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Lightnin' Hopkins
Samuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Centerville, Texas. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 71 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
The musicologist Robert "Mack" McCormick opined that Hopkins is "the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act". Read Full BioSamuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Centerville, Texas. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 71 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
The musicologist Robert "Mack" McCormick opined that Hopkins is "the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act".
Hopkins was born in Centerville, Texas, and as a child was immersed in the sounds of the blues. He developed a deep appreciation for this music at the age of 8, when he met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas. That day, Hopkins felt the blues was "in him".[citation needed] He went on to learn from his older (distant) cousin, the country blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander. (Hopkins had another cousin, the Texas electric blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims, with whom he later recorded.) Hopkins began accompanying Jefferson on guitar at informal church gatherings. Jefferson reputedly never let anyone play with him except young Hopkins, and Hopkins learned much from Jefferson at these gatherings.
Hopkins's style was born from spending many hours playing informally without a backing band. His distinctive fingerstyle technique often included playing, in effect, bass, rhythm, lead, and percussion at the same time. He played both "alternating" and "monotonic" bass styles incorporating imaginative, often chromatic turnarounds and single-note lead lines. Tapping or slapping the body of his guitar added rhythmic accompaniment.
Much of Hopkins's music follows the standard 12-bar blues template, but his phrasing was free and loose. Many of his songs were in the talking blues style, but he was a powerful and confident singer.[citation needed] Lyrically, his songs expressed the problems of life in the segregated South, bad luck in love and other subjects common in the blues idiom. He dealt with these subjects with humor and good nature. Many of his songs are filled with double entendres, and he was known for his humorous introductions to songs.
Hopkins died of esophageal cancer in Houston on January 30, 1982, at the age of 69. His obituary in the New York Times described him as "one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players.".
The musicologist Robert "Mack" McCormick opined that Hopkins is "the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act". Read Full BioSamuel John "Lightnin'" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, from Centerville, Texas. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 71 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
The musicologist Robert "Mack" McCormick opined that Hopkins is "the embodiment of the jazz-and-poetry spirit, representing its ancient form in the single creator whose words and music are one act".
Hopkins was born in Centerville, Texas, and as a child was immersed in the sounds of the blues. He developed a deep appreciation for this music at the age of 8, when he met Blind Lemon Jefferson at a church picnic in Buffalo, Texas. That day, Hopkins felt the blues was "in him".[citation needed] He went on to learn from his older (distant) cousin, the country blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander. (Hopkins had another cousin, the Texas electric blues guitarist Frankie Lee Sims, with whom he later recorded.) Hopkins began accompanying Jefferson on guitar at informal church gatherings. Jefferson reputedly never let anyone play with him except young Hopkins, and Hopkins learned much from Jefferson at these gatherings.
Hopkins's style was born from spending many hours playing informally without a backing band. His distinctive fingerstyle technique often included playing, in effect, bass, rhythm, lead, and percussion at the same time. He played both "alternating" and "monotonic" bass styles incorporating imaginative, often chromatic turnarounds and single-note lead lines. Tapping or slapping the body of his guitar added rhythmic accompaniment.
Much of Hopkins's music follows the standard 12-bar blues template, but his phrasing was free and loose. Many of his songs were in the talking blues style, but he was a powerful and confident singer.[citation needed] Lyrically, his songs expressed the problems of life in the segregated South, bad luck in love and other subjects common in the blues idiom. He dealt with these subjects with humor and good nature. Many of his songs are filled with double entendres, and he was known for his humorous introductions to songs.
Hopkins died of esophageal cancer in Houston on January 30, 1982, at the age of 69. His obituary in the New York Times described him as "one of the great country blues singers and perhaps the greatest single influence on rock guitar players.".
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Mojo Hand
by Lightnin' Hopkins
I'm goin' to Louisiana
And get me a mojo hand
I'm goin' to Louisiana
And get me a mojo hand
I'm gonna fix my woman so
She can't have no other man
Cold ground was my bed last night
Rocks was my pillow too
Cold ground was my bed last night
Rocks was my pillow too
I woke up this morning, I'm wondering
What in the world am I gonna do?
I lay down thinking
Buy me a mojo hand
I lay down thinking
Buy me a mojo hand
I did wanna fix my woman so she can't have no other man
But don't let your woman
Fix you like mine fixed me
Don't let your woman, boy, fix you like mine fixed me
She make a fool about her, oh, about as a fool can be
Now, can't a woman act funny
Ha-ha-ha, when she got another man?
Can't a woman act funny
When she got another man?
You know, she won't look straight at you
Then she's always raisin' sand, sand
Well, I'm going tomorrow
But I won't be gone long
I'm going tomorro
But I won't be gone very long
I'm gonna get me a mojo hand, I'm gonna bring it back home
That's what I'm gonna do
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CLARENCE L LEWIS, MORRIS LEVY, SAM HOPKINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
by Lightnin' Hopkins
I'm goin' to Louisiana
And get me a mojo hand
I'm goin' to Louisiana
And get me a mojo hand
I'm gonna fix my woman so
She can't have no other man
Cold ground was my bed last night
Rocks was my pillow too
Cold ground was my bed last night
Rocks was my pillow too
I woke up this morning, I'm wondering
What in the world am I gonna do?
I lay down thinking
Buy me a mojo hand
I lay down thinking
Buy me a mojo hand
I did wanna fix my woman so she can't have no other man
But don't let your woman
Fix you like mine fixed me
Don't let your woman, boy, fix you like mine fixed me
She make a fool about her, oh, about as a fool can be
Now, can't a woman act funny
Ha-ha-ha, when she got another man?
Can't a woman act funny
When she got another man?
You know, she won't look straight at you
Then she's always raisin' sand, sand
Well, I'm going tomorrow
But I won't be gone long
I'm going tomorro
But I won't be gone very long
I'm gonna get me a mojo hand, I'm gonna bring it back home
That's what I'm gonna do
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CLARENCE L LEWIS, MORRIS LEVY, SAM HOPKINS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on specific lyrics, highlight them.
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