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.
Decoration Day Blues
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She was nice and kind to me in every way
Peoples, I had a woman
She was nice and kind to me in everyway
Lord, she died; she left me
I sing the blues on every Decoration Day
Lord, I was standin' around my baby's bedside
When my Lord, taken my baby away
When my Lord, taken my baby away
Well, well, when it hurt so doggone bad
Lord, I hung my head an cried
"Yes, so sorry!"
She said, "Daddy please don't worry."
"Cause everybody's got to go."
"Daddy, please don't worry."
"'Cause everybody's got to go."
Well, well, well, well
Lord, the best woman
God knows I ever had
All this hurtin'
I just hung my head an cried
Yes, it was a sad day with me
So sad, that day
So sad, that day
When my Lord, taken my baby away
Well, well, well, I'll meet my baby
On some old lonesome day
The lyrics of John Lee Hooker's "Decoration Day Blues" describe the story of a man who lost his beloved woman who was "nice and kind to him in every way". The sorrowful tone of the song suggests that the singer is still feeling the pain and sadness of his loss. He reminisces about the moments he spent with his woman, and how it hurts so bad that she had to leave him. The line "I sing the blues on every Decoration Day" implies that he commemorates her on a special day or occasion such as Memorial Day, which is also known as Decoration Day, to honor those who have passed away.
The second verse talks about the moment his woman passed, with him standing by her side. He is devastated, and he cries with a heavy heart because the loss is too much to bear. The singer then recalls the words of his beloved; that everyone has to go and there's no need to worry. He laments that she was the best woman he ever had, and that he will meet her again on some old lonesome day, implying that he believes in an afterlife where they will be reunited.
In conclusion, "Decoration Day Blues" is a melancholic tune that speaks of the pain of losing someone dear. Hooker's emotional delivery and soulful guitar playing elevate the song's emotive power, and make it a poignant tribute to lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
Peoples, I had a woman
I had a woman in my life who meant a lot to me
She was nice and kind to me in every way
She was a loving and caring person who treated me well
Lord, she died; she left me
Unfortunately, she passed away and I was left alone
I sing the blues on every Decoration Day
Every year on Decoration Day, I feel the pain of her loss and sing the blues
Lord, I was standin' around my baby's bedside
I was by her side when she passed away
When my Lord, taken my baby away
When God took her away from me
Well, well, when it hurt so doggone bad
When the pain was almost unbearable
Lord, I hung my head an cried
I couldn't contain my emotions and cried
"Yes, so sorry!"
I was apologizing for my sadness and outburst of emotions
"She said, "Daddy please don't worry."
She comforted me by telling me not to worry
"'Cause everybody's got to go."
She reminded me that death is a natural part of life
"Daddy, please don't worry."
She reassured me not to worry
"'Cause everybody's got to go."
Again, she reminded me that everyone will eventually pass away
Well, well, well, well
An expression of sadness and reflection
Lord, the best woman
She was the best woman I ever had in my life
God knows I ever had
God knows how much I loved her and how much she meant to me
All this hurtin'
All this pain and sadness I feel
I just hung my head an cried
I couldn't help but cry
Yes, it was a sad day with me
The day she passed away was a very sad day for me
So sad, that day
It was a day filled with sorrow and grief
When my Lord, taken my baby away
When God took her away from me
Well, well, well, I'll meet my baby
One day, I'll be reunited with her
On some old lonesome day
Maybe on a day that feels lonely and desolate, but we will be together again
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BERNARD BESMAN, JOHN LEE HOOKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
A Bite Of Life
Thank you for posting this. This is my favorite version of this song and one of my favorite blues songs ever.
Renardo Biggs
Who feels it knows it........
Zona Zoe
I agree with you. This is one of my favourite John Lee Hooker songs
Rob
You're welcome! It's a favorite of mine as well.
Was Somebody
Favorite song. I listen to it on “repeat” while gardening. Embracing the Pain is better than trying to overcome it, sometimes...
sunflowereye
Crushingly beautiful.
Kevin Jones
I have the CD.....Decoration Day is haunting, I'll listen to it 10 times straight.
Patrik Holy
...meToo...not once
TubobRainbowUnicorn
this is an amazing blues song.
shuvlrider
This always tears my soul apart. Thanks for the post!