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.
Don't Start Me To Talkin'
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Stop at Fannie Mae's.
Gonna tell Fannie what I heard,
Her boyfriend say.
Don't start me to talkin,
I'll tell her everything I know.
I'm gonna break up this signifyin,
Cause somebody's got to go.
Go downtown and get some margarine.
Gets out on the streets,
Ole George stopped her.
He knocked her down,
And blackened her eye,
She gets back home,
Tell her husband a lie.
Don't start me to talkin,
I'll tell everything I know.
I'm gonna break up this signifyin,
Somebody's got to go.
She borrowed some money,
Go to the beauty shop.
Jim honked his horn,
She begin to stop,
She said, "Take me, baby,"
"Around the block,"
"I'm goin to the beauty shop,"
"Where I can get my hair aside."
Don't start me to talkin,
I'll tell everything I know.
Well, to break up this signifyin,
Somebody's got to go.
The song "Don't Start Me to Talkin'" by John Lee Hooker is a classic blues tune that tells a story of gossip and drama. The lyrics are filled with characters and situations that are all interconnected, creating a colorful and dramatic narrative. The singer is going to talk to Fannie Mae about what her boyfriend said, but warns her not to start him talking because he knows too much. He then goes on to detail a series of events involving different people, such as Jack giving his wife money for margarine and her getting beaten by George, and a woman borrowing money to go to the beauty shop and being catcalled by Jim. Throughout the song, the singer emphasizes his desire to "break up this signifyin'" because somebody's got to go.
The term "signifying" in the lyrics refers to a form of African American discourse that involves teasing, insulting, or playing word games with one another. It was often used as a way to assert one's status or superiority in a group. In the song, the singer wants to put an end to this behavior because it is causing drama and conflict among the characters.
The song is notable for its repetitive and catchy melody, as well as Hooker's distinctive guitar playing style. It was one of Hooker's early hits and helped establish him as a major figure in the blues world. It has been covered by many other artists, including Sonny Boy Williamson II, who had a hit with his cover in the 1960s.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I'm goin down to Rosie's,
I am going to Rosie's place
Stop at Fannie Mae's.
I will stop by Fannie Mae's place
Gonna tell Fannie what I heard,
I will tell Fannie what I overheard
Her boyfriend say.
What her boyfriend said
Don't start me to talkin,
Do not provoke me into speaking
I'll tell her everything I know.
I will reveal all the information I have
I'm gonna break up this signifyin,
I am going to end this gossiping and lying
Cause somebody's got to go.
This situation cannot continue
Jack give his wife two dollars,
Jack gave his wife two dollars
Go downtown and get some margarine.
To purchase some margarine from the downtown
Gets out on the streets,
Jack's wife went out on the streets
Ole George stopped her.
George stopped her
He knocked her down,
He physically assaulted her
And blackened her eye,
He caused bruises around her eye
She gets back home,
She gets back home after the incident
Tell her husband a lie.
She lied to her husband about the incident
She borrowed some money,
She borrowed some money
Go to the beauty shop.
To go to the beauty shop
Jim honked his horn,
Jim honked his car horn
She begin to stop,
She stopped for Jim
She said, "Take me, baby,"
She asked Jim to drive her
"Around the block,"
To go around the block
"I'm goin to the beauty shop,"
She is going to the beauty shop
"Where I can get my hair aside."
To get her hair done nicely
Don't start me to talkin,
Do not provoke me into speaking
I'll tell everything I know.
I will reveal all the information I have
Well, to break up this signifyin,
To end the gossip and lies
Somebody's got to go.
This situation has to end
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@andrenaud7437
After Trumpet Records folded, on August 12, 1955, Sonny Boy Williamson II had his first recording session for Checker Records. "Don't Start Me Talkin'" was recorded at these sessions. Backing Williamson ( vocals and harmonica ) were Otis Spann on piano , Muddy Waters and Jimmy Rogers on guitar , Willie Dixon on bass , and Fred Below on drums . [
@klezmando
Thanks for list of "sidemen". Quite a group.
@user-hw4eh2xb6b
Thanks
@ron.v
Best version of all time. This is the one I learned to play the harp to in '65. Just wish people could get the lyrics right. She said, "I'm goin' to the beauty shop, where I can get my hair SOT" Not where I can get my hair sock!" The word is is colloquial for "set" but he's using the supposed past tense as in 'get' and 'got' therefore 'set' and 'sot.' You'd have to know the people who used this terminology. Words like this are quite common.
@bananaskinskywalker6790
"Socking"was the term for straightening the hair with a hot comb, so it could be either one
@QQH1
You’re the best! Thanks for clarification!
@bennyrobles9194
Sonny boy. The harmonica legend.!! Nobody can beat him.!!
@alfching2499
The Master......Above All
@insaneshane2049
Except the original sonny boy
@rogerludwig7619
Numerous great versions of this...but nothing beats this one!