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.
Drug Store Woman
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All I want to know
The drug store girl
Every time you see her
She is in the drug store
Buying lipstick and powder
All that makeup und that stuff
Nylon and hose
I want that kind of woman
I want that kind of woman
When I come home
My dinner is ready
My bathwater is ready
Everything is ready
She sitten down
Watchin' TV
Say daddy, are you tired?
I say yeah
But when I see you, they goes away
That's what I now want know
The Drug Store girl
Every time you see her
She buying lipstick and powder
And all that précis stuff
The kind of woman I've got
Is a ever day girl
She don't wear that précis stuff
Lipstick and powder
Got a natural woman
Yeah
Now
Drug Store Woman
I don't want
No drug store girl
No
Yeah
Ah
When I come home
She's always at home
She isn't on the street
Both, night and day
I don't have to eat no
TV channel
She had everything ready
Right down, waiting for me
Yeah
I wouldn't have it
No drug store girl
Every time you see her
She's in the drug store
Buying makeup and that stuff
Lipstick and powder
Yeah
Oh
, John Lee Hooker's song "Drug Store Woman" is a bluesy ode to a woman who he desires. The lyrics describe his longing for a woman who he sees always buying makeup and other beauty products at the drug store. He desires a woman who takes care of him when he comes home from work, serving him dinner and running his bathwater. The song is a celebration of a natural woman, a woman who doesn't conform to societal expectations of wearing makeup and nylon stockings, but rather who embraces her natural beauty. Hooker sings about how he wouldn't want a "drug store girl," someone who he would only see in the drug store and who wouldn't take care of him at home.
It's interesting to note that the song's message is at odds with much of the advertising culture of the time, which sold women the idea that the right makeup and beauty products would make them more desirable and successful. Hooker, in contrast, celebrates a woman who doesn't need these products to be beautiful and who takes care of him in a practical, loving way. The song's message speaks to a longing for authenticity and simplicity in a world that increasingly values material possessions and appearances. Hooker's voice is gruff and soulful, and the song features a slow, bluesy guitar riff that perfectly sets the mood for the longing and desire expressed in the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah
Expression of excitement or affirmation.
All I want to know
Curiosity towards the subject of the drug store girl.
The drug store girl
Referring to a woman who frequents the drug store to buy cosmetics and beauty products.
Every time you see her
Her visit to the drug store is a regular occurrence.
She is in the drug store
She can always be found inside the drug store.
Buying lipstick and powder
Purchasing cosmetics that enhance her appearance.
All that makeup und that stuff
Referring to various cosmetics and beauty products she purchases.
Nylon and hose
Referring to stockings or pantyhose.
All that précis stuff
Referring to various beauty products she uses to maintain her appearance.
I want that kind of woman
Expressing desire to be with a woman who takes care of her appearance and is always prepared.
I want that kind of woman
Repeating the previous line for emphasis.
When I come home
After a long day working or being out.
My dinner is ready
His evening meal is prepared for him when he arrives home.
My bathwater is ready
His bath is prepared for him when he arrives home.
Everything is ready
Everything is in order when he arrives home.
She sitten down
She takes a seat.
Watchin' TV
She is watching television.
Say daddy, are you tired?
Asking if he is exhausted from his day.
I say yeah
Admitting that he is indeed tired.
But when I see you, they goes away
Looking at her erases his exhaustion.
That's what I now want know
Expressing his curiosity about the drug store girl.
The Drug Store girl
Reiterating the desire for a woman who frequents the drug store to purchase cosmetics.
Every time you see her
Reiterating how regularly she frequents the drug store.
She buying lipstick and powder
Reiterating the types of products she purchases at the drug store.
And all that précis stuff
Reiterating the types of beauty products she buys.
The kind of woman I've got
Referring to his current partner.
Is a ever day girl
She is a natural woman who doesn't wear a lot of makeup.
She don't wear that précis stuff
Reiterating that his current partner doesn't use a lot of beauty products.
Lipstick and powder
Reiterating the products the drug store girl purchases.
Got a natural woman
Reiterating that his current partner is natural and doesn't use a lot of beauty products.
Yeah
Expression of excitement or affirmation.
Now
Transition to a new thought or idea.
Drug Store Woman
Reiterating the desire for a woman who frequents the drug store.
I don't want
Expressing that he doesn't desire or prefer this type of woman.
No drug store girl
Reiterating that he doesn't desire a woman who frequents the drug store.
No
Emphatically stating his desire to not have a drug store girl.
Yeah
Expression of excitement or affirmation.
Ah
Expression of exclamation or astonishment.
When I come home
After a long day working or being out.
She's always at home
Referring to his current partner always being at home when he returns.
She isn't on the street
His current partner isn't out and about, but instead always at home.
Both, night and day
Emphasizing that she is always at home, regardless of the time of day.
I don't have to eat no
He doesn't have to go out to eat.
TV channel
She has a TV channel ready for him.
She had everything ready
Everything he needs is ready for him when he returns home.
Right down, waiting for me
Everything is laid out and waiting for him when he returns home.
Yeah
Expression of excitement or affirmation.
I wouldn't have it
He wouldn't want anything other than what he has with his current partner.
No drug store girl
Reiterating that he wouldn't want a woman who frequents the drug store.
Every time you see her
Reiterating the type of woman he doesn't want.
She's in the drug store
Reiterating that the type of woman he doesn't want frequents the drug store.
Buying makeup and that stuff
Reiterating the type of products she purchases at the drug store.
Lipstick and powder
Reiterating the types of products she purchases at the drug store.
Yeah
Expression of excitement or affirmation.
Oh
Expression of surprise, wonder or awe.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: JOHN LEE HOOKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@robertflorentine
my favorite blues singer, rip johnny
@richardmangogna9029
This is it . The original gangsta . The original rap tune . Lay down the groove and say your piece . I heard this for the first time back when dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, and I was a about 16 yrs old Many winds have passed since then and I am still feel the same about this tune every time I hear it . I played in countless bands , but in my solo shows my bass drum was my shoes and tapping my foot just like John Lee . R.I.P. Big Brother. I will see you on the other side ... Merc
@martyncoles8562
Brilliant
@abdesslemmoutassim2886
Hypnotic music 👏👍
@stephenmayo1198
Groovy
@robertofalconieri5874
I have it on vinyl
@tclc009
they should play this to high school kids, be warned !
@qwamiade
FFFFFFFFFIRST!!!!
@rickyoung5326
I don’t need that stuff....