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JLH: "The Boogie Man" - "Po´ Slim" - "The Hook" - "The Blues Giant"
Guitarist and modern urbanized country blues singer, with roots in the
rich Delta tradition.
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JLH at NNDB |
Born in Mississippi, raised up in Tennessee
Born August 22, 1917 on a
sharecropper farm south of Clarksdale, Coahoma County, Mississippi
close to Highway 49 (Hooker himself has given other dates of birth,
- often 1920 and other files say anything between 1912 and 1923).
After his death - in his home in Los Altos, California on June 21,
2001 - the Hooker family confirmed his birth date as August 22,
1917. Recent findings by Bob Eagle suggest Hooker was born already
in 1912 (information found in the 1920 and 1930 Census / Routledge
enumerations outside and in Tutwiler town, Tallahatchie County).
John Lee´s mother was Minnie Ramsey (born in Glendora, Miss 1875 or
possibly 1880; died around 1950), married to his father (sharecropper and spare-time
preacher) William (indexed Wildred) Hooker, who was born in North
Carolina around 1871 (or possibly 1865). John had six brothers and
four sisters - of which not all survived. Only religious music was
allowed in the Hooker family. The family moved to a new farm (the
Fewell plantation) at Vance, Miss (again not far from Clarksdale) in
circa 1920 (where John said he met Snooky Pryor and Jimmy Lane -
later known as Jimmy Rogers). The parents separated in circa 1926
(or according to the Bob Eagle findings much earlier since John´s
father was re-married to Anna from Louisiana already in circa 1922).
Johnnie, who was the only child leaving with his mother, got a
stepfather - William Moore (from Shreveport, Louisiana, no
recordings, but a local Clarksdale blues musician, who died before
John Lee got to Detroit). From Moore
Johnnie learned to play the boogie on guitar, and tunes like "Pea Vine special"
(via Charley Patton), "Rather drink muddy
water", "My starter won´t start", "Don´t turn me from your door" and
"When my first wife quit me". Hooker claimed Blind Lemon Jefferson
came to visit Moore, and he also remembered Blind Blake and Charley
Patton. Around 1928-30 Hooker had started playing the guitar, which
he said was given to him by blues singer Tony Hollins, who had
courted his sister - and later he got his second from William Moore.
Hooker was also influenced by Tommy McClennan and much of Hooker´s
greatness may be due to his natural youth mix of gospel and blues.
Hobo Blues - Drifting from door to door
Hooker left Mississippi and moved to Memphis in circa 1933 - first staying at an aunt´s and
later working at the cinema "New
Daisy" (and possibly also the W.C. Handy Theater) on Beale Street.
Johnnie claimed that he during his Memphis stay worked with Robert
Nighthawk, Eddie Love (brother of pianist Willie) and the pianist
Joe Willard. He soon "hoboed" again - this time he spent a period in
Knoxville, Tennessee and arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio in circa 1935,
singing the blues and working with gospel groups like the Big Six,
the Delta Big Four, and the Fairfield Four in the evenings - and in
factories, theatres-cinemas and warehouses during daytime. The years
between 1939 and 1943 are unaccounted for (except for a short spell
in the army - stationed near Detroit; Hooker even may have travelled
to the South).
Starting out - Boogie Chillen´
Hooker started his career (eventually leading to become the world´s
foremost "traditional blues" singer) via his arrival in Detroit in
circa 1943, first working at a receiving hospital and later at Dodge
and Comco Steel (possibly also as a janitor at the Chrysler car
plant). He first married Alma Hopes - one daughter, Francis (or
Frances) - but they soon parted and he later married Sarah Jones. In
late 1944 he met Maude Mathis, married her and had two sons and four
daughters (after his separation with Maude in 1970 Hooker has been
married to Millie Strom). In the evenings of the mid 1940s John got
small jobs at the clubs around Hastings Street (like Forest Inn and
Club Basin). Legend has it: T-Bone Walker handed Johnny Lee the
first electric guitar, as John became T-Bone's "kid" when T-Bone was
working in Detroit during 1946-48. "Johnny Lee" (as most of his
friends called him) invented his own "unique" style (non-rhyming,
sometimes out-of-rhythm) and was introduced in 1948 to Bernie Besman
(of Sensation Records at Woodward Avenue; and co-owner with John
Kaplan of the Pan American Record Co.) by Elmer Barbee, Hooker´s
original "manager", who "discovered" Hooker playing with his trio at
the "Apex" bar on Monroe Street (although "legend" says Besman "discovered"
Hooker at Lee Sensation´s bar "Russell & Orange" - or at the "Monte
Carlo"). Barbee continued to promote Johnnie, after the Besman
introduction, for other record labels, mostly recording in Barbee´s
record shop at 609 Lafayette Street, but the main records of
Hooker´s up into 1952 were recorded by Bernie Besman at United Sound
Studios Inc. at 5840 2nd Blvd. Besman leased several tracks to the
Bihari brothers (Modern - of Hollywood) and soon issued others on
the Detroit label Sensation. A total of eight Besman-recorded Modern
singles were issued from November 1948 - November 1950 and seven on
Sensation (and Regal) from November 1949 - October 1950, plus a
further seven on Modern from 1951 - October 1952. Almost a hundred
alternates and variations were "kept in the can" and later issued on
album compilations.
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Neil Slaven
on Hooker´s Detroit debut
"John Lee
Hooker ... became an overnight sensation in 1949 ... (note:
edited), his talent already fully formed. Despite his recent
biography, it´s likely we´ll never know how his highly
individual skill developed because it´s not something he
either can or wants to talk about. And why should he, since
the creative process defies definition. The huge volume of
music that poured through him during the first years was
like a dam wall bursting, releasing the pent-up energies of
a musician whose time had finally come.... He reached
Detroit in 1943 and found work at the Receiving Hospital
before taking a series of jobs with Dodge and Comco Steel.
He got married for the first time to Alma Hopes but they
parted after a few months; his relationship with Sarah Jones
managed to last a year. Far more long-lasting and
inspirational was his marriage to Maude Mathis and the birth
of two sons and four daughters.... There were a host of
house parties and small drinking clubs around the Black
Bottom and Paradise Valley sections of Detroit. Through his
persistence and the conviction that he was meant to be a
famous musician, John Lee graduated to clubs such as the
Apex, Henry´s Swing Club, the Caribbean Club and the
Sensation. He also acquired an influential fan, none other
than T-Bone Walker, who gave him his first electric guitar.
´It was just a matter of findin´ the break,´ he told Shaar
Murray. ´I got discovered out of a little bar by my manager
Elmer Barbee. He the one discovered me, playing´ around
nightclubs, little honkytonk bars, house parties. I had a
little trio (with pianist James Watkins, and drummer Curtis
Foster). I was playin´ a little bar called the Apex on
Monroe Street, and I was the talk of the town. Barbee owned
a record store at 609 Lafayette, with a small recording
studio in the back. For something like six months, John Lee
made regular visits and cut a series of acetates, of which
"Rocks" (a variant on "Roll Me Over"), cut on June 12, 1948,
was one. "Leavin´ Chicago" and the first of many versions of
"Wednesday Evening Blues" also survive from this period (cut
was also "When My First Wife Left Me"; ed.note). Eventually
Barbee took him and his demos downtown to meet Bernard
Besman, part owner of Pan American Record Distributors on
Woodward Avenue... Besman elected to record John Lee at the
city´s United Sound studio."
(Neil
Slaven, 2000 - from the first of the Body &
Soul Complete Detroit CD series booklets).
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First
recordings - When my first wife left me
Hooker´s first recording was done for manager Elmer Barbee in Detroit
June 12, 1948 - "Rocks" (originally unissued) and shortly thereafter
he cut unissued demo recordings of circa July/August 1948: "Leavin´
Chicago" (aka "Highway Blues"), "Wednesday Evening Blues" and two
demos of "My First Wife Left Me" (one known as "When My Wife Quit Me"
and the other as
"When My First Wife Left Me"). The song was issued as "Drifting From Door To
Door" on Modern in 1949).
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BOOGIE CHILLEN´
Well , my Mama she didn´t allow me, just
to stay out all night long,
... ooh, Lord!
Well , my Mama didn´t allow me,
just to stay out all night long,
I didn´t care if she didn´t allow me, I was
boogie-woogie´n´ anyhow.
When I first
came to town, people, I was walkin´ down Hastings Street,
I heard everybody talkin´ ´bout
the Henry Swing Club.
I decided to drop in there that
night, and when I got there,
I say, yes people, they we´re
really havin´ a ball, yes I know .....
... boogie, chillen´!
One night I was layin´ down, I heard
Mama and Papa talkin´,
I heard Papa tell Mama: Let that
boy boogie woogie,
´cause it´s in him and it
got to come out!
Well, I felt so good, and I went
on boogie-woogie´n´ just the same,
... yes .....
- by John Lee Hooker
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First
recordings for Bernie Besman
- Henry´s Swing Club
Hooker´s debut record was cut at
United Sound Studios for Bernie Besman (born 1912 - dies January
10, 2003) - with Joe Siracuse, engineer, in September 1948. It was
"Sally May" c/w "Boogie Chillen´" (B 7003 and B 7006) - released
November 3, 1948 on the West Coast Bihari-owned Modern label, #
20-627 - with "Sally May" titled "Sally Mae" on later issues (just
as the second take of that song). The matrix numbers of this session
were B 7003 - B 7006, used both by Besman himself and Modern
Records. On that session a further titles
were recorded. One was "Highway Blues" (B 7004) issued in 1971 as "War
Is Over (Goodbye California)" on Specialty LP 2127 and in an
alternate as "See, See Baby" on Greene Bottle LP 3130 in 1972. The
other was "Wednesday Evening Blues" (B 7005) issued on United
Artists LP 5512 as "She Was In Chicago" in 1971 and in an alternate
as "Crazy ´Bout That Woman&quo |
Ed.note: Between September, 2000 (when this site was first published) and June
21, 2001 this site had seen around 5,000 unique visitors. During the 22nd of
June, 2001 the site was visited by more than 600 unique visitors before noon
and the figures went to 2,733 by the end of the day! By the end of May,
2003 (when a new counter was added) the site had been visited by 45,000 since
September, 2000 - with around 3,000 visitors per month nowadays. By the end of
November, 2006 around 165,000 unique visitors had found this site.
