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.
I'm Leavin'
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Leaving, going back down the line
You don't treat me right, baby
Going to Tennessee
Tennessee, here I come
Tennessee, that's my home--going back
Tennessee
I'm cutting out, cutting out, baby, cutting out
Going home, cutting out, oh yeah
Now, baby, you give me a normal line of
Jive
You told me you'll always be my friend
I brought you here, now baby, you done me wrong
I'm leaving, leaving
I'm going back down the line, down the line
Oh, yes, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
When you say goodbye
When you say goodbye
Oh baby
The lyrics of "I'm Leavin'" by John Lee Hooker Jr. speak of a man who has had enough of being mistreated and is leaving his current situation to return to his home in Tennessee. The opening lines state that the singer is leaving and going back down the line, suggesting that he is traveling by train or some other form of transportation. As he repeats the phrase "you don't treat me right, baby," it becomes clear that he is leaving because of someone else's mistreatment of him. He then declares that he is heading to Tennessee, which he describes as his home.
In the second verse, the singer describes his determination to leave, using phrases like "cutting out" and "going home." He speaks directly to his former lover, accusing her of giving him a "normal line of jive" and stating that she has done him wrong. He is resolute in his decision to leave, repeating the phrase "I'm leaving" before declaring that he is going back down the line.
The chorus of the song provides an emotional climax. The singer sings of his sadness and frustration, addressing his former lover directly and saying "when you say goodbye, oh baby." The repetition of this phrase reinforces the deep pain the singer is feeling as he leaves his current situation behind.
Overall, "I'm Leavin'" is a bluesy, emotional song about a man who has decided to leave a bad situation and return to the safety and comfort of his home. The simple, repetitive lyrics intensify the feelings of determination and pain, making for a powerful testament to the human experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Leaving, going back down the line
I am leaving this place and heading back to where I came from.
You don't treat me right, baby
I feel like you are not treating me with the respect and kindness I deserve in this relationship.
Going to Tennessee
I am going to Tennessee.
Tennessee, here I come
I am on my way to Tennessee.
Tennessee, that's my home--going back
Tennessee is my home and I am returning there.
I'm cutting out, cutting out, baby, cutting out
I am leaving this situation, and I am doing so quickly and decisively.
This morning, baby, oh yeah
I am leaving right now, this morning.
Going home, cutting out, oh yeah
I am returning to my home, leaving this situation behind.
Now, baby, you give me a normal line of Jive
You are trying to deceive me with smooth talk, but I am not falling for it.
You told me you'll always be my friend
You previously told me that you would always be there for me, but I feel like you have not kept your promise.
I brought you here, now baby, you done me wrong
I invited you to be a part of my life, but I feel like you have betrayed me.
I'm leaving, leaving
I am leaving.
Oh, yes, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
When you say goodbye
When you say goodbye to me,
Oh baby
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JOHN LEE HOOKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@astrid4532
The father of true roots blues, second to none. Pure talent, pure gift. Absolutely brilliant, timeless and awesome. I never get tired of listening to his stories and music. So inspiring.
@bassmeisterful
If r&r had so many godfathers, how come it turned out so BAD!
@lettherebemorelight
@bassmeisterful nobody blames your grandfather for how you turned out
@alanpatterson4418
How important was Tony McPhee and the Groundhogs to British blues/rock music. Unsung heroes. And JLH obviously.
@trefwoordpunk2225
Why is he never spoken about in the same regard as Clapton, page, Hendrix, etc?! A mystery…unlike clapton and page, Tony McPhee was the real deal….
@kekotorres3700
@TrefwoordPunk RIP TS!!!
@TheGurner1
TS - the British Hendrix
@zagozago9893
What a fierce riff.
@sethorear8658
Oh absolutely. He just beats it to death, too. Tony would do that quite well a few years later with “Cherry Red”
@relic69
Definitely my top five. No wonder I've followed the Ground hogs. Such a slow perfect beat. Must wonder how those that understood the groove are doing now, compared to those without a clue. Huzzah to BBC for preserving such a masterpiece.