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.
Highway Blues
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Who could yo', yo' lover be?
Real nice, you pretty baby
You sho' look good to me
I know that people oh, all wonder
Why I look at you like I do
I don't care if the whole world knows it, darlin'
Now, won't you give me yo' phone number?
I can call you up some time
I don't care if the whole world knows it, baby
Yes, I'm deep in love wit' you
Yes, I could love you
Yes, I could love you
Yeah, it's a cryin' shame
I could love you, love you, baby
Till sunlight in your eye
In John Lee Hooker's "Highway Blues," the singer, likely a man who is smitten with a woman he has just met, is asking her to reveal who her lover is. He compliments her beauty and makes his affections known to her, despite any potential social barriers or negative reactions from others. The singer is aware that others may wonder why he looks at her as he does, but he doesn't care if they know that he is deeply in love with her. He even asks for her phone number, indicating his desire to establish some kind of relationship with her beyond the encounter they are having.
The song speaks to the power of love and attraction, and how it can inspire one to go against the norms and expectations of society, including potentially revealing one's feelings to someone without knowing how they will react or even if they are available. The singer seems to be completely taken with this woman, and his willingness to expose his feelings to her and the world is a testament to the force of his emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
Now won't you tell me, pretty mama
Tell me who your lover is, my dear.
Who could yo', yo' lover be?
Who is the lucky person you are in love with?
Real nice, you pretty baby
You look absolutely stunning and attractive, my love.
You sho' look good to me
I am deeply impressed by your looks and personality.
I know that people oh, all wonder
Everyone seems to wonder about my infatuation with you.
Why I look at you like I do
I can't help but stare at you because of my love for you.
I don't care if the whole world knows it, darlin'
I don't mind if people know about my affection for you, my sweet love.
Yes, I'm deep in love wit' you
I am immensely in love with you.
Now, won't you give me yo' phone number?
Can you share your contact details so that I can talk to you later?
I can call you up some time
I would love to talk to you over phone whenever it's convenient for you.
Yes, I could love you
I am capable of loving you with all my heart and soul.
Yeah, it's a cryin' shame
It's really unfortunate that my love for you can't be expressed completely.
I could love you, love you, baby
I am ready to shower you with all the love and affection I have, my darling.
Till sunlight in your eye
I will love you until the end of time, and never lose sight of you, my love.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BERNARD BESMAN, JOHN LEE HOOKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Margaret Bloomer
This needs volume. Listen to it on a proper stereo. Masterpiece.
MEDIATOR Mihaela Antohi
JOHN LEE HOOKER - The World´s Greatest Blues Singer !!! There is a lifetime of human emotion in every single note this man plays!
Pimski Promotions
"Thats what only blues can do: Let the instruments sing the environment of the song -
The snare drum is playing the windscreen wipers, slide guitar is playing overtaking cars and Hooker's guitar the falling rain.
I can see his view through the windshield just by listening..." RIP John Lee Hooker
Andrew Paxton
Y eh send ,s shivers 2 your very soul ,what a voice feel the same as above,well said :>)
joe Lopez
There will never be another Johnny Lee Hooker!! we are so lucky to have, listen and share this iconic music.🤩
INDIGNADO
GÊNIO !! O CARA CANTAVA DEMAIS , BLUES FALADO , MARAVILHOSO !!!! FOI MAL COMPREENDIDO NO INICIO E HOJE O MUNDO SE ENCANTA COM SEU ESTILO .... SAUDADES !!!! IRMÃO VAI COM DEUS !!!!
Esko Martikainen
I've listened this over and over again, and every time it sound better and better. JUST GREAT.
Qemal Rada
Esko Martikainen 😂
Paul Gibbons
No lie, brother
girlmafuck
man... i love this guy... he sing it with so much emotions and his voice so powerfull.