John Lee Hooker could be said to embody his own unique genre of the blues, often incorporating the boogie-woogie piano style and a driving rhythm into his masterful and idiosyncratic blues guitar and singing. His best known songs include "Boogie Chillen" (1948) and "Boom Boom" (1962).
There is some debate as to the year of John Lee Hooker's birth, 1915, 1917, 1920, and 1923 have all been cited, 1917 (the date on his grave marker in Oakland, California) is the one most commonly cited although Hooker himself claimed, at times, 1920.
Hooker was the youngest of the eleven children of William Hooker (1871–1923), a sharecropper and a Baptist preacher, and Minnie Ramsey (1875–?).
Hooker and his siblings were home-schooled. They were permitted to listen only to religious songs, with his earliest musical exposure being the spirituals sung in church.
In 1921, his parents separated. The next year, his mother married William Moore, a blues singer who provided John's first introduction to the guitar (and whom John would later credit for his distinctive playing style). The year after that (1923), John's natural father died; and at age 15, John ran away from home, never to see his mother and stepfather again.
He was a cousin of Earl Hooker,
Throughout the 1930s, Hooker lived in Memphis where he worked on Beale Street and occasionally performed at house parties. He worked in factories in various cities during World War II, drifting until he found himself in Detroit in 1948 working at Ford Motor Company. He felt right at home near the blues venues and saloons on Hastings Street, the heart of black entertainment on Detroit's east side. In a city noted for its piano players, guitar players were scarce. Performing in Detroit clubs, his popularity grew quickly, and seeking a louder instrument than his crude acoustic guitar, he bought his first electric guitar.
Though he stuttered slightly in his normal speech, he performed in a half-spoken style that became his trademark. Rhythmically, his music was free, a property common with early acoustic Delta blues musicians. His vocal phrasing was less closely tied to specific bars than most blues singers'. This casual, rambling style had been gradually diminishing with the onset of electric blues bands from Chicago but, even when not playing solo, Hooker retained it in his sound.
Hooker's recording career began in 1948 with the hit single, "Boogie Chillen" cut in a studio near Wayne State University.
Despite being illiterate, he was a prolific lyricist. In addition to adapting the occasionally traditional blues lyric (such as "if I was chief of police, I would run her right out of town"), he freely invented many of his songs from scratch. Recording studios in the 50s rarely paid black musicians more than a pittance, so Hooker would spend the night wandering from studio to studio, coming up with new songs or variations on his songs for each studio. Due to his recording contract, he would record these songs under obvious pseudonyms such as "John Lee Booker," "Johnny Hooker", or "John Cooker".
His early solo songs were recorded under Bernie Besman.
John Lee Hooker rarely played on a standard beat, changing tempo to fit the needs of the song. This made it nearly impossible to add backing tracks. As a result, Besman would record Hooker, in addition to playing guitar and singing, stomping along with the music on a wooden palette.
John Lee Hooker's guitar playing is closely aligned with piano Boogie Woogie. He would play the walking bass pattern with his thumb, stopping to emphasize the end of a line with a series of trills, done by rapid hammer-ons and pull-offs. The songs that most epitomize his early sound are "Boogie Chillen," about being 17 and wanting to go out to dance at the Boogie clubs, "Baby Please Don't Go," a more typical blues song, summed up by its title, and "Tupelo," a stunningly sad song about the flooding of Tupelo, Mississippi.
He maintained a solo career, popular with blues and folk music fans of the early 1960s and crossed over to white audiences, giving an early opportunity to the young Bob Dylan. As he got older, he added more and more people to his band, changing his live show from simply Hooker with his guitar to a large band, with Hooker singing.
In 1989 he joined with a number of musicians, including Keith Richards and Carlos Santana to record The Healer, which won a Grammy award — one of many awards.
He fell ill just before a tour of Europe in 2001 and died soon afterwards at the age of 83.
Hooker recorded over 100 albums and lived the last years of his life in San Francisco, California, where he licensed a nightclub to use the name Boom Boom Room, after one of his hits.
Among his many awards, John Lee Hooker has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 1991 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Two of his songs, "Boogie Chillen" and "Boom Boom" were named to the list of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
John Lee recorded several songs with Van Morrison, including "Never Get Out of These Blues Alive", "The Healing Game" and "I Cover the Waterfront". He also appeared on stage with Van Morrison several times, some of which was released on the live album "A Night in San Francisco".
John Lee also recorded in the sixties with british blues band The Groundhogs. These recordings are still available as a CD "John Lee Hooker with The Groundhogs". More importantly, Hooker recorded with the Blues-rock outfit Canned Heat, delivering the album 'Hooker N' Heat' in 1971. Hooker was influential and topical even in his lifetime, as evidenced in the MC5 cover of "Motor City's Burning" on their first album, recorded almost immediately after the riots which are the song's topic.
Crawlin King Snake
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know I'm a crawlin' king snake, baby, and I rules my den
I don't want you hangin' around my mate; wanna use her for myself
You know you caught me crawlin', baby, when the, when the grass was very high
I'm just gonna keep on crawlin' now, baby, until the day I die
Because I'm a crawlin' king snake, baby, and I rules my den
Don't want you hangin' around my mate; wanna use her for myself
You know I'm gon' crawl up to your window, baby
Wanna crawl up to your door; you got anything I want, baby?
Wanna crawl up on your floor
Because I'm a crawlin' king snake, baby, and I rules my den
You know you caught me crawlin', baby, when the, when the grass was very high
I'm just gonna keep on crawlin' now, baby, until the day I die
Because I'm a crawlin' king snake, baby, and I rules my den
"Crawlin' Kingsnake" is a blues song by John Lee Hooker, originally recorded in 1949. The song is a classic example of the blues obsession with sex and the power dynamics between men and women. With lyrics that are both suggestive and menacing, Hooker sings about his prowess as a "crawlin' king snake" who rules his domain and will do whatever it takes to satisfy his desires. The song's hypnotic riff, played on guitar and harmonica, evokes the image of a sinuous serpent slithering through the grass.
The first verse of the song sets the tone for the rest of the lyrics. Hooker proclaims himself as the "crawlin' king snake" who rules his den, which could be interpreted as a metaphor for the sexual dominance he asserts over his partner. He then warns the listener not to interfere with his "mate," implying that he sees women as objects to be possessed and used for his pleasure.
In the second verse, Hooker talks about being caught "crawlin'" when the grass was high, suggesting that he has been engaged in illicit sexual activity. He then states that he will continue to crawl until the day he dies, reinforcing his sexual appetite and suggesting that he cannot be tamed or controlled. The refrain of the song repeats the same message, with Hooker proclaiming his status as the "crawlin' king snake" who will not tolerate anyone trying to steal his mate.
Overall, the song represents a dark and primal expression of male sexuality that is both seductive and threatening. The danger of the "crawlin' king snake" is offset by the hypnotic rhythm of the music, creating a tension that is central to the blues genre.
Line by Line Meaning
You know I'm a crawlin' king snake, baby, and I rules my den
I am a confident and powerful individual who controls everything in my domain, and I don't want anyone interfering with what I have.
I don't want you hangin' around my mate; wanna use her for myself
I am possessive of those around me, especially my mate, and I don't want anyone else coming between us.
You know you caught me crawlin', baby, when the, when the grass was very high
You may have caught me in a moment of vulnerability when I was not at my best, but that doesn't change who I am as a person.
I'm just gonna keep on crawlin' now, baby, until the day I die
I am committed to always being true to myself and embracing my inner power, regardless of what others may say or think.
You know I'm gon' crawl up to your window, baby
I am not afraid to take risks and pursue what I want, even if it means crawling up to your window just to get it.
Wanna crawl up to your door; you got anything I want, baby?
I am not interested in playing games or beating around the bush; I will directly ask for what I want and pursue it with confidence and persistence.
Wanna crawl up on your floor
I am not afraid to get down and dirty in order to achieve my goals or satisfy my desires.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOSEPH LEE WILLIAMS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Alexphilosophus
An amazing blues song! I love it!
@harrisonmccartney4878
If you can play rhythms like John Lee Hooker and solo like B.B. King, you'd be the greatest blues player of all time. The swagger and attitude in Hooker's playing is unmatched, and the soul of B.B. King's playing is always beautiful.
@dontgoout1434
Bb King sucks
@JokersWild70
Absolutely filled with soul and emotion. There's not much better.
@santiagosanchezblanco9430
El blues más esquemático pero por eso,el más profundo.Very,very deep.
@redcastlefan
There aren't any comments here not because nobody cares, But because there's nothing to be said. Its just good music.
@andrebanville2343
It's like when the food is good, no one is talking.
@TheUnwritersOfficialChannel
Word!!
@heidihemore7812
Amen
@Deano_77
And you're comment doesn't have many comments or likes ,not because nobody thinks is bad , but because there's nothing much to be said. It's just a great comment.