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.
Down at the Landing
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
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Lord, I was down at the landing, with my head hung down
I could see everybody's baby gettin' on board, Lord, but I couldn't see mine, Lord, I couldn't
I said "Lord have mercy, where could my baby be"
I said "Lord have mercy, people, where could my baby be"
I could see everybody's ba, ba, ba, ba, baby, Lord, but I can't see mine
This big boat kept on rollin', big boat kept on rollin' along
Lord, but it did, Lord, the big boat, the big boat people. big boat kept on rollin' along
I believe I'll call to the cargo, yes, yes, yeah, I'm gonna see if my baby's down
Oh, call to the cargo, see if my baby's down
My baby she might have got hung up people, Lord, if she could make it down
John Lee Hooker's song "Down at the Landing" is a soulful blues ballad that expresses the feelings of a man who is waiting for his lover at the landing point. He stands there with his head hung down, watching as everyone else's baby gets on board, but his own lover is nowhere to be seen. The singer is consumed with anxiety as he wonders where his lover might be. He sings, "I said 'Lord have mercy, where could my baby be'", expressing his desperation for her to arrive.
As the big boat keeps rolling along, the singer vows to call out to the cargo to see if his lover might be on board. He believes that she might have gotten hung up somewhere along the way, but he remains hopeful that she will arrive. The song is rich with emotion, and Hooker's gravelly voice and simple guitar chords add to the melancholic atmosphere.
Overall, "Down at the Landing" is a poignant song that captures the heartache of waiting for someone you love. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a man who is desperate for his lover's arrival and willing to do anything to find her.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was down at the landing people, Lord, waiting with my head hung down
I was at the docks, feeling sad and defeated with my head lowered.
Lord, I was down at the landing, with my head hung down
Again, I was at the docks, with my head lowered in despair.
I could see everybody's baby gettin' on board, Lord, but I couldn't see mine, Lord, I couldn't
I watched as everyone else's loved ones boarded the boat, but I couldn't find mine.
I said "Lord have mercy, where could my baby be"
I pleaded with a higher power, asking where my loved one was.
I said "Lord have mercy, people, where could my baby be"
Again, I called out to others, hoping to find any answers about my missing loved one.
I could see everybody's ba, ba, ba, ba, baby, Lord, but I can't see mine
Although I saw many other people's children boarding the boat, I couldn't find my own.
This big boat kept on rollin', big boat kept on rollin' along
The boat continued to move forward without pause, despite my sorrow and anguish.
Lord, but it did, Lord, the big boat, the big boat people. big boat kept on rollin' along
The boat's journey continued, indifferent to my struggles and heartache.
I was standin' there wonderin', with my head hung down
I remained at the docks, feeling lost and unsure about what to do next.
I believe I'll call to the cargo, yes, yes, yeah, I'm gonna see if my baby's down
I thought about trying to find my loved one by asking the cargo workers if they had seen them.
Oh, call to the cargo, see if my baby's down
I reiterated my desire to call out to the cargo workers, searching for any sign of my missing loved one.
My baby she might have got hung up people, Lord, if she could make it down
I worried and speculated that my loved one may be stuck or delayed, unable to make it to the boat in time.
Contributed by London L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.