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.
John L
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
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It's the House Rent Boogie
I come home last Friday, talk to the woman that I lost my job
She says, don't confront me and so I have my rent next Friday
And next Friday come, I didn't have the rent and out the door I went
Yes, yes
Yes, yes
Come here now, y'all, right 'cross the street here
Help me get this rent together
Some give me a nickel and some give me a dime
I'm tired of keepin' this movin' every night
I can't hold out much longer
Now I got this rent, now let's get together, y'all
Let's have a ball
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
The lyrics to John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie" tell a story of the struggles of being unable to pay rent and the lengths that people will go to in order to make ends meet. The song starts off with Hooker talking about losing his job and not being able to pay rent. He talks to his woman, and she gives him an extension until the next Friday. However, when the next Friday comes, he still can't come up with the rent, so he is kicked out of their dwelling.
In the chorus, Hooker talks about needing to get the rent money together and invites others to help him out. The second verse sees him asking for help from passersby, receiving only a nickel or dime here and there. He is tired of living this way, worried about how long he can keep up the charade of trying to make ends meet.
Overall, the song speaks to the struggles that many people face in trying to maintain a roof over their heads. It also shows the creativity and resilience that people can exhibit when faced with tough times, even if it means resorting to "boogie" tactics to get by.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey
The singer greets the listeners with enthusiasm and invites them to listen to his House Rent Boogie.
It's the House Rent Boogie
The singer introduces the song as a boogie that talks about the struggle to pay rent.
I come home last Friday, talk to the woman that I lost my job
The singer narrates how he lost his job and talked to his partner about it last Friday when he got home.
She says, don't confront me and so I have my rent next Friday
His partner reassures him that he will have enough money to pay rent the next Friday and asks him not to fight with her.
And next Friday come, I didn't have the rent and out the door I went
When next Friday arrives, the singer doesn't have enough money to pay the rent, and his partner kicks him out of the house.
Come here now, y'all, right 'cross the street here
The singer calls on his neighbors to come and help him raise the money to pay his rent.
Help me get this rent together
He asks his neighbors to assist him in raising the money to pay the rent.
Some give me a nickel and some give me a dime
Some neighbors give him little money, while others give him more substantial amounts.
I'm tired of keepin' this movin' every night
The singer is tired of sleeping outside or moving from place to place every night because he hasn't paid his rent.
I can't hold out much longer
The singer is struggling to keep up with the challenges of not having a home and is starting to lose hope.
Now I got this rent, now let's get together, y'all
After finally raising the rent, the singer calls on his neighbors to celebrate and have a good time together.
Let's have a ball
The singer urges the group to have fun at the party after overcoming the struggle to pay his rent.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey
The singer concludes the song with an upbeat chant, expressing his joy at being able to pay his rent and celebrate with his neighbors.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BERNARD BESMAN, JOHN LEE HOOKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Daniel Robbins
Thank you John. From a son of the Rockies to a son of the South. You've shaped my playing style since I was little. Thank you!
Karin Junker
one of the ultimate performers ... big time !
forever comitted to . . . . incomporable !!!
Barry Jones
Just wonderful!
Karin Junker
so pure. ... so beautiful . . . thank you !!!
soisun
It's incredible and unfair that that man had to sing in opening to Bob Dylan concert...
He is TOOOOOOO good for Bob Dylan.
kalisty1
great sound....WOW , - thank you! 🤸♂🌻💕John Lee Hooker savved :)
Fettman89
4:01 Hell yeah, my man named dropped Crossroads, great movie, Steve Vai is a great guitarist too.
walt dill
Along with the blood, sweat and tears, an entire mythology is in this. My first serious look into the real roots of the R and R I'd listened to for years. Also, when going deep and deeper: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf....
Joseph Fink
Hooker can do better, like with canned heat.
Joseph Fink
A good get together jam session that turned out to be Hooker's best that he has ever hooked up.Nice job.