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.
Gonna Use My Rod
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I done told you one time
I ain't gonna tell you no more
Leave my wife alone, I take you in
And you wore my cloth
You spend my money
You slept in my bed
You come to me
You had no place to stay
You said, "Johnny, let me stay with you"
I said, "Yeah man"
I fixed the place for you
When I found out
You're goin' out with my wife
You know it ain't right
I'm a warn you
I'm a warn you right now
Don't play with me
Keep on doin' the thing you do
Next time, I'll tell you
I'm gonna use my rod
I'm gonna use my rod, oh yeah
I'm gonna use my rod
Now, man, you know you ain't doin' it right
You know that ain't right
You're goin' around, yeah
You tellin' everybody you got my wife
Oh yeah, I ain't gonna tell you no more
Next time, I'll tell you
I'm gonna use my rod, oh yeah, oh yeah
I'm gonna use my rod
You know man, you know you ain't doin' right
You know you ain't
I come to you as man to man
And tell you, leave my wife alone
Next time, I'll tell you
I'm gonna use my rod
I'm gonna use my rod
I'm gonna use my rod
I'm gonna use my rod
The lyrics to John Lee Hooker's song "Gonna Use My Rod" are about a man warning someone to stay away from his wife. The singer refers to the person as "man" throughout the song, indicating that they were once friends or associates. The singer also accuses the person of spending his money, wearing his clothes, and even sleeping in his bed.
The singer is clearly upset that the person has started going out with his wife, and he warns him to stop. He says that he won't tell him again, and that if he continues to see his wife, he will use his "rod" on him. Although it is not entirely clear what the singer means by "rod," it is likely a reference to a weapon, such as a gun or a knife.
The song is an expression of the singer's anger and frustration, and it captures the feeling of being betrayed by someone you trusted. The repeated refrain of "I'm gonna use my rod" is a threatening message, and it adds a sense of danger to the song. The bluesy guitar riff and Hooker's deep, gravelly voice give the song a raw, gritty feel that suits the subject matter.
Line by Line Meaning
Look at here now, man
Listen to me, I have something important to say.
I done told you one time
I have already warned you before.
I ain't gonna tell you no more
This is your final warning.
Leave my wife alone, I take you in
Stop having an affair with my wife, or I will no longer let you stay with me.
And you wore my cloth
You borrowed my clothes.
You spend my money
You used my money without permission.
You slept in my bed
You stayed in my bed.
And you know it ain't right
You are aware that your actions were not acceptable.
You come to me
You asked for my help.
You had no place to stay
You were homeless.
You said, "Johnny, let me stay with you"
You asked me if you could stay with me.
I said, "Yeah man"
I agreed to let you stay with me.
I fixed the place for you
I prepared a place for you to stay in my home.
When I found out
I discovered something.
You're goin' out with my wife
You are seeing my wife romantically.
You know it ain't right
You are aware that your actions were not acceptable.
I'm a warn you
I am giving you a warning.
I'm a warn you right now
I am giving you a warning immediately.
Don't play with me
Do not mess with me.
Keep on doin' the thing you do
Continue with your current behavior.
Next time, I'll tell you
If this happens again, I will let you know.
I'm gonna use my rod
I will use physical force.
I'm gonna use my rod, oh yeah
I will use physical force, no doubt about it.
Now, man, you know you ain't doin' it right
You are aware that your actions were not acceptable.
You know that ain't right
You are aware that your actions were not acceptable.
You're goin' around, yeah
You are spreading rumors.
You tellin' everybody you got my wife
You are telling everyone that you are romantically involved with my wife.
Next time, I'll tell you
If this happens again, I will let you know.
I'm gonna use my rod, oh yeah, oh yeah
I will use physical force, no doubt about it.
You know man, you know you ain't doin' right
You are aware that your actions were not acceptable.
You know you ain't
You are aware that your actions were not acceptable.
I come to you as man to man
I am speaking to you directly and honestly.
And tell you, leave my wife alone
I am asking you to stop seeing my wife romantically.
I'm gonna use my rod
I will use physical force.
I'm gonna use my rod
I will use physical force.
I'm gonna use my rod
I will use physical force.
I'm gonna use my rod
I will use physical force.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: JOHN LEE HOOKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind