through 1964 ("Big Legs, Tight Skirt," one of his last offerings on the logo, was also one of his best), before undergoing another extended round of label-hopping (except this time, he was waxing whole LPs instead of scattered 78s). Verve-Folkways, Impulse, Chess, and BluesWay all enticed him into recording for them in 1965-1966 alone! His reputation among hip rock cognoscenti in the States and abroad was growing exponentially, especially after he teamed up with blues-rockers Canned Heat for the massively selling album Hooker 'n' Heat in 1970.

Eventually, though, the endless boogie formula grew incredibly stagnant. Much of Hooker's 1970s output found him laying back while plodding rock-rooted rhythm sections assumed much of the work load. A cameo in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers was welcome, if far too short.

But Hooker wasn't through; not by a long shot. With the expert help of slide guitarist extraordinaire/producer Roy Rogers, the Hook waxed The Healer, an album that marked the first of his guest star-loaded albums (Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, and Robert Cray were among the luminaries to cameo on the disc, which picked up a Grammy).

Major labels were just beginning to take notice of the growing demand for blues records, and Pointblank snapped Hooker up, releasing Mr. Lucky (this time teaming Hooker with everyone from Albert Collins and John Hammond to Van Morrison and Keith Richards). Once again, Hooker was resting on his laurels by allowing his guests to wrest much of the spotlight away from him on his own album, but by then, he'd earned it. Another Pointblank set, Boom Boom, soon followed.

Happily, Hooker enjoyed the good life throughout the '90s. He spent much of his time in semi-retirement, splitting his relaxation time between several houses acquired up and down the California coast. When the right offer came along, though, he took it, including an amusing TV commercial for Pepsi. He also kept recording, releasing such star-studded efforts as 1995's Chill Out and 1997's Don't Look Back. All this helped him retain his status as a living legend, and he remained an American musical icon; and his stature wasn't diminished upon his death from natural causes on June 21, 2001. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide

Only the Best of John Lee Hooker Buy this CD	Final Recordings, Vol. 1: Face to Face Buy this CD	John Lee Hooker [Platinum] Buy this CD	Man, the Legend Buy this CD	Rising Sun Collection: John Lee Hooker, 1977 Buy this CD
Blues Is the Colour Buy this CD	Live in Montreal [DVD] Buy this CD	Best of John Lee Hooker [Tomato Music] Buy this CD	I'm a Boogie Man: The Essential Masters 1948-1953 Buy this CD	My Dusty Roads Buy this CD

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American musician John Lee Hooker (1917-2001) was an influential blues artist who played a role in the development of the genre from the late 1940s through the 1990s. Playing both electric and acoustic guitar, Hooker's distinctive vocal and instrumental style also shaped the development of rock and folk music during the 1960s and 1970s.

John Lee Hooker was born on August 22, 1917 (some sources say 1920), in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the fourth of 11 children born to William and Minnie Hooker. Hooker's father was a sharecropper and Baptist minister who did not like the blues, referring to it as the "devil's music." Hooker's parents separated when he was five and divorced when he was 11 years old. While Hooker received a limited formal education, music was an important component to his life. He first became exposed to it at church and constructed his first instrument out of a piece of string and an inner tube. Soon after her divorce, Hooker's mother was remarried to William Moore, a blues musician. Hooker credited Moore with mentoring him as a musician.

Moore taught Hooker how to play guitar, showing the boy his minimalist but very rhythmic style of playing. Soon Moore and Hooker were playing together at house parties and dances near their hometown. Though Hooker enjoyed playing with his stepfather he was unhappy living in Mississippi and when he was 14 years old he ran away from home.

Traveled to Tennessee and Midwest

Hooker first tried to join the U.S. Army, in part because during World War II a young man in uniform would attract attention from women. He made it through basic training and after three months was stationed in Detroit before it was discovered that he was underage and he was kicked out. Hooker then moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Supporting himself with day jobs such as movie theater usher, Hooker also worked as a musician at house parties because he could not get into clubs. Among the musician he played with was Robert Lockwood.

In his late teens Hooker moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he continued to work menial day jobs like dish washer and steel mill worker while establishing his music career at night. Because he was still a minor, Hooker could only play the blues at house parties. However, he also sang in gospel quartets like the Delta Big Four, Fairfield Four, and the Big Six. By working frequently in front of a crowd, Hooker learned the ropes of performing on stage and entertaining an audience.

In 1943 Hooker moved to Detroit, where jobs were plentiful because so many men were overseas fighting in World War II. He held day jobs washing dishes and working as a janitor in a Chrysler automobile plant until 1951. Now a legal adult, Hooker was now able to perform at the many blues clubs located near Detroit's Hastings Street.

While living in Detroit Hooker's style changed: from the country/rural folk-type blues played primarily on an acoustic guitar, he shifted to a more urban style played on an electric guitar. Part of the change was due to his encounter with Elmer Barber, a local record-store owner. Barber had heard Hooker perform and he made several primitive recordings of the young musician in the makeshift studio located in the back of his store.

Barber's recordings soon found their way to Bernie Besman, owner of a small record label, Sensation Records. It was Besman who suggested that Hooker should switch to electric guitar and include faster-paced material in his gigs at local clubs. Taking this advice, Hooker soon became one of the leading musicians in the Motor City, which at this time was witnessing a booming economy due to the men and women living there who had become wealthy due to the rise in wartime manufacturing.

Recorded First Hit Single

Hooker made his first single for Besman in 1948. "Boogie Chillen," recorded in a basement in Detroit, features only Hooker's vocals, his electric guitar, and the sound of his foot tapping the beat. When "Boogie Chillen" was released on Sensation it sold so well that the small label could not handle the demand. The single was then released on Modern Records and quickly climbed to the number-one spot on 1949's prototype R & B charts, selling a million copies.

Although Hooker did not receive the royalties he was entitled to for this and future songs, his success with "Boogie Chillen" came as a surprise to him. In 1949 he followed up his first single with ten other top-ten songs. Many of these early recordings feature only Hooker and his guitar, although fellow guitarist Eddie Kirkland sometimes appeared on recordings with him.

One reason that Hooker often recorded alone was that his beat was hard for accompanying musician to follow. By recording alone, it was easier to achieve a clean take, and the recording session took less time. Describing his sound, Hooker once told John Collis of the Independent, "I don't like no fancy chords. Just the boogie. The drive. The feeling. A lot of people play fancy but they don't have no style. It's a deep feeling - you just can't stop listening to that sad blues sound. My sound."

Despite becoming involved in conflicts regarding royalty issues, Hooker continued to record for Modern in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and some of his hits of the period include "Rock House Boogie," "Crawling King Snake," and "In the Mood." One of his most popular recordings of the period, "In the Mood" was released in 1951 and sold a million copies. To ensure that he would earn enough to support his family, Hooker recorded and released material under several other names for over two dozen other labels. Some of his pseudonyms included John Lee Booker, which he used for Chess recordings, Johnny Lee, used for DeLuxe, and Texas Slim and John Lee Cooker, which he used on his recordings for the King label.

Many of Hooker's early releases influenced other bluesmen such as Buddy Guy and are considered to be early precursors to rock and roll. His blues songs incorporated the traditional blues sound with jump and jazz rhythms. Although Hooker recorded his music with little backup, he also performed with a live band at clubs in Detroit and beyond. Due to his talent, hard work, and determination, Hooker was a success on the R & B circuit throughout the 1950s.

In 1955 Hooker signed on with VeeJay Records of Chicago. For this label he changed his recording style, his subsequent recordings becoming a better reflection of his live show. Because solo blues performance was waning in popularity, Hooker started recording with a band, producing such hits as "Dimples" and "Boom Boom."

Became Hit on Folk Circuit

Even though Hooker found success performing on electric guitar, he discovered a new audience for his acoustic blues during the late 1950s. Folk music was now undergoing a revival of interest, and groups like the Weavers and blues singers like Odetta were increasingly becoming popular among young white college students. Hooker began appearing in folk clubs, coffeehouses, on college campuses, and at folk festivals as a solo artist, and did several recordings accompanying himself with acoustic guitar. Many of his songs written and recorded during this period reflect his background in Mississippi.

In 1959 Hooker released his first record album, I'm John Lee Hooker, on Riverside Records, his new label. This new turn in the career of the 42-year-old bluesman earned him an even wider audience, not just among white folk fans but in international markets where his records were also released.

Hooker once discussed his change from electronic band to solo folk music with Peter Watrous, telling the New York Times interviewer: "I played solo for a long time, so I know how to tap my feet so it sounds like a drum. It wasn't any problem to start playing the coffeehouses. I can switch to any style, you have to be versatile as a musician. I knew the white audience was out there but I didn't know how to get it. As the years go by, thing change and to me they were just people. I had no thought that British singers would start singing my songs, I had no idea what would come with that. People got more civilized."

In the 1960s Hooker began touring internationally, and the popularity of his music spread throughout the world, particularly among the more sophisticated audience. His songs also influenced emerging British rock bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Animals. Hooker continued to record on VeeJay, although he did not end his practice of laying down tracks for other labels as well.

Returned to Electric

By the mid-to late 1960s Hooker once again moved away from performing acoustic solo blues when the trend toward electric blues prompted to put together a new band. In 1965 he recorded an album with British group John Mayall and the Groundhogs. Many of Hooker's recordings during the late 1960s were albums rather than singles, and many were recorded in collaboration with bands composed of younger musicians. While many of these recording sessions produced mixed results due to Hooker's unique rhythmic stylings, his sessions with the group Canned Heat is considered one of the best. The resulting album, 1971's Hooker 'n' Heat, was a hit.

Though Hooker continued to record a little and play a lot during the late 1970s and 1980s, the blues had declined in popularity and demand for his music had declined. He still toured as a way to pay the mortgage on the house he owned in San Francisco, often performing with his Coast-to-Coast Blues Band and sometimes coming under fire for letting other musician carry him musically. Many of his early recordings were also repackaged and released for blues collectors.

Considered one of the top blues performers in the United States, Hooker was given a small role in the blockbuster movie The Blues Brothers in 1980. That same year he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame. In the late 1980s and 1990s his songs regained popularity, even appearing as part of film soundtracks. In the 1990s, Hooker himself began appearing in ads for Lee Jeans, Pepsi, various brands of liquor, and other products.

Recorded The Healer

In 1989 Hooker returned to the studio after a decade's absence and recorded The Healer. He was joined by several contemporary blues artists, including Bonnie Raitt and Robert Cray, as well as Latin artists Los Lobos and Carlos Santana. Produced by Hooker's former guitarist Roy Rogers, The Healer became one of the biggest-selling blues records of all time, selling 1.5 million copies. Hooker also won a Grammy Award for the song "I'm in the Mood," which he performs on the album with Raitt.

Hooker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and was the focus of a tribute concert at Madison Square Garden that same year. With the success of The Healer, he started recording again, again in collaboration with other blues artists. His 1991 recording Mr. Lucky was a hit on the album charts in the United Kingdom. Among the musicians he worked with on this recording were Johnny Winter, Keith Richards, Van Morrison, and Santana.

Hooker continued to perform and record into his late 70s and early 80s and found himself even more popular now than he had been earlier in his career. He continued to perform live with the Coast-to-Coast Blues Band into the 1990s, but had the added security of royalty income to rely on. Unlike many other blues and R & B artists of his generation, Hooker continued to earn royalties from his early recordings because he had wisely saved his contracts and, with the proper legal advise, went to court to ensure that recording companies continued to honor them.

After a hernia operation in 1994 made it painful for Hooker to perform, he slowed down. After the release of Chill Out in 1995 he retired from performing on a regular basis, although he still made occasional appearances on stage. In 1997 he opened a blues club in San Francisco called John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom Room. One of his final releases was the album Don't Look Back (1997), which features a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Red House."

Hooker died in his sleep of natural causes on June 21, 2001, at his home in Los Altos, California. He had performed five days earlier and was making plans to return to the recording studio. At his death he had recorded more than 500 tracks, making him one of the most recorded blues musicians of all time. Married and divorced four times, Hooker was survived by eight children. Late in his life he had contemplated his eventual passing, telling Ben Wener of Tulsa World: "We all got to go one day. We live out this life as long as we can and try to make the best of it. Simple as that. That's what I've done. All my life, just try to make the best of it."

Books

Hochman, Steve, editor, Popular Musicians, Salem Press, 1999.

Larkin, Colin, editor, Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness Publishing, 1995.

Periodicals

Associated Press, June 22, 2001.

Billboard, September 5, 1998; July 7, 2001.

Daily Telegraph, June 23, 2001.

Down Beat, June 1997.

Independent, July 1, 1990.

New York Times, October 16, 1990; June 22, 2001.

Ottawa Citizen, November 1, 1992.

People Weekly, October 29, 1990.

San Francisco Chronicle, February 11, 1995.

Toronto Star, December 24, 1998.

Tulsa World, August 30, 1997.

Variety, June 25, 2001.

blues musician; guitarist

Personal Information

Born on August 22, 1917, in Clarksdale, MS; died on June 21, 2001, in Los Altos, CA; son of Minnie and William Hooker; divorced; children: eight.

Career

Played house parties in Memphis and performed in various gospel groups in Cincinnati, 1930s; played clubs in Detroit, 1940s; recorded first single, "Boogie Chillen," 1948; recorded under various pseudonyms; recorded for Vee-Jay Records, 1955-64; recorded for Riverside Records, 1959-60; worked coffeehouse circuit as folk performer; played Newport Folk Festival for first time, 1960; toured Europe with American Folk Blues Festival, 1962; collaborated on two albums with Canned Heat, late 1960s; recorded Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive with Van Morrison, 1972; made comeback with The Healer, 1989.

Life's Work

John Lee Hooker has been credited, along with Muddy Waters, with being the cofounder of modern electric blues. Hooker has influenced and inspired several generations of musicians, including Dr. Ross, the Animals, Van Morrison, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. His death on June 21, 2001, was a sad day for music enthusiasts around the world.

Hooker, the son of sharecroppers Minnie and William, was born on August 22, 1917, near Clarksdale, Mississippi. Raised in the birthplace of the blues, he developed an interest in music at an early age and even built a one-stringed instrument as a boy. His mother's second husband, Will Moore, was a popular local musician, and Hooker learned how to play guitar from his stepfather. Eventually Moore even gave Hooker one of his own instruments as a present. Hooker's stepfather played with a hypnotic one-chord style which Hooker absorbed. This style later became an integral part of Hooker's recordings. "Whatever I'm doin' is his style," Hooker told Billboard. "My style is his style."

Hooker, barely in his teens, left home in the early 1930s. "Where I came from in Mississippi was hell," he told the New York Times. "I wanted to be a star. I knew I couldn't make it in Mississippi, so I was working my way up north." Memphis was the first stop on his trip north, and Hooker found his way to Beale Street, the nucleus of the blues universe. Still too young to play at bars or nightclubs, Hooker found gigs at local house parties. Next, Hooker moved to Cincinnati. There he sang in gospel groups, gaining valuable experience performing in front of an audience. However, Hooker was still drawn to the blues. "When I started singing blues the church didn't like it," he told the New York Times, "but I was determined to be a musician and be a blues star, and I didn't care much what they thought."

Hooker arrived in Detroit in the 1940s. By day he worked as a janitor and by night he played the blues in such hot spots as the Apex Bar and the Town Bar. "The town was booming, and I was playing three and four, sometimes five nights a week in small clubs," he told the New York Times. "I got to be hot stuff, the hottest musician in Detroit."

Hooker's first big break came after World War II came to an end. Detroit record store owner Elmer Barbee saw one of Hooker's shows and invited the singer to his downtown store. Hooker brought his guitar and played for most of the night as Barbee recorded the tunes. One of the songs produced that night was "Boogie Chillen," which was based on a song Hooker had once heard his stepfather play. Barbee, convinced the song would be a number-one hit, helped Hooker contact Bernard Bessman of Sensation Records and Hooker recorded the song for Sensation. "The thing caught fire," Hooker said in Robert Palmer's Deep Blues. "It was ringin' all around the country. When it come out every jukebox you went to, every place you went to, every drugstore, everywhere you went, department stores, they were playin' it in there ... And I was workin' in Detroit in a factory there for a while. Then I quit my job. I said, 'No, I ain't workin' no more!'"

Hooker signed a contract with Modern Records in Los Angeles a year later, getting a $1000 advance. Between 1949 and 1951, Hooker produced three hits for Modern: "Hobo Blues," "In The Mood," and "Crawling Kingsnake." But after Modern failed to pay the royalties he was due Hooker began recording for other labels under a variety of pseudonyms, including: Johnny Williams, Texas Slim, Delta John, Johnny Lee, Birmingham Sam & His Magic Guitar, the Boogie Man, John Lee Booker, Sir John Lee Hooker, and John Lee Cooker. He signed with Vee-Jay Records in Chicago in 1955. While at Vee-Jay, he abandoned his solo guitar accompaniment and recorded with a full band. "Vee-Jay wanted the big sound," he told Billboard. "It was a good sound, a real good sound, a big fat sound." That fat sound led to another string of hits, including "Dimples" and "Boom Boom," which reached number 16 on the R&B charts and number sixty on the pop charts in 1962.

In an attempt to avoid being pigeonholed during an era when musical tastes were undergoing major changes, Hooker set out on the folk circuit, releasing solo acoustic records for Riverside that complemented his electric blues for Vee-Jay. He started playing at coffeehouses and appeared, beginning in 1960, at the Newport Folk Festival. In 1962 he toured Europe with the American Folk Blues Festival.

Hooker's influence had already reached England by the time he embarked on his European tour. The Animals and the Yardbirds, deeply steeped in American blues, had their own hits covering "Boom Boom." Other British groups had incorporated Hooker songs into their repertoires, as well. "I had no thought that British singers would start singing my songs," Hooker told the New York Times. "I had no idea what would come with that. People got more civilized." During the 1960s Hooker worked more and more with young rock musicians. In England, he played with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Eric Clapton. In the United States, he teamed up with his boogie disciples, Canned Heat, with whom he recorded two albums, Hooker 'N Heat and Live At The Fox Venice Theater. These collaborations introduced Hooker's music to a new, younger generation. In 1972, he recorded Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive with another fan, Van Morrison. During the rest of the 1970s and for most of the 1980s, Hooker's performing and recording tapered off, which wasn't surprising since he was nearly sixty and had worked at a frantic pace for twenty years.

In 1989, when Hooker was seventy-two, he recorded the album that ushered in the most successful and productive period of his career. The Healer, conceived by his agent Mike Kappus, featured a star-studded lineup of guest artists, including Carlos Santana, Robert Cray, Los Lobos, and Bonnie Raitt. It won Hooker his first Grammy award. Other equally successful albums followed, including 1991's Mr. Lucky, 1992's Boom Boom, and Grammy winners Chill Out (1995) and Don't Look Back (1997). In the 1990s, Hooker enjoyed unprecedented worldwide popularity, performing regularly at festivals and on television. In 1990, an all-star tribute was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and, in January of 1991, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He was also a charter inductee to the Blues Hall of Fame. In 1997, Hooker opened his own blues club in San Francisco, christened the Boom Boom Room.

Hooker died in his sleep on June 21, 2001 at age 83. "When I'm gone, I won't be gone," Hooker said in a 1996 interview quoted in Guitar Player. "I won't be here in person, but I'll forever be in the hearts and minds of people. That's the way I look at it." Upon his death, Carlos Santana affirmed Hooker's belief, telling PR Newswire, "There are no superlatives to describe the profound impact John Lee left in our hearts. For musicians and common people--all of us feel enormous gratitude, respect, admiration, and love for his spirit."

Awards

National Endowment for the Arts, National Heritage Fellowship, 1983; W.C. Handy Award, Top Traditional Blues Artist, 1983-88; W.C. Handy Award, Contemporary Blues Artist, Male Blues Vocalist, Contemporary Blues Album, for The Healer, 1989; Grammy Award, Best Traditional Blues Recording, for "I'm In The Mood," 1990; Inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 1991; W.C. Handy Award Traditional Blues Artist of the Year, 1993; charter inductee Blues Hall of Fame; W.C. Handy Award Traditional Blues Album of the Year, for Chill Out, 1995; Grammy, Best Traditional Blues Recording, for Chill Out, 1996; Grammy, Best Traditional Blues Album, forDon't Look Back; Grammy, Best Pop Collaboration, "Don't Look Back," (with Van Morrison); Blues Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, 1996.

Works

Selected discography

• John Lee Hooker Sings the Blues, King, 1961.
• The Real Folk Blues, Chess, 1966.
• Live At The Café Au Go-Go, Bluesway/ABC, 1967.
• Hooker 'N Heat, Liberty, 1971.
• Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive, ABC, 1972.
• The Healer, Chameleon/Silvertone, 1989.
• Mr. Lucky, Silvertone, 1991.
• The Ultimate Collection, Rhino, 1991.
• Boom Boom, Pointblank/Virgin, 1992.
• Chill Out, Pointblank/Virgin, 1995.
• Don't Look Back, Pointblank/Virgin, 1997.
• The Best Of Friends, Pointblank/Virgin, 1998.

Further Reading

Books

• Contemporary Musicians, Volume 26, Gale Group, 1999.
• Palmer, Robert, Deep Blues, Viking Press, New York, 1981.
• Russell, Tony, The Blues From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, Schirmer Books, New York. 1997.
• Sonnier, Austin M., A Guide to the Blues: History, Who's Who, Research Sources, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 1994.

Periodicals

• Billboard, September 5, 1998; New York Times, October 16, 1990.
• Guitar Player, March 1999.
• Jet, July 9, 2001.
• PR Newswire, June 22, 2001.

Online

• Biography Resource Center, Gale, 2001, http://www.galenet.com/servlet/BioRC.
• http://www.cnn.com (June 21, 2001).

Other

• Additional material and information provided by The Rosebud Agency and Mike Kappus.

— Gerald E. Brennan and Jennifer M. York

Hooker, John Lee, 1917–2001, American blues singer and guitarist, b. near Clarksdale, Miss. From a cotton-sharecropping family, he learned the blues from his stepfather and various visiting Delta bluesmen, constructing his first instrument from strings made of rubber inner tube nailed to a barn. He left home at 14, sang with gospel groups, and ultimately moved (1943) to Detroit. Hooker made his first recording, the rhythm-and-blues hit “Boogie Chillun” in 1948. Accompanying himself on electric guitar, he recorded more than 100 albums, mainly of slow blues or fast boogies, and toured throughout the United States. After Hooker was “discovered” by the white blues-rockers of the 1960s, he recorded with several rock musicians and influenced a generation of players and singers. Hooker again reached a wide public with his albums The Healer (1989) and Don't Look Back (1997). He won three Grammy awards and was inducted (1991) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Bibliography

See biography by C. S. Murray (2000).

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