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.
Mama Talk To Your Daughter
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mamma mamma please talk to your daughter for me
She done made me love her and I ain't gonna leave her be
I lay down last night and she called me in my dreams
I lay down last night and she called me in my dreams
I begin to wonder what does she want with me?
My mamma told me love will call again
I'm in love with you baby and I just can't help myself
Mamma talk to your daughter
Mamma talk to your daughter
Mamma talk to your daughter
Mamma talk to your daughter
She done made me love her and I ain't gonna leave her be
Mamma talk to your daughter
Mamma talk to your daughter
Mamma talk to your daughter
Mamma talk to your daughter
She done made me love her and I ain't gonna leave her be
That girl I like the way she walk
that girl I like the way she talk
That girl I like the things she do
I'm telling you baby I'm watching you
You better watch yourself baby
I've got my eye on you
Mamma talk to your daughter
Mamma talk to your daughter
Mamma talk to your daughter
Mamma talk to your daughter
She done made me love her and I ain't gonna leave her be
John Lee Hooker's "Mama Talk To Your Daughter" is a classic blues song that tells the story of a man who has fallen deeply in love with a woman and is having trouble controlling his feelings for her. He pleads with the woman's mother to talk to her on his behalf, as he is unable to resist her charms. The lyrics are filled with passion and longing, reflecting the intense emotions that the singer is feeling.
The first verse sets the tone for the song, with the singer asking the woman's mother to intervene and help him with his feelings for her daughter. He is clearly smitten with her, and the second verse shows that she is on his mind constantly, even invading his dreams. He is at a loss as to why she has such a hold over him, and wonders if she feels the same way.
The chorus is the most memorable part of the song, with the singer once again pleading with the woman's mother to talk to her about his feelings. He is adamant that he will not leave her daughter alone, as he is completely infatuated with her. The final verse is a warning to the woman, letting her know that he is watching her every move and that she needs to be careful.
Overall, the lyrics of "Mama Talk To Your Daughter" are filled with raw emotion and show the vulnerability of a man who is deeply in love. The song has a timeless quality to it, and has been covered by many other artists over the years.
Line by Line Meaning
Mamma mamma please talk to your daughter for me
I am asking for help from your mother to talk to her daughter on my behalf
She done made me love her and I ain't gonna leave her be
I am in love with her and I cannot leave her alone
I lay down last night and she called me in my dreams
I had a dream last night about her and wonder what she wants from me
My mamma told me love will call again
My mother informed me that love will come back to me again
I'm in love with you baby and I just can't help myself
I am deeply in love with you and I cannot control my feelings
That girl I like the way she walk
I am fond of the way she walks
that girl I like the way she talk
I like the way she speaks
That girl I like the things she do
I am attracted to the things she does
I'm telling you baby I'm watching you
I am observing you closely, baby
You better watch yourself baby
You must be careful and watch yourself, baby
She done made me love her and I ain't gonna leave her be
I am in love with her and I cannot leave her alone
Mamma talk to your daughter
I am asking for help from your mother to talk to her daughter on my behalf
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: ALEX ATKINS, J B LENOIR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Beet Farmer
I love how at the end of this song, he almost sounds as if in the passion of his plea for the daughter... he starts gaining interest in the mom herself... classic blues.
Derek Cuthbert
A reason to love someone just to dance with them to this
Monsoon pain
Classic
Magdalena Betanzos
Se trata del blues más agresivo de la historia
Letisha Stamp
i love how the guitar is pleading as well
Kane Smith
Hey who sings this song
Coganboy
Classic music. Thanks.
Eric Teeters
So much passion and feeling
Celia Pinheiro
I wanted tô watch the movie again. Even though i bet It would make me cry. Célias daughter.
Kane Smith
Who sings this song chick