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John Lee Hooker - Live at Sugar Hill Vol.2
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 Oh, John Lee Hooker where have you gone? We miss you. Thank the good Lord that he left behind so many great albums for us to listen to and to help us make his legend come alive in our spirit and hearts time after time.
The tape was rolling for Hooker and his guitar at Sugar Hill, an intimate venue in San Francisco located on Broadway in November of 1962. The Galaxy label originally released highlights of the engagement in 1962 as “Live At Sugar Hill,” as a twofer titled “Boogie Chillun” in 1972 on Fantasy (minus one track) and more recently as a remastered version of “Boogie Chillun” in 2001. Now an additional 19 tracks are offered here on this CD titled "Live at Sugar Hill Vol.2” Here we are 40 years later listening to Hooker weave his magic blues spell as if it was only yesterday. It certainly sounds fresh and the quality is so pristine for a live performance that he comes delivered right into your living room. Hooker had a way of playing those real folk acoustic blues on his electric guitar like no one else. His personality and ongoing conversations between songs with the audience add the color and live Hooker vibes that have grown into tales and legends over the years in the same way each song he played.
From the opening notes of “You Torture My Soul,” you know that you are in for an evening full of righteously soulful blues that smolder long after the song is over. “How Can You Do It” by Arthur Crudup is a real strumming rocker that gets the audience hooting, hollering, and commenting in appreciation as if it were a gospel choir in church instead of a concert venue. It was one of my favorites on the disc. This was but one example of how he could take work from another artist and put a genuine spin on it to make it his own. Nineteen tracks in all could never do the Hooker legend justice, I really do not know what would. What I do know is that live John Lee was at his best and this is an excellent collection of some of his best work on display. This collection just adds more fuel to the ever-growing fire of his legacy that will surely continue to cultivate with the passing of time. Few bluesmen have left behind what he has and this is but one example of many that you will find in the massive catalog of Mr. Hooker. If you love the blues this is an essential collection of songs from a quintessential blues artist.
© Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck |
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