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.
Doin' The Shout
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hey-hey.
Yeah-hey.
Hey-hey-hey.
I'm doin' the shout.
I'm gonna do the shout.
I'm gonna do the shout.
I'm-a gonna do the shout.
Got a letter from my baby.
She was on her way.
On her way home.
Say when I get home.
Say with me an my baby.
We gonna do the shout.
Gonna lock up the door.
And keep down the window.
If anybody call.
Said be not at home.
If the telephone ring.
We're not at home.
We're doin' the shout.
We're doin' the shout.
We're doin' the shout.
Just me 'n my baby.
Just me 'n my baby.
Hey, a-hey-hey, A
Gonna shout all day .
Gonna shout all night.
Just me 'n my baby.
Go in doin' the shout.
Shout, baby.
Shout, baby.
Shout, baby.
Shout, baby.
Hey-hey, alright
(guitar solo and instrumental)
Me 'n my baby.
We're doin' the shout.
We're doin' the shout'.
I was so glad, I was so glad.
She my baby back home.
She my baby back home.
I'm so glad.
She's my baby back home.
Shout baby.
Shout baby.
Shout baby.
Shout baby.
FADES-
Shout baby.
Hey-hey, hey-hey.
The lyrics to John Lee Hooker’s “Doin’ the Shout” is a playful and upbeat song about celebrating the joy of being reunited with a loved one. The song begins with several “Hey-hey’s” followed by the repeated phrase “I’m doin’ the shout”. Hooker is announcing to the listener that he is feeling good and ready to dance and shout with his lover. He received a letter from his lover stating that she was on her way home, and with her arrival, they plan to lock the door and dance all night. The energy in the song peaks with Hooker shouting “shout baby” repeatedly while the guitar riff becomes more intense. The song slowly fades while Hooker continues to shout “shout baby” in the background.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey-hey.
Introducing the start of the song with an enthusiastic sound.
Hey-hey.
Reintroduction of the same enthusiastic sound.
Yeah-hey.
Adding a variation of the sound to create an entertaining rhythm.
Hey-hey-hey.
The rhythm of the sound is defined with an added emphasis.
I'm doin' the shout.
The artist is declaring that they are currently performing a shout dance.
I'm gonna do the shout.
The artist is indicating their intention to perform the shout dance in the near future.
I'm gonna do the shout.
Reiteration of the previous declaration.
I'm-a gonna do the shout.
Adding a variation to the previous declaration to add emphasis on the artist's commitment to performing the shout dance.
Got a letter this mornin'.
The artist receives a letter during the day.
Got a letter from my baby.
The letter was delivered from the artist's significant other.
She was on her way.
The significant other is coming to see the artist.
On her way home.
The artist's significant other is returning to their shared home.
Say when I get home.
The artist is explaining what is going to happen when they arrive home.
Say with me an my baby.
The artist and their significant other will perform the shout dance together.
We gonna do the shout.
Declaration of the shout dance performance with the significant other.
Gonna lock up the door.
The door to the artist's home will be locked.
And keep down the window.
The window will be closed.
If anybody call.
If anyone comes knocking at the door.
Said be not at home.
The artist and their significant other will not answer the door.
If the telephone ring.
If the phone rings.
We're not at home.
The artist and their significant other will not answer the phone either.
We're doin' the shout.
An explanation of why the artist intends to ignore any potential interruptions, due to their planned shout dance.
Just me 'n my baby.
The artist and their significant other will be performing the shout dance alone.
Just me 'n my baby.
Reiteration of the previous line for additional emphasis.
Hey, a-hey-hey, A
Adding another variation of the enthusiastic sound.
Gonna shout all day .
The artist and their significant other will shout dance for an extended length of time.
Gonna shout all night.
The artist and their significant other intend to continue the shout dance throughout the night.
Just me 'n my baby.
The intended company for the shout dance is still just the artist and their significant other.
Go in doin' the shout.
The artist is in the process of performing the shout dance.
Shout, baby.
Encouragement for the significant other to continue performing the shout dance.
Shout, baby.
Same as the previous line for added emphasis.
Shout, baby.
Reiteration of the previous line for additional emphasis.
Shout, baby.
Another reiteration of the same line and emphasis on encouraging the significant other.
Hey-hey, alright
Celebratory sound denoting enjoyment of the shout dance.
(guitar solo and instrumental)
Break from the lyrics with a guitar solo.
Me 'n my baby.
Reintroduction of the artist and their significant other performing the shout dance.
We're doin' the shout.
Reiteration of the previous line illustrating the continued performance of the shout dance.
We're doin' the shout'.
Another reiteration of the act of shout dancing.
I was so glad, I was so glad.
The artist is expressing their happiness and joy.
She my baby back home.
The artist's significant other has returned home safely.
She my baby back home.
Reiteration of the previous line.
I'm so glad.
Reiteration of the artist's feelings of happiness.
She's my baby back home.
Final reiteration of the significant other's safe return home.
Shout baby.
Encouragement for the significant other to continue performing the shout dance.
Shout baby.
Same as the previous line for added emphasis.
Shout baby.
Reiteration of the previous line for additional emphasis.
Shout baby.
Another reiteration of the same line and emphasis on encouraging the significant other.
FADES-
The song is coming to an end.
Shout baby.
Last attempt to encourage the significant other to perform the shout dance.
Hey-hey, hey-hey.
Closing the song with the same enthusiastic sounds made at the start.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN LEE HOOKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind