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 (1871โ1923), a sharecropper and a Baptist preacher, and Minnie Ramsey (1875โ?).
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 โ 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 Leaving
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
down the line
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
This morning, baby, oh yeah
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, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm
When you say, goodbye
When you say, goodbye
Oh baby
In John Lee Hooker's song, "I'm Leaving," the theme of leaving is explored musically and lyrically. The song describes Hooker leaving a relationship that is not treating him right and going back to his hometown of Tennessee. The repetition of the phrase "going back down the line" reinforces the idea of returning to where he came from, with a sense of finality.
The lyrics also express Hooker's frustration with his current lover's insincerity, as she tells him she will always be his friend, but has done him wrong. The line "you give me a normal line of jive" suggests that her words are not genuine, and he sees through her facade. The decision to leave is a form of self-preservation and a way for Hooker to move on from this toxic relationship.
Musically, the song is driven by Hooker's soulful vocals and his signature guitar work. The bluesy riffs and melancholic notes emphasize the emotional weight of the lyrics. The song's structure is simple, with only a few chords accompanying Hooker's vocals, which allows the focus to be on the powerful message of leaving.
Overall, "I'm Leaving" is a timeless blues classic that showcases John Lee Hooker's talent as a master storyteller and musician. The song's message of self-preservation and moving on resonates with listeners, even decades after its release.
Line by Line Meaning
Leaving, going back
down the line
I am leaving this place and heading back down the path I came from
You don't treat me right, baby
You are not treating me well in this relationship
Going to Tennessee
Tennessee, here I come
Tennessee, that's my home, going back
Tennessee
I am headed to Tennessee, which is my home and where I feel I belong
I'm cutting out, cutting out, baby, cutting out
This morning, baby, oh yeah
Going home, cutting out, oh yeah
I am leaving and heading home, and I am determined to do so quickly and decisively
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
You are giving me insincere excuses and false promises, and you have betrayed my trust and hurt me
I'm leaving, leaving
I'm going back down the line, down the line
I am definitely leaving and heading back in the direction I came from
Oh yes, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm
When you say, goodbye
When you say, goodbye
Oh baby
I am reflecting on the pain of saying goodbye and the hurt that comes with it
Lyrics ยฉ BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
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 mysteryโฆunlike clapton and page, Tony McPhee was the real dealโฆ.
@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 โCherry Redโ
@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.