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.
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John Lee Hooker Lyrics
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Well, my baby, she gone, gone tonight
I ain't seen the girl since night before last
I wanna get drunk, get off of my mind
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
And I sit there
Mellow
Stoned, feelin' good
Real mellow
Dreamin'
After a while, I looked down the bar
At the bartender
I said, "Hey, what do you want?"
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
Well, my baby, she gone, gone tonight
I ain't seen the baby since night before last
I wanna get drunk, get off of my mind
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
Ah-ha, yeah, uh-m
I'm gonna sit there, I was tastin'
Sippin', gettin' rolling
And gettin' a little dizzy
Couldn't hardly see
The bartender
Couldn't hardly sip
On the bar stool
I was rockin' and I was dizzy
And after a while, I looked on the wall
At the old clock
By that time eleven o'clock
Gettin' a little late
And I looked down the bar
At the bartender
I said, "Hey, what do you want?"
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
Well, my baby, she gone, gone tonight
I ain't seen my baby since night before last
I wanna get drunk, get off of my mind
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
Ah-ha, yeah, yes, sir
And I sit there
At the bar
Uh-m, drinkin'
And after a while, I looked down the bar
At the bartender
Then after I looked down the bar, I looked on the wall
At the old clock
By that time, when the last call for alcohol
Was a quarter to two
Then I looked down the bar
At the bartender
I said, "Hey, what do you want?"
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
The lyrics of John Lee Hooker's "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" tell the story of a man who is upset because his lover has left him, so he decides to drink until he forgets about her. The repetition of the chorus emphasizes the man's mind state and sets the theme of the song. The first verse indicates that he hasn't seen his lover since the night before and he's determined to get drunk. The chorus repeats the same line, indicating that the singer remains unfaltering in his pursuit of oblivion.
In the second verse, the man has already been drinking for a while, he's feeling mellow, stoned, and dreamy. He's so intoxicated that he can hardly see straight, and he's struggling to sip his drink while sitting on the barstool. Despite all of this, he still repeats the same chorus, stressing the importance of drinking until he forgets his problems. The final verse sees the man drinking up until the last call for alcohol at 1:45 am. Despite the clock's ticking, the barman's attempts to get him to leave, and the bartender's displeasure with him remaining at the bar until the last possible moment, the singer refuses to leave, and continues to drink.
Line by Line Meaning
One bourbon, one scotch, and one beer
The singer wants three drinks to get drunk and forget about his missing lover.
Well, my baby, she gone, gone tonight
The singer's lover has left him and he is upset.
I ain't seen the girl since night before last
The singer hasn't seen his lover since two nights ago.
I wanna get drunk, get off of my mind
The artist wants to get drunk to forget about his lover.
And I sit there
The artist is sitting at the bar.
Get stoned
The singer is smoking marijuana.
Mellow
The singer is feeling relaxed and calm.
Stoned, feelin' good
The artist is enjoying the effects of being high.
Real mellow
The artist is feeling very relaxed and calm.
Dreamin'
The artist is lost in thought.
After a while, I looked down the bar
The singer turns his attention towards the rest of the bar.
At the bartender
The artist looks at the person serving drinks.
I said, 'Hey, what do you want?'
The singer is asking the bartender what he wants to drink.
Ah-ha, yeah, uh-m
The singer is agreeing and giving affirmation.
I'm gonna sit there, I was tastin'
The singer is savoring his drink as he drinks it.
Sippin', gettin' rolling
The artist is drinking his drink and enjoying the effects of the alcohol.
And gettin' a little dizzy
The artist is feeling slightly dizzy from the alcohol.
Couldn't hardly see
The singer's vision is becoming impaired due to the alcohol.
The bartender
The singer is looking at the person serving drinks.
Couldn't hardly sip
The artist is having trouble drinking his drink due to his inebriation.
On the bar stool
The artist is sitting on a stool at the bar.
I was rockin' and I was dizzy
The artist is feeling unsteady and disoriented.
And after a while, I looked on the wall
The singer shifts his gaze to the wall.
At the old clock
The artist is looking at the clock on the wall.
By that time eleven o'clock
It is currently eleven o'clock at night.
Gettin' a little late
It is getting late in the night.
And I looked down the bar
The singer is once again looking down the length of the bar.
At the bartender
The artist is looking at the person serving drinks.
I said, 'Hey, what do you want?'
The artist is asking the bartender what he wants to drink for the second time.
Ah-ha, yeah, yes, sir
The singer is agreeing and giving affirmation.
And I sit there
The singer is still sitting at the bar.
At the bar
The artist is sitting at the bar.
Uh-m, drinkin'
The artist is drinking his drink.
Then after I looked down the bar, I looked on the wall
The artist is once again looking around the bar.
By that time, when the last call for alcohol
It is now last call for alcohol in the bar.
Was a quarter to two
It is almost two o'clock in the morning.
Then I looked down the bar
The singer is once again looking down the length of the bar.
At the bartender
The singer is looking at the person serving drinks.
I said, 'Hey, what do you want?'
The singer is asking the bartender what he wants to drink for the third time.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN LEE HOOKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@meangene98
Aside from The Blues Brothers and being funny as hell, what really makes this movie an absolute classic is that it preserved incredible performances from legends like Hooker, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, James Brown, and Chaka Kahn.
@kc8tby
That is absolutely correct!!
@donnaidontwanna
& they were going to cut this performance because they were afraid white people wouldn't watch the movie..this is MY personal fave in the movie though it's difficult for me to pick a favorite
@meangene98
@Michelle DeGuilio I thought Aretha’s rendition of “Think” was the best performance in the movie.
@TheMrDan-ys4to
You couldn’t have said it better. Such amazing talents from real musicians
@tomtiernan8134
Bulushi and Ackroyd were big blues fans and gave credit to the musicians who brought us much of what we know as American music, rock and roll being at the forefront.
@primtones
What a great presentation of the real Maxwell Street Market. The cuts between people, the knick-knack on display and the brothers Blues are perfectly executed. I feel like there's more culture in these 3 minutes than most full movies made today.
@WillieDuitt1
You may appreciate the Scorcese classic Mean Streets. There are many scenes that show case small Italian-Amer. bands playing traditional music.
@alessandrosouzzasouzza7881
Oi ALESSANDRO DE SOUZA AXÉ AXÉ PRIMTONES BELO NOME BONITO
@jamesmcnally886
Being from that " part of the World ...Oh Yeah..Maxwell Street alright