Vintage Guitar - February 2018 - 95

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slow, brooding side
of Hooker, w it h
no chord changes,
sometimes just letting his acoustic's low
E ring, like a church
bell tolling. Then
he cranks up "Bus
Station Blues," in
the mold of his many
open-A boogies.
Hooker's influence
stretched around the
globe, from ZZ Top
to Mali's Ali Farka
Toure, but was particularly indelible
on what became the
British Invasion -
artists like the Animals and Van Morrison. Tom McGuinness, who plays lead
guitar with the Blues
Band and was Manfred Mann's bassist,
was co-guitarist with
Eric Clapton in the
short-lived Roosters.
He recalls, "Around
1961 or '62, my girlfriend brought home
a Crown LP by John
Lee Hooker, which
she'd borrowed from
a friend of Eric's at art college. We listened
to it transfixed. That combination of voice
and guitar was spine chilling, thrilling, sexy,
menacing, warm, human, and superhuman
at the same time. I'm pretty sure it was all
late '40s/early '50s tracks recorded in Detroit
by Bernard Besman - but that knowledge
came much later. Hearing for the first time
'Crawlin' King Snake,' 'Boogie Chillun',' 'I'm
In The Mood' was a miracle, a revelation - a
window into another world. I didn't know
what he was doing on guitar, but I loved the
way he just suggested the chord changes.
And his disregard for bar lengths was an
eye opener that came in very useful when I
played in '64 with Sonny Boy Williamson.
"Gradually, more John Lee tracks became
available," he continues, "and by June '64, he
made the U.K. charts with 'Dimples,' and
I appeared on Ready Steady Go! with him
plugging his hit and Manfred Mann plugging
'Doo Wah Diddy.' I was too much in awe to
even talk to him. And it was amazing to me
John Lee Hooker

HOOKER: THE MAN
By Dan Forte

John Lee Hooker: Jay Blakesberg.

o commemorate the centennial of the
August 1917 birth of blues legend John
Lee Hooker, Craft Recordings has
released an ambitious, five-disc, 100-song
box, King Of The Boogie.
Like most musicians, harmonica great
(and longtime John Lee friend) Charlie
Musselwhite can vividly recount his first
encounter with Hooker's music. "My first
memory of John Lee," he says, "is hearing
'Crawlin' King Snake' about 2 a.m. over the
radio in 1959 - either XERB or WLAC. That
sound of John Lee's solo, open-tuned guitar
and his voice in the dead of night, with his
foot-tapping, had an ominous and sinister
sound unlike anything I'd ever heard. From
then on, I was hooked on John Lee's sound. It
just sank into my bones, and it's still there."
I finally heard Hooker on the amazing Blues
At Newport 1963 compilation, about four
years after that appearance at the Newport
Folk Festival. "Sometimes You Make Me
Feel So Bad" is a perfect example of the

February 2018

that the music I loved found a new, young
audience - most of whom, like me, not knowing that it was a good 10 years old by then."
In the early '70s, after Hooker moved to the
Bay Area, I got to see him numerous times,
fronting a great band consisting of Luther
Tucker and Benny Rowe on guitars, Geno
(invariably misspelled "Gino") Skaggs on
bass, Ken Swank on drums, and John's son
Robert on organ.
Later additions featured Ron Thompson,
John Garcia, Mike Osborn, or Roy Rogers
on guitar. Osborn, who played with Hooker
from 1981 to '94, states, "It was an honor to
play with one of the greatest blues musicians
ever and also see the world! Gary Alongi
was playing guitar with Hook in '81, but he
wanted to retire from showbiz and asked
me if I wanted the gig. Of course I said yes!
I was always amazed at the way John played
guitar and, as much as I tried, could never
duplicate what he was able to do. John was
very personable. He loved to laugh and
loved having a band to interact and share
experiences with. We had so much fun just
traveling with him. We still miss him today
and forever."
Elvin Bishop points out, "John was universally known and respected by all musicians,
even country guys, even before his renaissance. He was my first musical hero, and he
ended up my friend - can't get any luckier
than that! So many things come to mind
when I think of him it's hard to narrow it
down, but one time I was on the road with
John, as part of his revue, and I called him
in the afternoon. I asked, 'What are you up
to?' He said, 'I got some chicken.' I asked
him, 'Is it good?' He said, 'It's so good, I'm
not even gonna eat it; I'm just gonna sit here
and kiss on it!'"
The renaissance Bishop refers to began
with 1989's The Healer, featuring Musselwhite, Bonnie Raitt, George Thorogood,
Robert Cray, Canned Heat, Los Lobos, and
Carlos Santana - personal friends rather
than mere star cameos. Grammy-winning
collaborations with Morrison and Charles
Brown followed.
McGuinness sums up, "I saw him around
that time, and he still had it. That lazy dronelike rhythm, that cool vocal. I'd rather hear
John play one note than any fast-fingered
guitarist play a thousand."
Next month, we'll dive into "Hooker:
The Box."

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