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.
Walkin' The Boogie
John Lee Hooker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well my mama didn't 'low me, just to stay out all night long
I didn't care what she didn't 'low, I would
Boogie-woogie
Anyhow
When I first came to town people, I was walkin' down Hastings Street
Everybody was talkin' about, the Henry Swing Club
When I got there, I say, "Yes, people"
They was really havin' a ball!
Yes, I know
Boogie Chillun
One night I was layin' down,
I heard mama 'n papa talkin'
I heard papa tell mama, let that boy boogie-woogie,
It's in him, and it got to come out
And I felt so good,
Went on boogie'n just the same
The lyrics of John Lee Hooker's "Walkin' the Boogie" are centered around the desire to go out and dance - a desire that is repressed by his mother who does not allow Hooker to stay out all night. Despite his mother's rules, Hooker is determined to boogie-woogie and he does so anyway. When he first arrives in town, he hears about the Henry Swing Club and decides to check it out. When he gets there, he describes the scene as "havin' a ball!" He then sings "Boogie Chillun," further emphasizing the desire to dance.
In the second verse, Hooker hears his parents talking about him, with his father saying that he should be allowed to boogie-woogie because it is in him and needs to come out. Hooker then feels validated and continues to boogie anyways. The lyrics are fairly straightforward and convey an element of defiance against societal rules and expectations.
The song is a classic example of the traditional boogie-woogie style, played in the key of A with a standard 12-bar blues progression. Hooker's raw and moody vocals coupled with his deep, rhythmic guitar playing help to convey the lively and energetic spirit of the boogie-woogie style.
Line by Line Meaning
Well my mama she didn't 'low me, just to stay out all night long, oh Lord
My mother never allowed me to stay out late at night, oh Lord
Well my mama didn't 'low me, just to stay out all night long
My mother didn't permit me to stay out all night long
I didn't care what she didn't 'low, I would
I wouldn't care what she didn't allow and I would do it anyway
Boogie-woogie
I would dance to lively music
Anyhow
Despite any obstacle
When I first came to town people, I was walkin' down Hastings Street
When I arrived in town, I was walking down Hastings Street with people
Everybody was talkin' about, the Henry Swing Club
People were discussing the Henry Swing Club
I decided I drop in there that night
I made the decision to go there that night
When I got there, I say, "Yes, people"
When I arrived there, I exclaimed, "Yes, people"
They was really havin' a ball!
They were having a great time!
Yes, I know
I am aware
Boogie Chillun
We are dancing to lively music
One night I was layin' down,
One night I was lying down
I heard mama 'n papa talkin'
I overheard my mother and father talking
I heard papa tell mama, let that boy boogie-woogie,
I heard my father tell my mother to let me dance to lively music
It's in him, and it got to come out
It is in me, and I must express it
And I felt so good,
I felt really good
Went on boogie'n just the same
I continued to dance to lively music
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BERNARD BESMAN, JOHN LEE HOOKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@johnashley-smith4987
Got to see this man play in 1990 on my 23rd birthday at some huge bar/nightclub in Mississauga Ont of all places! Was way too drunk to appreciate it but I think I had a good time!
@shejournals
This song could put anyone in the mood to tap their toes.
@1bookitcom
I heard this song in the 70th first time and made me to fan from John Lee Hooker!
In the late 70th I met him after his concert in Hamburg Markthalle at McDonalds :)
@arjhendrix
"Nobody Boogie Like THE BOOGIEMAN" -JLH ...went on Boogie-ing just the same... thank you for sharing
@goatboy420
Just…
Sublime.
@bobbilse
Fascinating recording. The "mandolin" sounds like an over-dubbed guitar played to the original track playing-at half speed. It's not a double-track on the basic track. It's some technique used to create a doubling effect; likely, as suggested, earlier, another mike placed some 30 feet away. Interesting.
@noslohcinkin
he da man
@gilgamess
@antoniouscaesar I've had this record on a compilation for many years, and what I think they did is take the song "Boogie Chillen" looped a couple of parts and sped up John Lee Hooker's guitar, hence the "mandolin" effect.
@kalifson
How do you tell a Cat Daddy,,well ain't that many around anymore, see, you can tell a Cat Daddy by these crucial things: they wear their pants pulled up high above the waist, belted, 1930's style, and when they "sits" down, they NEVA fail to pull their pants legs all the way damn near to they knees........they Wear a pinky ring, no ring no Cat Daddy, not necessarily really flashy, but always gold. They Always tips they hat to the women, and they say thank you ever so much........cont
@antoniouscaesar
i bet thats the mandolin player yal rachel that played with jon estees